Season Evaluation Time!

[Chris Fultz]

As the 2012 'season' closes, this is a great time for teams to look back on the year and capture material that can help you be a better team in 2013.
Do this soon, before the seniors are gone and the team knowledge disappears.

A good review will cover all team aspects, including the robot, team structure, performance at events, budget, awards, outreach, etc.

This can be done on a white board, poster paper, laptop and projector, whatever works best. The key is for everyone to work together to capture this.

It is important for everyone to be open to comments, but at the same time not attack other people. Also, don't try to solve the issues, just list them first.

A sample "agenda" -

1. What did we do well?
What are things you did a good job at, and want to be sure you repeat. Were there certain areas of the team that did very well? Capture this.

2. What did we do not so well?
What areas need improvement? Where did you struggle? What things are you not very proud of? Capture this.

3. What do we never want to do again?
Are there some things that you need to be sure you never repeat? Some very poor decision that needs to be captured?

4. After you have made a long list, then go back and review the items and see which ones are most important and mark them someway.

5. NOW, decide what you are going to do with the information.

A. Archive it and review it when the team meets again.
B. Create plans and activities to to address some of the items.

If you choose A, make sure the information is somewhere that the team can get to it when it restarts in the fall or before kick-off.
If you choose B, then you will need to prioritize the plans and activities and work on the most critical or most beneficial ones.

This paper is several years old but the principles are valid for putting together plans to address improvement opportunities:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/1595