Project Management | Robotics PM Advice

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around project management strategies within a high school robotics team, specifically regarding the decision-making process for selecting a launch method for a t-shirt cannon. Participants explore the role of subject matter experts (SMEs) in engineering decisions and the dynamics of team leadership and collaboration.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • One participant emphasizes the importance of consulting the SME before dismissing a design option, arguing that it could lead to better outcomes in terms of time, complexity, and cost.
  • Concerns are raised about the mentor's reluctance to involve the expert, with implications that this could hinder the team's potential success.
  • Another participant shares a personal anecdote about a previous robotics team experience, suggesting that team dynamics and leadership can significantly impact project outcomes.
  • There is a suggestion that team members may sometimes conform to leadership decisions out of convenience rather than engaging in constructive debate.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the importance of involving SMEs in decision-making. While some support the idea of consulting experts, others reflect on past experiences where team dynamics led to decisions being made without full consensus or expert input.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights the challenges of balancing leadership authority with collaborative decision-making in a team setting. There are references to personal experiences that may not directly relate to the technical aspects of project management but provide insight into team dynamics.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to project managers, robotics team members, and individuals involved in engineering education who are navigating team dynamics and decision-making processes.

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Hey, I know this forum is filled with engineers so I want to really get other peoples opinion whether you should ask your Subject Matter Expert on a team if they are an expert and it is their profession in engineering. For example, I am the project manager of my high school robotics team. We are choosing between wheel based launch method and pneumatics for tshirt cannon. Our more aggressive mentor (who is an IT guy btw), says pneumatics will take longer, is more complicated, and will cost more. My main problem with those concerns is we haven't even brought in our expert in the subject matter. From my understanding in a professional team of engineers you would bring in the foremost expert on the issue before you throw out a design that could end up being better (less time, equal or less complexity, equal or less cost) if you have that resource available (we have a ME on the mentor team). So at our brainstorm meeting he wanted to throw out our pneumatics design without consulting the expert. I put my foot down to do what's best for the team and bring in our expert. Opinions from engineers or physics/engineering majors.

P.S: Our ME is on business leave and I am going to proceed with the two wheel based designs but leave the pneumatics one open if our SME is able to give us his opinion and crunch some ballpark numbers we can then make a decision based on facts and non-bias based on what the SME says.
 
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Good for you. Average people cave.
 
cellurl said:
Good for you. Average people cave.
I am going to assume I am being trolled by that response?
 
no not at all. I don't type much. Its my problem. My son was in robotics last year. A woman took control as mentor and every night I heard grumbling of how they disagreed with her taking all the jobs for herself. One guy on the team was (like you?) was going to oust her, but in the end, they all went along with her out of lazyness/contrition? Anyway, people get what they fight for. Perhaps I am off topic at this point. Either way, you will have some experience with project management...
 
cellurl said:
no not at all. I don't type much. Its my problem. My son was in robotics last year. A woman took control as mentor and every night I heard grumbling of how they disagreed with her taking all the jobs for herself. One guy on the team was (like you?) was going to oust her, but in the end, they all went along with her out of lazyness/contrition? Anyway, people get what they fight for. Perhaps I am off topic at this point. Either way, you will have some experience with project management...
You're not off topic :). I appreciate the advice/story as that is similar to my situation. (one situation being the advisor/teacher and the other being the non-engineering mentor). I guess I have to continue to fight the system. :/ Thanks again!
 

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