Who should be the Captain??

[catsylve]

Last year was our rookie year, so I don't have a lot of experience with captain selection, but I do have experience with working with students. We have a large school that participates also in FTC. This year we took five teams to the competition, with five different captains. From watching the students during FTC build and competition, this gives me an idea how the students will behave as captain during FRC. This way I can not only select an overall team captain, but also leaders for the subdivisions. I do only choose a senior for the position, because they are the ones going on to college and in need of scholarships. It worked well last year and has been a good system so far for this year.

[JaneYoung]

This is an excellent thread regarding project management.
I esp. like Michael Sperber's post #13.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=60080

Also, if you use the search option and search for leadership - you should find several threads regarding your topic and/or relating to it.

Understanding and implementing good leadership attributes/qualities is something that is very important in the development of the individual and the team in FIRST. Some naturally have the ability to lead and some step up and meet its challenge when given or presented the opportunity.

[Richard Wallace]

Add my recommendation to Jane's: the whole thread she linked above is good reading, and Michael Sperber's post is especially good.

To paraphrase Shakespeare's Malvolio (Twelfth Night, Act II Scene 5): Be not afraid of leadership: some are born leaders, some achieve leadership, and some have leadership thrust upon 'em.

[Richard McClellan]

I agree, that's a great point. I don't remember exactly where I heard this statistic, but 90% of all problems that arise in the real world are due to breakdowns in communication.

[team 1094]

Originally Posted by beemgruem

Hi, I am new at the competition and the FRC team, actually its our schools first robotics year.

In our team when we were talking about the captain and that stuff, I discovered that everybody wants to be the captain. We have not decided yet, Do you think should we decide who will be the captain before the kick off or when we see who are the best for being the captain?

alSo who do you guys think that needs to be the captain? (Programmers, Electonics, Mechanics, Designers or The Organizing people like the Project Managers??

PS: (My ENglish is not so good sorry for that..)

you mite want to wait and see who has the best people skills,is opened, and gets along with others, and is well liked by your team.

[Maggie27]

Originally Posted by beemgruem

Hi, I am new at the competition and the FRC team, actually its our schools first robotics year.

In our team when we were talking about the captain and that stuff, I discovered that everybody wants to be the captain. We have not decided yet, Do you think should we decide who will be the captain before the kick off or when we see who are the best for being the captain?

alSo who do you guys think that needs to be the captain? (Programmers, Electonics, Mechanics, Designers or The Organizing people like the Project Managers??

PS: (My ENglish is not so good sorry for that..)

Welcome to FIRST & ChiefDelphi!! [:

Like someone has said before me, they have captains for each section, like the programmers, mechanics and so on. But we also have a main "Captain", who we really call the Team Leader. The Team Leader should be someone who knows a little bit of everything, such as design, mechanics, programming etc., or atleast has interest in learning the "jist" of it. He/she should also show team leadership skills, and should not be afraid to talk to anyone or go against what someone might be saying. Almost everyone on my team wanted to be the Captain also, but we knew who deserved it and who would carry it much better. We also have a Co-Team Leader, and co-team leaders in the smaller divisions as well. You should put in perspective the levels of experience some of your teammates might have as well.
Eventually you will figure out who should be where, and things will fall into place! [:

Hope this helped!!