[SirLancelot]

Hmm....
On 1502 we have the basic five subgroups for the build: drivetrain, manipulation (like arms, etc.), programming, electronics, and support (tends to deal with all of the stuff not too important to the build of the robot but still crucial, like the cart/crate/promo.) The subteam heads have authority over and responsibility for the members of their specific group. We try to solve the majority of problems internally, and the subteam head can dictate to their team the way they want things to be done. Obviously, we consider the wishes of the team mebers. On top of this all there is a president, two vice presidents, a secretary, treasurer, and a herd of parent mentors and engineers. If a team member is having a specific problem with a mentor, we got the president to approach them to sort things out, as well as for authorizing any purchases. The president also officiates over all meetings, which tend to occour at least every two-three days. This helps us keep some semblence of order.
The entire build is led by the team with very helpful suggestions/advice from the engineers. They try their hardest to prevent us from screwing up, but son't actually do the work for us.
The parents arrange a food schedule, rotating each day, so that we don't starve. (they're wonderful...!)
For offseason, we elect heads for the the various segments of public relations and offseason events. So, we have kids in charge of the newsletter, website maintainence, offseason competitions, etc. We're also trying to get a newsletter to run consistently through the build, but I don't know how likely that'll be.
We've found our method to be very effective unless the students and mentors end up clashing over something.
In a nutshell, that's about it.

--Anna