[KenWittlief]

there is ONLY one way to have your robot done 1 week before ship date so that your drivers can have practice before it goes in the crate:

Schedule and Milestones.

BEFORE the kickoff you must have a schedule that indicates what must be done by the end of each of the 6 weeks. Those accomplishments are your major milestones.

If you dont meet your milestones by the end of the 1st week, you must either pull an all nighter (that weekend) to get back on schedule, or revise your plans to make your robot simpler. Every weekend its the same - project status review and if needed a plan to recover or simplify.

Once you are behind schedule its very difficult to catch up. If you let your milestones slip for 4 or 5 weeks, you are in deep weeds! If you could not do a task 2 weeks ago how will you magically do it this week, along with all the other things that are suppose to get done this week?

Project management is crucial for a successful FIRST team.

Project management is crucial for every successful engineering team!