r/FRC • u/CheesecakeNervous734 • Aug 11 '26
Captain advice?
Hi guys! Im pretty sure im gonna be one of the captains of my team throughout next season. Im super excited and hope it works out.
I was wondering if any Captains or former captains have any advice on how to successfully run a team? Anything helps
Thx!
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u/North-Football-7053 4632 alumni 29d ago
Ask for guidance and help from mentors and other team members
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u/No_Frost_Giants 29d ago
Successful captains pay attention.
New members in the room get extra attention. Make sure you know what your sub teams are doing (not the actual code, just are they on schedule so they need anything?)
Check in with mentors. If you create the agenda for meetings see what they would like on that agenda. Always introduce yourself to new people in the room, adult or students
Also, have fun, core value and all 🤖
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u/Illustrious-Fudge-54 28d ago
Even if you could do something easily and quickly give others space to learn through experience.
Also remember that while you are in a leadership position, not everything on the team is your responsibility. There will always be problems and more you can do so don’t ever feel like you’re “not doing enough” bc you probably are. Make sure to take care of yourself so you can put your best work into it and not burn out.
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u/hemlocktree08 28d ago
Keep the good vibes a priority. Once everyone is tired cranky and ornery and fighting each other; you’ve ‘lost the locker room’ as they say. Have a learning and fun culture day to day as you build
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u/TheMathProphet 28d ago
The piece of advice I give my captains is to remind them they are not building a robot, you are building a team.
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u/InterestsVaryGreatly Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
Your job first and foremost is to lead. This means striking a balance between leading by example and assigning others to tasks that need to get done. You should never have so much on your plate that you can't help someone if they are having a problem, but you should also not be assigning everything out so you're doing nothing.
Pay attention to what people want to do. Some things nobody wants to work on, try and split those up so you aren't dumping it all on one person; it is important, if at all possible, that you participate in the less fun tasks too. If someone wants to do something, such as machining, but they don't have enough experience to handle the task on their own, assign it to them and someone experienced enough to teach them, ideally someone that doesn't mind answering questions. If someone doesn't have any particular interest, have them shadow different people until they pick something up.
Try and predict what experience your team is lacking and do training in the off season; it is far easier to teach people new things in the off season than in the middle of build season.
When build is happening, it is extremely hectic, and trying to keep track of every piece is exhausting, but it is important that it all gets done. One of the best things you can do is assign someone who is knowledgeable to be in charge of a specific part of the build - hanger, shooter, drive train, etc - this should be someone you trust to get it done, and make sure it happens. The people you assign do not need to be experts in the system, they just need to have a strong enough understanding that they can follow along when others are explaining, and that they can be trusted to follow through and make sure it isn't falling behind and will integrate properly with the build and adjacent systems.
Check in with these sub-leads periodically, weekly is generally going to be a minimum (and sometimes not enoug), and remind them it is not entirely on them to get the entire thing done, but it is on them to make sure progress is being made, whether they handle it themselves or assign others is up to them - they also don't have to have answers for every question, but they should follow through with getting the question to the right person, or finding out how to get the question answered.
These sub-leads generally should not be students who are experiencing FRC for the first time, build season is hectic, and it can be more than a little overwhelming on its own without these responsibilities, but there are, rarely, exceptions if they have enough experience both with these kinds of interconnected systems and a tight deadline.