Team Rules

[Joe J.]

Here is 862's Team Manual its divided into several small handbooks

Team Handbook - general rules, etc.
Safety Handbook - Safety rules, and training
Officer & Team Leader Handbook - Rules for Team leadership
Officer Contracts
Hours Card policy - timekeeping rules
Style Guide - image rules
RPM By-Laws - By-Laws for our booster club

[Tom Line]

The first rule to making rules is:

1. Every rule must be measureable in some fashion.

For instance, saying that all team members must "work hard" is inadequate and unlikely to generate any meaningful results.

Saying that all team members must belong to x number of committees, must report out on that comittee X number of times during the season, must be qualified on X number of tools in the workshop, and must attend X percent of meetings is something you can actually measure.

Stick to that rule and you'll probably do just fine.

Editted to add:
P.S. - this same rule applies to interviews and performance reviews in the real world. Don't ever let a boss tell you that you've done a "poor job". Insist on a meaningful description along with measurable requirements for you to work to so you can improve. There are unfortunately times at which you'll end up working for a vindictive jerk in the real world and if you insist on measurable goals then you have a fallback if he tries to play the "I just don't like you" card. So far I haven't had to deal with this situation, but it will happen at some point in my career.

[Mew187]

Thanks for the suggestions! The meeting went great! Good Luck to everyone and see you at the Pittsburgh regional.

[Engineer]

Many of the teams have handbooks. One of the hanbooks I liked my rookie year was the TechnoKats http://www.technokats.org/handbook.php. Look at what the more experienced teams are doing and follow their lead.