Team Organization

[GeeTwo]

Tying way back to the first reply post, the bottom line is that the team organization is a means to help you accomplish your goals - if the structure gets in the way, CHANGE IT! 3946 Tiger Robotics has had a slightly different organizational structure (divisions split, merge, just plain change) each year in response to a number of factors (not necessarily complete):

Who are the leaders - make sure that the amount and type of responsibility matches people's abilities and commitment levels (be challenging, but not overwhelming). We have split or merged divisions based on the would-be leader's capabilities. Sometimes you have a good candidate for a single team captain; sometimes not, so you might have two co-captains with complementary strengths.

What worked well last year - keep it, or build/tweak on it slightly.

What failed last year - even if the structure should have worked, change it around. On at least one occasion, we eliminated a division not because it wasn't needed, but because it had become a home for goof-offs the year before. Said (non-robot build) division became a "committee" instead.

On the other hand, don't reorganize just because you can -- while all improvement is change, NOT all change is improvement!