!!!HELP!!! My team is not motivated

[anonymous_robot]

I would like to open saying that i have created this account to protect my own, and my teams identity from both my team and others. I will say that i am a third year student on a relatively old team for a little context.

In the last few month I feel like my team has gone down hill. I am saddened to say that I feel ashamed of how we/they have been behaving over all. Our team and our school has a policy that you can not exclude member from a club/team making it so anyone can join. I am a strong supporter of this policy however I feel that it has lead to an influx of member that see robotics as a casual activity and not so thing that requires dedication. This has lead to a proliferation of this attitude through out the leadership on our team. While we are a team for 40-50 students the amount of students that do measurable work that can not be done by others and show up to most meeting ended up being just about 20 of us. Of that twenty an even smaller percentage leads by example. All the other student socialize and play games. At competition these last few year my team has been a little loud, in the good way, we were spirited, always asking who needed help. This year a majority of the freshmen and sophomores would congrats in front of our pit blocking traffic, in addition they would be telling inappropriate jokes. A portion of the senior are also very apathetic to every thing. I am truly at a loss for what to do. I would love others input so that I can help turn my team around.

[Ichlieberoboter]

Sometimes you really just need to confront the problem. When I was the captain of an FLL team, I had the same problem. I used to love FLL, but I started to hate it because I couldn't stand that nobody on my team behaved and actually did anything. I regret that I never actually confronted the problem and ended the season bitter about FLL and certain I would not do it again (which I didn't). I would suggest having a team meeting and talking to everyone about how you feel. Coaches and mentors are also a very important part of this. Try to make sure all know how you feel and can help back you up. Try to share the fact that you really want to do well and really compete, and it is really hard to do that when people are acting the way they are. I know that answer is kind of cliché, but that really is how I feel.

[The other Gabe]

my team similarly allows anyone to join (providing they pay club dues and have an ASB card). However, if they do not volunteer at a certain number of events (like the Washington Girls gen that we put on- if we can't staff it with our team, it's really hard to do), and are not present enough during build season, the club offers them no help in paying for hotel costs at our events, and they aren't eligible for scholarships through the team. they can still go to those events, but must pay for it with no assistance.

we also have a culture through the senior members of working hard while having fun, which helps

[robochick1319]

Originally Posted by anonymous_robot

I would like to open saying that i have created this account to protect my own, and my teams identity from both my team and others. I will say that i am a third year student on a relatively old team for a little context.

In the last few month I feel like my team has gone down hill. I am saddened to say that I feel ashamed of how we/they have been behaving over all. Our team and our school has a policy that you can not exclude member from a club/team making it so anyone can join. I am a strong supporter of this policy however I feel that it has lead to an influx of member that see robotics as a casual activity and not so thing that requires dedication. This has lead to a proliferation of this attitude through out the leadership on our team. While we are a team for 40-50 students the amount of students that do measurable work that can not be done by others and show up to most meeting ended up being just about 20 of us. Of that twenty an even smaller percentage leads by example. All the other student socialize and play games. At competition these last few year my team has been a little loud, in the good way, we were spirited, always asking who needed help. This year a majority of the freshmen and sophomores would congrats in front of our pit blocking traffic, in addition they would be telling inappropriate jokes. A portion of the senior are also very apathetic to every thing. I am truly at a loss for what to do. I would love others input so that I can help turn my team around.

Out of curiosity, does your school require you to let every student travel for competitions? I understand not denying a student access to the club, but traveling for any school organization is considered a privilege. Your team, school, and teachers are taking a huge liability taking kids out of school and traveling with them to regional competitions so students have to "earn" that privilege by proving that they are really committed to the program.

Another option is to recruit more parents/mentors/volunteers to improve the adult to student ratio. Then you can assign teams with clear roles so that people aren't crowding the pit all the time and in fact are staying busy.

I think everyone struggles with team members who aren't always pulling their weight. I have found that if you can create a solid structure with sub-teams, roles, goals, and leaders you can gain at least some control. Team building activities and meetings are important to share the issues and work on solutions as a team.

Reaching out to your school about your concerns can also help. I doubt they would want bad behavior to represent their school so they may be willing to help.

[GeeTwo]

The policy that no one can be excluded from a team is certainly peculiar. Does the football team have the same policy, really? Anyone who doesn't show up, or shows up and doesn't dress out, or doesn't do the drills gets to stay on the team?

One of the first things we did once our team got larger than about 30 members was to create the "varsity" vs "junior varsity" distinction. The bottom line was that varsity members got to take the "field trip" to competition on Thursday and Friday. This provided a good bit of incentive for those on the fence.

This year, when we had more than about 50 applicants (our build space is a biology classroom, and 50 is packed, especially when it's cold out and the grinding moves indoors), we implemented a tryout system. Selections were made primarily on attitude, not aptitude. This helps ensure that even those people who still have a long way to go to contribute aren't serving as a distraction. The attitude of our team this year was massively improved from previous years.

