team hierarchy

[Andrew]

We tried getting organized and having sub-groups, etc in our first year. It just didn't work. We have been less organized since. We are sort of migrating in a more organized direction. However, I cannot see us ever getting to the "Org Chart" stage again.

We are a "Task Oriented" organization. We have multi-skilled people and we generally flex to the crisis point.

We have a big board of tasks. We add tasks as they arise throughout the build phase. We prioritize tasks and assign them based on urgency. Usually team members volunteer for tasks; however, their are times when I assign them (ie a critical task which may be onerous). Their are always deadlines associated with each task.

When a critical task slips past the deadline, I will discuss with the responsible party. We have a variety of responses, such as getting help, reassigning, or (in extreme cases) applying motivational therapy.

The super-hyper-"the team fails if it doesn't get done" tasks are either assumed by my wife (Madam Presidente) or myself (El Presidente).

On the robot design, we usually have one to four designers. We now model everything in Pro/Engineer and keep all models and assemblies on the server and keep them updated as the design changes. Resource allocation is done by an informal discussion. Once a resource is allocated, the designer usually squirrels that part away.

The younger designers usually don't communicate their decisions to everyone. However, after the first mistake, the designers are usually very up front about communicating constantly the state of the design.

The good thing about modeling your entire robot is that, as you go along, you can keep track of the weight and space constraints.

As we construct, we have a few people who are permitted into the machine shop. These people have interacted with the mentors through the Fall semester and we generally have developed working relationships and know how to communicate.

As people show up, they pick someone who looks like he knows what he is doing and find out what need to be made next. We sort of build by a first come/first served basis. Likewise, once the shop is full, the next people handle assembly tasks.