Team Communication

[Brian Maher]

Team 1257 uses Slack. It allows us to set up chat channels for sub teams and projects, and have private group/direct messages. The built in sharing is really convenient.

[astro70]

We use https://wiggio.com/ as a customizable listserv and free education account with http://www.wikispaces.com/ as an easy website to post schedules, updates, files, directions, etc. Instead of remind for text messages, we will try to use these with a special wiggio list when we need to send texts via the email listserv - http://www.emailtextmessages.com/. Slack looks useful too - more things to try!

[SaraK]

So we break up our communication depending on who we are trying to reach.

Everyone including mentors, parents, sponsors, current team members, past team members and advisers get periodic emails when something is happening like a competition or a volunteer event. We also like to keep them updated as the season goes.

Then there are kiks and group txts for subgroups of the team like the programmers, the build people, fundraising, etc so that the respective team leader can talk to them and bounce ideas in the moment, as well as one group inclusive of all the student members to help get information out quickly.

It works for us because the email gets all of the information out and the group messaging insures everyone know when an email is sent. The main problem with emails is students don't see it. Telling them that there is an email coming out makes sure that they look for it.

Hope this helps!

[logank013]

Our team uses twitter for communication. It is great because a smartphone is not needed because you can receive text notifications from twitter. Most of us just get the texts instead of getting on twitter. as soon as a tweet is sent, everyone gets a text, smartphone or not, so it works well for us.

[Rosiebotboss]

Originally Posted by penguin4130

Our team has trouble getting people to reply to emails.

How do you get your team to always reply, especially in the "Off-season"?

You won't. Only about 30-50% of people actually will read an email that you send out. I have worked with teams for 4 years now as a FIRST Senior Mentor and quite a few before that and those stats are about true in any situation.

What I suggest teams do is put the info out in many ways. Facebook is a good one, a SECRET FB Group is pretty secure, you control who is in it and who can post to it. Tweet out email updates as well. Let them know information is new and waiting for them in their email.

[Koko Ed]

We use Goggle groups and I started up a team Facebook page because the kids seem to respond more to the Facebook page than they do to the Google spawned e-mails.

[Shrub]

Tin cans and string.

Just kidding. 3883 mentors make a big list of emails and send them out to everyone. Usually they don't need to be replied to, as they're just reminders, but when they do, it's often parents providing rides. For meals, a parent set up a google form so they could tell what days they did have meals or not.

3883 doesn't have much trouble with people not reading emails, since they have school-provided iPads that usually give email notifications. Even when they don't, often others just tell and text everyone else. Hour long lunch doesn't hurt either, since students can pick up permission slips and the like with the advisor during then.