People and meetings
Share responsibility, teach each other, and leave a clear record of the work.
A team works better when everyone knows what they are doing and who can help. Give each task a person responsible for finishing it, while making room for others to learn.
Share the work
These are areas of work, not permanent job titles:
| Area | Typical tasks |
|---|---|
| Building | Assemble the frame, make , and check . |
| Programming | Write code, configure devices, and investigate errors. |
| Use computer-aided design to model parts and check their fit. | |
| Testing and driving | Run repeatable trials, practise controls, and record problems. |
| Documentation | Keep photographs, decisions, test results, and drafts. |
| and finance | Plan community activities, contact supporters, and track costs. |
Computer-aided design (CAD) means using to make accurate drawings and models. Documentation is the record that explains your work. A portfolio is a short selection of that work prepared for .
Let new members try several areas before choosing a main one. Avoid making one student the only person who can program, use CAD, or find the team's files. Ask each person to teach someone else one task they know well.
A captain coordinates the team. That can mean checking priorities, helping people talk to each other, and noticing when work is stuck. It does not mean making every decision or doing everyone else's work.
Give tasks a clear finish
“Work on the ” is difficult to plan around. An intake is a mechanism that collects game objects. A clearer task is: “Build a cardboard guide for the intake and test whether it collects the object from three approach angles.”
For each task, write:
- What needs to be done.
- Who is responsible and who is helping.
- What equipment or information it needs.
- What result will show it is finished.
A dependency is something that must happen before another task can proceed. Programmers need the final names and connections. Builders need the size of the part a CAD student is designing. Tell each other when those details change.
Run a useful meeting
A 90-minute meeting could look like this. Adjust it for your supervision, room access, and school timetable.
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| First 10 minutes | Share the goal, check safety, and assign the work. |
| Next 55 minutes | Build, code, design, or practise in small groups. |
| Next 15 minutes | Test together and show what changed. |
| Last 10 minutes | Save files, write notes, clean up, and agree the next tasks. |
Reserve time for the people working on different parts to test them together. means bringing those parts together into one working system. A lift that works on a table may collide with a cable once mounted on the robot.
Keep phones and computers available for work, photographs, and reference material. Agree together how to avoid distractions instead of inventing a rule nobody follows.
Handle disagreement
When two ideas compete, agree what matters: cost, time, weight, space, or success rate. Test the uncertain part if you can. A small experiment is often more useful than a long argument.
Explain the decision and record the reason. If an idea is rejected because the team cannot build it in time, say that. Do not tell the student their idea was bad when the real problem was the schedule.
Tell a trusted adult about bullying, unsafe behavior, or anything that makes you uncomfortable. A good team makes it possible to ask a basic question without being mocked.