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Unread 14-01-2005, 22:40
Jaine Perotti Jaine Perotti is offline
...misses her old team.
AKA: BurningQuestion
FRC #0716 (The Who'sCTEKS)
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Re: My team has close to no dedication

Alaina,
I am very sorry to hear that this is happening to your team.
A few things regrading this issue I have posted here.
However, that situation was slightly different than yours.

If I were in your position, I would do two things... give them a lecture and a reality check (like Bharat said, not overly negative), and take a few actions of my own.

Lecture:

I think that your team is at a point where everyone can either start getting motivated and organized now, or not be able to have a season at all. If you are the only one on your team who is dedicated to make it happen, then most likely it won't (Not to say that you can't take on alot, because you already are, but FIRST is designed to be a team effort! There is no way only one person can do it by themselves!).

If I were the one saying this lecture, here is how it would go:

"This team is at a turning point. In order for us to have a season, we need to either come together as a group and focus on this, or we will not be competing at all. I know that you can make this happen if you want to, but only if you want to.

You need to make a choice about your personal priorities. If you want to get this team together, you MUST communicate with me. This means that you need to reply when I email you. This means that you need to show up to meetings when you say that you will. If you know that you are not going to dedicate yourself to this team and to this effort, then you shouldn't be here. This also means that you can't be doing things like playing video games while we need to get work done. I know that you can improve this, but I want you to realize that things have got to change if we are to pull through this year."

Actions:

As for getting your robot complete, why don't you start out by having them build the kitbot and then work from there? It can be assembled quite quickly, and may be a good starting point to get them motivated. you can even try to assign them roles for the different aspects of the robots construction...roles are good because they give a more focused and dynamic feel to the group.

Also try to assign deadlines for the completion of certain tasks. Deadlines will give your team a better sense for the urgency of the situation.

Above all, make it clear that it is ultimately their choice; only they can save the team. If they choose not to, then you may be forced to let go of the team for a year. But I would rather have no team at all than be faced with the frustrating task of trying to do it all by myself.

Avoid defeatism however; add some optimism to your conduct with them by making it clear that they CAN do this... they DO have the capability to pull this off, and it is not too late to change things for the better. All they need to do is focus. Once they are focused, anything is possible.

Hope this helps. Please continue to update us on your team's progress.

-- Jaine
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