Do Drive Team Personalities Influence Success?

[thefro526]

I had a discussion with a long time friend of mine on the way back from a trip a few days ago and we were talking about the future of our team and what we'd like to change for next year. We then got onto the topic of Drivers and Drive Teams and how some teams we've worked with this past year were cool and others weren't so cool. And we looked at our Drive Team this year versus those of the past and we noticed that this years team was very unique. We were all friends before we walked onto the field and we were friend when we walked off. My Friend and I contributed this fact to very compatible personalities.

So the question for the FIRST community is: Do You Believe Drive Team Personalities Influence Success? And by Drive teams I mean those on your own team and those on the teams you work with in matches.

[IbleedPink233]

Absolutely
It is possible to have awesome drivers that don't necessarily get along with each other or other drivers but still perform extremely well, but more important than the competition is the fact that the drivers won't be getting the FIRST experience if they aren't having fun and building relationships at the same time.

[ttldomination]

I believe that it is necessary to have drivers that communicate well. When you have an arm and a chassis, the two parts need to flow smoothly and if they don't then the robot won't work as well as if it had two smooth drivers.

Our drivers this year were OK with each other and there were many times when they got into arguements during driving. Those should've been avoided.

I believe drivers should be as cohesive as possible with each other.

[thefro526]

After thinking a little more I remembered something I told one of my mentors. I told him that you want the drive team to have excellent personal skills, a lot of charisma and to look good (by look good I mean represent the team well). I've tried to be on my best behavior while negotiating for matches and to be someone that people on my team can look up to.

[IBdrummer]

I think personality is one of the most important qualities drivers need to have and it can even be more important that skill at times. If drivers aren't able to comunicate effectively to each other and work as a team to control the robot efficiently, then they won't be able to drive the machine to its full potential. So, to have an effective drive team their personalities as individuls and a team greatly impact their ability to drive the robot and how they represent their team.

[chessking132]

It is my opinion that if the whole drive team works well together they are more likely to win a match. We all know being on the drive team is a very stressful position and any personal issue on the between the members can be amplified by the stress of the job. This is why i believe it is extremely important for the drive team, to work together and develop a strong relationship. It was my first year driving and the relationship that i developed with every one on the drive team will stay with me for the rest of my life. Because of this great bond we were able to remain positive after losing a match. The drive team also affects the moral of your team and how other teams view your team. Drivers that remain positive even when they know they are going to lose the next match is critical because if the team thinks they have a chance,then their moral will be higher. For me it is more important to keep the team happy and cheering then it is to win a match. the drive team also can greatly affect the view of your team to the FIRST community. I have worked with some teams that had drivers that do not know what they are doing, or do no have the best social skills and they come over kind of bossy. Theses behaviors negatively influence my opinion of the team. Finlay the most important thing to do is remember to have fun even if you hare in last place you succeeded at building a robot that is enough for me.

Matthew Simpson
Team 75 drivers

[nikeairmancurry]

Well as the driver for my team I do think that there are variuos qualities that your driver team needs to have.

For one me and my co-driver are best friends, so that took out the having to get along with someone new that you might not be able to communtioncate well with. The understanding that we have with each other takes away agurements and we both can understands what the other believes.

Then the coach is also important to have, because he/she can lift you up when you have a grim outlook on something. My coach Kevin is a very undertstanding person and you can really relate to him and all teams need that coach that can discuss with you and your team what your doing wrong and what you are doing right. A great example, I saw this in at atlanta, Team 67 after very match had a meeting and their coach talked to them about everything that happened in the match and placed great confinced in the drivers which you want to have from a mentor.

Our only problem now is for next year, I'm gonna need a new co-driver By best freind adam is Granduating

Sorry for spelling errors

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by nikeairmancurry

Our only problem now is for next year, I'm gonna need a new co-driver By best freind adam is Granduating

Sorry to hear that, our driver is graduating this year too. I'm next in line to fill the position assuming I'm not absolutely horrid at it and I think I'm going to get as many kids as possible try operating to replace me. That's why off season competitions are so great. They give old drive teams more time to bond and hone their skills while providing a stress free (IRI doesn't count) environment to learn in.

[Akash Rastogi]

thefro

you and danny are going ot be awesome as drivers next year. and yea, team dynamics and relationships totally influence how you perform. its really simple: if your drive teams aren't willing to be friendly and work together/communicate well, you won't win with that attitude.

Can't wait to work with and play against you guys again.

[Jeff K.]

It can never be said enough, communication is one of the biggest factors. If no one is talking, no one is knowing what the other person is thinking. A driver that is argumentative also doesn't help. I remember my freshman year, as operator, the driver kept yelling at the coach to shut up, which was not his job...we weren't very successful. The coach role is quite possibly the most important part because you may have an amazing driver and an equally amazing operator, but if there is no connection they'll just fall apart and be out of sync.

Both also need to keep up with each other. The slowest person will bring the team down. The whole drive team needs to work together to understand each other better, even if it's just at a few team meals, understanding each other to get a connection helps a lot.

[hallk]

It is called a team for a reason; they need to function as one. Drivers need to be able to make quick decisions. Drivers should also be able to support their decisions especially when facing heat from the team after a match. They must be able to communicate well with their team and others. There is a fine line that drivers need to balance between being too passive and too aggressive. Drivers need to know the limits of their machine (being able to do quick fixes is also helpful). I have found that drive teams are not as effective unless each driver is able to do those things.

[JesseK]

From what I've seen in 2 years of coaching, personality influences the experience while maturity and desire influence success. 2 years ago our drivers and human player were very mature and we were fairly successful in every match.

This year's chassis driver was somewhat intraverted yet very focused and driven. The manipulator driver was very extraverted and knew the mechanical components of the bot better than he knew the back of his hand. We had much more success in interacting with many teams this year than we did last year, but last year we technically have a better win/loss ratio. This year's lack of field success was more due to technical difficulties than driving though. I guess it really depends on your view of "success". The first time we hurdled after a grueling season, I considered Atlanta to be a huge success.

This also reminds me that we have a "tribal dance" video recorded in Atlanta that needs to go up on youtube...

[Nica F.]

Having all friends on drive team of course seems like a good thing, for all the getting along purposes, having more fun, good vibe etc. But on our team we make it clear that business is business. Don't take any personal feelings onto the field. You work with your teammates, everyone is on your team, so you in fact have to work with everyone.

It's all about the respect. Everyone on drive team has to respect one another, the HP/Robocoach, operator and driver have to respect the Coach and also each other.

I have been in situations before in which everyone on drive team weren't exactly my best friends, but you deal with it, you need to get the job done, and we did just as fine as we did with people I was friends with "before getting on the field" per say. In fact, I think being on drive team with these people actually may have brought me a little closer to them (looks back to 9th grade haha).

-My 2 cents and reflection on my own team.,
Nica

[JoshD]

I believe that what kind of personality a drive team member has is a huge factor on your success. Our main driver was being extremely stubborn this year since he is also a programmer and the IR board wasn't working.

When he stopped taking suggestions from other people, I had to step in and remove him from a few matches (with consent from our team leader). We did put him back in after a he had a few matches to calm down.

Overall, our performance was definitely reflected with our drive team cohesion.