Motivation and more

[Jaine Perotti]

Originally Posted by indieFan

1. Ask the others what they are interested in working on with regard to the project. Oftentimes people are assigned tasks that they simply have no interest in. (ie, getting the drive system when they wanted to do electronics.)

2. Since you appear to understand what needs to happen, give the others small tasks to complete. Oftentimes people are assigned tasks and simply have no idea how to go about accomplishing it. Give them one thing to do like marking a piece of cardboard where it needs to be cut. When they are finished, give them the next task in the process, such as cutting the cardboard.

This is very good advice.

Often lack of motivation is a result of people not knowing what to do. If there is a process or system in place, people seem to be much more willing to take on a task. If the system is poorly organized or without direction, people's interest will tend to stagnate.

You need to develop a process for your team. Organize and delegate different tasks to different members of the team. Good organization is key: a group of highly organized people will be much more likely to succeed and be highly motivated.

For Brainstorming and Delegating of Tasks:

1) The first thing you need to do is develop a strategy. How do you want to play the game? What is the best way to play the game? How can you beat others at the game? What ways of scoring points are easiest? What ways of scoring points give you the maximum amount of points? In what sequence will the robot complete the tasks that you decided to complete? While developing a strategy, try to avoid moving into the design of robot mechanisms. If you move into the design phase too early, ideas tend to be shut out. You need to know what exactly your robot will be doing before you can design it.

2) Move into robot design. What do we need in terms of the chassis? What restrictions will their be on the chassis? what kinds of additional components might we need? how will they have to work?

I don't know how many people are in your group, but if the group is large enough, split up the team into smaller groups (about 2-3 people per group). Have each sub-group come up with ideas on how to build the robot and have them present their ideas to the rest of the team.

Have the other members of the team ask the group who is presenting questions about their design; what's good about the idea? what needs to be improved? how might we adapt this idea or add to it? does it work with the strategy we agreed on?

Never let anyone dismiss an idea as "stupid" or say that "it's never going to work". If a member of the group objects to or sees a problem with the idea, then have them clearly and politely explain why they feel the way they do -- don't let them get away with just saying 'no' with nothing to support their opinion. After all of the groups have presented, come to a consensus on robot design.

3) Move into robot build. Assign people/groups different tasks. For example: have one group work on building the chassis, another on an arm, and another on a plow. Work closely together and communicate. If a team member feels that something about the design needs to be modified, DO NOT allow them to change it on their own without talking to the other members of the team. Major mechanical problems can result from lack of communication.... not to mention that it is not fair for someone to change the design without input from anyone else.

Set deadlines for different components to be completed, for example: 'the chassis has to be built by Tuesday, the arms by Thursday...and so on. Deadlines help keep the group focused.

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As for your second problem...I can understand somewhat how you feel. Every year I have a difficult time deciding what I want to do on the team, and it's always a tough choice. But I can try to offer some advice:

Since it's your rookie year, don't try to do everything at once.
This year is my teams fifth season, and we are only just starting to get our animation team going. We have also never used CAD/Inventor, and we have still seen great successes. We hope to eventually incorporate it in the future, but for now we are taking things one step at a time. Master the basics during your rookie year, and don't take on everything at once. Slow and steady wins the race.

Remember KISS 'Keep It Simple Silly'
When you build your robot...don't go for anything too complex. You will be doing better than half the rookies out there if you have a robot that is reliable and completes one simple task consistently. Never underestimate the power of a simple box on wheels. My team's rookie year, our robot was basically just that...a box on wheels...and we ended up qualifying 6th at our first regional competition.

Assign different roles to different team members: you don't have to do everything yourself. Have someone be in charge of electrical sub team, chassis sub team, programming sub team, marketing sub team...and so on. Make as many sub teams as you feel are needed. Hold a team meeting on this issue and divide up the jobs. Make sure that each subteamleader knows what they are supposed to be doing; ex: make sure electrical leader knows all of the rules about electrical, make sure the marketing lead is a good communicator/writer... etc.

I hope this helps you out. Keep asking questions Yov!

-- Jaine