How do you organize your team?

[Dorienne]

Originally Posted by NoodleKnight

Basically, the problem is that no one wants to cooperate or do any fundraising "work." Our sub-leaders don't do anything, whether they're ordered or not, and when they go to the meetings, they basically act like they know what they're saying by reiterating what our leader or mentors say. Add to that, when they do agree to do something, they usually forget about doing it the next day, and when the next meeting comes around, they come empty-handed.

Have your team advisor or mentor(s) discussed any of this with them? Because they obviously are not being too good of sub-leaders if they don't set an example for your team. I would recommend your advisor and mentors to just have a discussion with them, try to get them into this whole thing.

Originally Posted by NoodleKnight

Just like the sub-leaders, they are assigned a task, and usually forget about it. And might I add, trying to persuade them to accept a job isn't very easy. After some force, most people agree...

I think that maybe your advisor should have a whole big team discussion as well. Maybe all this team really needs is to see how important it is to get things going and work hard for this. They need to know that you cannot just stop working after build season is over. You have to keep going and get more fundraising so you can be safe when it comes to registration, build season, regionals, championship, etc. It's not just "oh since build season is finally over I don't have to work anymore." That's completely false, and they need to see that and get moving.

Originally Posted by NoodleKnight

...except for one person, who basically "ruins everything." Our leader hates him because he refuses to do any work, he simply ignores anything assigned to him. He also acts like he knows everything on the robot (even though he's a rookie), and usually manages to break A LOT of things.

Someone needs to talk to this kid. He bothers me even though I'm not even close to your team. We've had a person like that, and he's shaped up a bit. He needs a talking-to, and fast. If he does break something, just tell him to kindly steer clear if he doesn't know what he's doing, or just to be careful. I wouldn't want to go down to the point of kicking him off the team, but if that's one of the only ways of getting him straight, then tell him if he doesn't shape up, then he will not be tolerated.[/quote]

Originally Posted by NoodleKnight

What I'm asking is, has this happened to your team? How do you solve it?
Or even better: how do you motivate the rest of the team?

As for the first questions, Yes this has indeed happened to Team 007. It is quite difficult to get people into doing more work, especially since everyone is trying to get their schoolwork done and such. It's actually not going too badly right now, because all team members have to do is get a name of a correspondent for a business, an address and a telephone number. The president or advisor makes up a packet to send to the business, and if we don't hear back from them for a week or so, we call them. That pretty much is how we solved our problems for fundraising, since our team is quite difficult to get motivated. Though we are beginning to get a little bit more motivated.
Motivating the rest of the team is tough, I will not deny that. Especially when you're the only extrovert on the team (Me in 2004). I would recommend, as I mentioned before, a talking-to, and if that doesn't work, start setting boundaries. And if someone's assigned a job to do over a weekend, call them up and see if they've done it or remind them, or drop an email to see if they need help (or just hint with that email that you're reminding them ) In school, just talk to them about what they're doing and see what progress they're making. If the progress is none at all, just let them know the team is counting on that person and that they hope the person gets the job done for them. If they don't do their part, it's more work for everyone else. Reiterate tons of times this is a team effort. Nothing more, nothing less.
Good luck!! I hope things get better for your team. let me know!