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Part #4: Communication | SUMMER ROBOTICS: Tips and Tricks for Your Team

  • ftc18094bbni
  • Jul 18, 2021
  • 4 min read

Updated: Jun 18, 2022

Well, we've given a lot of tips on how to get your team going with different roles and having meetings, but we haven't given our tips for how to let your team know what your thinking and make sure they understand. A team without communication isn't a team; it's just a bunch of robotics nerds running around with awesome ideas that nobody knows about. There's a lot that goes into communication and it's tricky to master (our team struggled a lot with communication this past season), but hopefully we can give your team a head start with a few tips!

Tip #1: Use an online platform

You don't want to be talking to your teammates only when you pass them at school or at your meetings. There is a lot that can happen in the time between your meetings, and the whole team needs to be updated on a regular basis with your next meeting dates and the general happenings of the team. Our team moved between several online platforms to help with communication, but there are a ton of good apps and websites. Some options your team can explore include:


Your team will probably want a place to organize chat or text threads and to host those super useful online meetings (see SUMMER ROBOTICS Part #3: Meeting Musts for tips about meetings). Many of these apps include both and are available on mobile and desktop devices, but we encourage you to test them out and see what works best for your team.


Tip #2: Include your coaches and parents in your conversations

Part of inclusion, one of FIRST's core values, is making sure everyone is included (duh!). This includes your coaches and parents. If your coaches don't know what the team is doing, then they can't help you prepare for competition or build your robot. Coaches are very valuable to any team and they don't deserve to be left out of your conversations. Same thing with parents. You probably won't get a ride to your team's next meeting without letting your parents know. Keep all the adults in the loop and remember that there is still a lot your team can't do without your coaches, mentors, parents, sponsors, etc. and they deserve to know what is happening in your team. They also deserve a big thank you every now and then, so don't forget that either!


Tip #3: Use polling/voting/reaction features

Online communication platforms have a bunch of neat features that are sometimes very useful. One of the most useful our team found was the polling features on some of the apps listed above. It's a simple way to ask who is coming to the next meeting and things like that. Some of the apps don't have polls, but you can creatively use the thumbs up and thumbs down and other reactions for the same effect. So you could say "thumbs up if you're going and thumbs down if you aren't" and then your entire team can see who will be there and who won't. If the app your team is using has some similar features or other features that are convenient and improve your team's communication, use them! Don't leave any resource untouched!


Tip #4: Talk it out during meetings

Seems obvious, right? Nope! There are a thousand ways to say the same thing and there are a thousand ways to mean different things with the same sentence. You need to make sure explain what you mean so that everyone understands. Don't say things like "Next time we need to...". When's next time? Tomorrow? Next week? Next season? Be efficient with your words and get the point across clearly and efficiently. This is more than a skill for FTC and it comes more naturally to some people than to others. Take your time and you will eventually learn how it works, so don't get discouraged if you have to explain because nobody knows what you are talking about. The worst thing that can happen is for you to not explain when nobody knows what you're talking about; that just leaves your teammates confused.


Tip #5: Have a casual group chat and casual conversation during meetings

This goes right along with our last tip from our post on Meeting Musts (SUMMER ROBOTICS: Part #3). FTC is supposed to be the fun part of your middle and high school career. You can't have fun when it's always serious and business-like. Set aside time for hanging out and just being friends with your teammates. You can do this in your communication with each other too by creating a group chat for casual conversations (like complaining about all the homework that one teacher is assigning!). Our team has a separate group chat thread that is all random stuff and our team members just hanging out. I think that's where we've bonded the most if I'm being honest, and I highly highly recommend a similar chat for every FTC team.

Be on the lookout for our next blog post with more tips and tricks next week about setting goals for your team. We hope you enjoy this SUMMER ROBOTICS series and put some of these tips to good use with your FTC team.

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