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Team Structure

Team assumed: ~8 mentors, 12–20 students, ~6 highly involved. This document defines how a subteam operates, the team-wide roles, and mentor assignments — without prescribing which specific subteams to run. Actual subteam breakdown (drivetrain, scoring mechanism, software, electrical, business, etc.) gets decided year-to-year based on the game and available people.

Structure serves two goals: parallel progress, and clear ownership. If nobody's name is on a subsystem, nobody owns it.

Core Principle: Student-Led, Mentor-Guided

  • Students own decisions. Mentors ask questions, teach concepts, enforce safety and process.
  • Mentors do not build the robot. A mentor holding a wrench should have a student's hand next to theirs.
  • Students own the gate artifacts. Mentor signature confirms the artifact was reviewed, not authored.

Decision-Making

Decisions are made from numbers, not feelings. "It'll be fast" is not a decision — "cycle time <=6s per the Priority List" is. This applies at every level: subteam scope, mechanism choice, sponsor asks, driver picks.

  • Every decision cites its number. A target, a measurement, a Priority List rank, a budget line. If no number exists, the first task is to define one.
  • Disagreements resolve on data, not seniority. Student lead + mentor can both be wrong; the measurement can't.
  • When numbers don't exist yet, name the experiment or prototype that will produce them, and the deadline. Do not decide on vibes and backfill numbers later.
  • Feelings are inputs, not verdicts. "This feels risky" = go find the number that proves or disproves it.

See 01_strategy.md for numeric performance targets and the Priority List, and 07_gate_reviews.md for how gates enforce this at every stage.

How Any Subteam Operates

Every subteam — regardless of scope — has the same skeleton: one mentor, one student lead, and 1–3 additional students. Ownership is explicit; responsibilities do not float.

Student Subteam Lead

The senior student accountable for the subteam's deliverables.

Responsibilities:

  • Owns the subteam's gate artifacts and signs off before review.
  • Runs the subteam's day-to-day work: assigns tasks, tracks blockers, reports at stand-up.
  • Gatekeeper for the subteam's primary artifact (CAD file, code repo, schematic, sponsor tracker — whatever applies).
  • Decides technical direction with input from students and mentor. Mentor advises; lead decides.
  • Onboards rookies assigned to the subteam.

Needs from the team:

  • Clear scope at kickoff — what does this subteam own, what does it not?
  • Access to mentor time (regular, not just when things break).
  • Authority to say "no" or "not this year" on scope creep.

Subteam Mentor

The adult advisor paired with the subteam. Coaches, does not execute.

Responsibilities:

  • Teaches concepts and reviews student work.
  • Enforces safety and process within the subteam.
  • Reviews gate artifacts before the lead signs.
  • Escalates cross-subteam conflicts to the Lead Mentor.
  • Ensures rookies are learning, not just watching.

Needs from the team:

  • A defined subteam scope so they know what to coach on.
  • Backup coverage for meetings they miss.
  • Clear boundary: they advise the lead, they do not run the subteam.

Other Students in the Subteam

1–3 students working under the lead. Each owns at least one named component or deliverable by Week 3 (e.g., "owns the bumper mount", "owns the intake subsystem programmer role", "owns the sponsor thank-you pipeline"). No student is anonymous.

Subteam Naming Convention

When subteams are named for the year, use this template:

  • Focus: what does this subteam own end-to-end?
  • Primary artifact: the one file/doc/repo that represents "done".
  • Lead: student name.
  • Mentor: mentor name.
  • Members: student names + their owned component.

Team-Wide Roles (cross-subteam)

These roles cut across subteams. Usually a student holds each with a mentor advising.

  • Team Lead (student) — overall accountability. Runs stand-ups.
  • Strategy Lead — owns Priority List. Very active Week 1, then feeds scouting.
  • Purchasing Lead — owns BOM + order queue.
  • Scouting Lead — owns match strategy at events.
  • Safety Captain — mentor-supervised student, enforces shop safety.
  • Business / Impact Lead — first-class subteam lead if business is a subteam this year; otherwise a team-wide role.
  • Drivers + Coach — identified by end of Week 2.

On small teams these roles collapse: Strategy Lead may also be Team Lead; Purchasing Lead may be a mentor.

Mentor Assignments

Roughly one mentor per subteam, plus these team-wide mentor roles:

  • Lead Mentor — process enforcement, gate final signer, resolves cross-subteam conflicts.
  • Machinist / Fabrication Mentor — trains and gates shop-tool access.
  • Business / Finance Mentor — budget, sponsorships.
  • Safety Mentor — often same as Lead Mentor.

With ~8 mentors and 3–5 subteams, plenty of coverage. Rotate mentors year-to-year on subteams to spread knowledge and prevent single points of failure.

Onboarding

  • Pre-kickoff (fall): rookies do CAD tutorials (Onshape FRC courseware), tour the shop, learn safety, meet mentors.
  • Kickoff week: rookies pair with a Subteam Lead. No rookie is idle in Week 1.
  • First-year task: a rookie in each subteam owns at least one component by end of Week 3.

Meeting Cadence

  • Daily stand-up (10 min) during build season: each Subteam Lead reports blockers.
  • Weekly all-hands (30 min): week's goals + gate schedule.
  • Gate reviews: as scheduled (see 07_gate_reviews.md).
  • Retro after competition: whole team (see 10_retrospective.md).
Common Failure Modes
  • Titles without ownership. A "Lead" who is never in the artifact they supposedly own. Fix: every role has a named artifact they own.
  • Mentor writes the code / does the CAD. Students disengage. When mentors graduate/leave, knowledge walks.
  • Everyone on the loudest problem. Subteam structure exists so 3 problems get worked in parallel, not one at a time.
  • Rookies as spectators. They own nothing, they learn nothing, they don't come back next year.
  • Same 2 seniors on every gate. They burn out. Rotate subteam leads year over year.
  • Subteam scope undefined. If two subteams both think they own a part, neither does. Kickoff week: write down what each subteam owns.

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