Even if you can't actually exclude members from the team, make as many things as you can dependent on real participation. This includes varsity (field trip), "lettering" in robotics, and any other recognitions you can think of, such as designation as an officer (looks great on a college application) and so forth. While it's certainly not the best way to go about this, you may be down to implementing "constructive termination", in which you encourage those who participate and call out those who do not to such an extent that they quit.

[anonymous_robot]

These are some good idea. To clarify we can exclude people from the team but no one wants to. We do have travel requirements but they are so minimal that every one is assumed they are meeting. We also have a school policy that any one who wants to travel but can not afford so has to be funded by the team, if the team can't afford to pay for them then we can't travel. I have suggested a tighter requirement for travel but no one seems to consider it, it may be because of the time of year.

[Ichlieberoboter]

That's unfortunate. Travel is costly. Maybe you could set a fundraising requirement so they have to raise a certain amount of money to travel? That way you could make sure you aren't sending too much of the team's funds on travel.

[IronicDeadBird]

What is your adult situation? How many mentors or teachers do you have to regulate this number of students?

[anonymous_robot]

Originally Posted by IronicDeadBird

What is your adult situation? How many mentors or teachers do you have to regulate this number of students?

We have between 14-18 mentors.

[Rachel Lim]

First, I understand your frustration, but please try to calm down. If/when you approach someone on your team about this, whether it's a mentor, a teacher, a parent, or other students, it will be easier for everyone to communicate if you can explain your concerns logically.

Now for some possible solutions:

1. Talk to adults on your team. Have you explained the situation to any mentors/teachers? Often, any real change in team values need to come from (or at least be encouraged by) the adults in a team. If they agree with you, they may be able to help you push your team in a new direction. If they disagree or don't really care, it will be difficult to change your team, but at least you will know where they stand on the issues you'd like to address.

2. Talk to other students on your team. Are there other students that have the same issues with the way your team is run? By working together you'll have more influence (and if it doesn't work, at least you'll know someone else is on your side).

3. List out the main problems you've noticed, and anything that could be influencing them. For example, you mentioned having students sitting around. Are they also unwilling to work if someone directly asks them for a project, or are they just unsure of what they could do? Having a clear list of projects that need to be completed and trying to mix those who know how to lead those projects with those who are still learning makes it easier for everyone to participate. It may also help everyone focus and understand there's always something to do.

4. For competition, have you tried a rotation schedule? My team has a policy of rotating everyone through pit, scouting, and spirit (with a few exceptions) so hopefully no one is stuck with something they really dislike the entire time. Are the freshman and sophomores you mentioned standing around looking for something to do, or are they not interested in working on anything at all? Also, from what I've seen, a well organized scouting team can take lots of people (if you want good statistical data), so that could keep some of your members busy. We generally have one student per team and two other students that organize the sheets for a total of at least 8 scouters at all times.

5. Try doing some offseason projects/events. I've found that by having more offseason projects, students joining have a better idea of what they'll be experiencing during build season. It can also help motivate everyone. And at least for me, it made build season a bit less confusing and meant I could contribute more.

Good luck, and I hope you're able to find a solution.

[IronicDeadBird]

The resources needed for 40-50 students plus 14-18 mentors hasn't sorted this problem out yet? That is truly impressive. If you have the capability of supporting that team size then prioritize organizing and structuring the team in a way where activity leads to productivity.

[YAK'ker]

Our team is also having one of "those" years. It's difficult to get members motivated, especially when many of them have never attended a competition.

We try to elect 2 good Co-Presidents (because, frankly, it's too much for one person) and a bevy of support officers. The Chief Engineer, Chief Programmer, and Chief Electrician are all officers appointed by the mentors and co-Presidents. It's tough to get a slate of officers who also have strong delegation skills, because that's something that usually only gets developed when students have been part of other organizations in the past (Scouts, 4-H, ROTC, etc.)

As a mentor I walk the line between empowering and nagging, and the line gets really blurry when there's so much to do. I want our officers to be the ones in charge, but they sometimes don't want to be team cops. I try to figure out when I need to jump in, but mostly I confer with the officers, ask them what we need to do to get the group working together, and let them handle it. I may have to call someone out who is being disrespectful and undermining their authority. It helps that one of our other mentors is an ex-WWWF wrestler, for sure.

[anonymous_robot]

Originally Posted by IronicDeadBird

The resources needed for 40-50 students plus 14-18 mentors hasn't sorted this problem out yet? That is truly impressive. If you have the capability of supporting that team size then prioritize organizing and structuring the team in a way where activity leads to productivity.

I think part of the problem is that the team went from 7 to 50ish in just two years. Thus we have not had time to perfect a system and that has carried over.