Management Team Tutorial / Information
Hey guys,
Now that the year has started and this year's management team has started to get some pieces of the puzzle into place, I wanted to take some time and record some general knowledge within a management team; along with some areas to remember as a new management team.
When you are a brand new member to the management team it is difficult to understand what needs to be done and any deadlines you need to abide by. Hopefully this "post" will help future management teams get off the ground running!
Mass Emails:
If your team doesn't know when an event is happening, how could any members possibly show up? Questions like this are exactly why the UberBots mass email system exists. When an event is about a month away, send a mass email letting parents and team members know what is going on. To learn more about our procedures for mass emails, along with other processes, please click here.
Events:
When planning for an event, there are a few key items to remember:
Mentors: You can't have an event or a meeting without one.
Attendance roster: Ask who can attend each event and at what times, otherwise you may be alone at an event (no fun)...
Remember permission slips, transportation (bus), and food.
Competitions:
Bash at the Beach: Usually the beginning to mid October, make sure you get a gift basket ready prior to the competition. Use donated items or purchase items that coordinate with a theme. Around $75.
Don't just focus on the drive team!! The rest of the team is just as crucial! (ie: scouting and spirit)
Management Emails:
These are critical to your success. If you can outline what event / fundraiser / meeting agendas in chronological order it makes it much easier to prepare and execute your "plan." Also, after each event send a summary email, and outline what the plan for the next week -> month will look like.
Here is an example of inter management emails from right after Avon Day 2010:
"Hey guys,
Avon day was a huge success. All throughout morning we had many interested parents whose younger children were very interested in the program.
We visited every booth and dropped off a brochure and a spoke about our program. In addition to the brochure we drove the 2008 robot past all of the booths using the inverter, which attracted quite a few people to our booth.
We presented on stage from 3-3:30 with a captive audience, Lauren, Justin, Matt H, and I spoke about FIRST, preseason, build season, awards, and how people can support our team.
As for team members in attendance we had 7 or 8 that stayed all day and a few who stopped by either in the morning or in the afternoon.
Moving to our To Do list for this week... Here are a few keys things we need to focus on:
1. Management members attending the school activities fair TOMORROW during all four lunches.
2.Entrance basket for B@B, what to include, where to get it from.
3. Driver selection for B@B, hopefully Thursday night we can have a Driver Tryout and select 2 or 3 teams of drivers for the event.
4. Double check with Mr. Sunblade about our transportation situation
5. Fundraisers and the trip along Route 44 for donations, this needs to be arranged asap. (I have compiled an Assets/Liabilities spreadsheet for usto discuss at some point...)
6. Registering for the regional (Opens September 30th, and i don't think we [the students] can do that)
Just as a side note, Ameya, can you either post the minutes for Avon Day or use a derivation of the notes above?
Thanks,
Name Here"
What we’ve learned
-Recruitment should be a high priority and should be focused on towards the end of the year and over the summer.
-Visit the middle school during the day sometime in the spring
-Talk to the incoming freshmen class at step-up day and orientation
-Make personal connections with interested freshmen.
-Include freshmen especially during first few meetings in interesting activity, with long speeches.
-Be interesting and fun
-Create a nice balance between fundraisers and robodemos.
-space them out throughout the pre-season and plan them out
-Don’t wait until the last minute to plan stuff
-Make a to-do list for the week ahead and follow up on it
-Delegate jobs and assign responsibilities
-Make management in-person meetings over the summer and establish weekly teleconferences
-Find a place to print brochures and do it ahead of time
-Make sure you have a practice space
-Decide which awards the team wants to go for and don’t save them all for build season
-Do stuff for the community (pay it forward)
-Update all team necessities well before build season
-ie: safety stuff
-cleanup day
-Handbook
-Tri-Fold
Money Handling
Steps to follow after a successful fundraiser:
1. Two members of management must count money raised at every event. (Treasurer and President)
2. Record amount raised in ledger
3. Place funds in a sealed envelope. (Include Date, total money enclosed, and a description of funds)
4. Signature of treasurer on envelope
5. Give envelope to Mrs. Muller the next business day
Other Tips
-Make sure you double count every fundraisers donations, having an accurate number is critical!
-Record all transactions in the ledger immediately after an event, otherwise you may forget which event the money came from.
-NEVER leave money in the cash box! (unless it is pizza Money!)
