Senait Nuguse / team leadership, management, bonding

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Question 1: Some members join the team and become very dedicated core members, while others drop off after a term or two. How do we motivate more members to become dedicated to the team?

This is common and something that can’t be helped as some people simply won’t find the team the right fit. However some things that can be done to make it as easy as possible for members to commit to the team:

• Social events (they did movie nights (solar car racing movie called ‘Race to the Sun’) and getting lunch as a team)

• Putting new members on projects with more experienced members so they can work together and learn from them

• Giving an easier project as the first task so that members are not overwhelmed and get a sense of accomplishment

Question 2: You were the Electrical Team Lead and later the Team Manager for the University of Kentucky Solar Car team, what sort of responsibilities did you have in those roles and what did you learn from them?

The most important thing learned from being Electrical Team Lead was that passing down knowledge was just as important as the work being done on the car. The previous electrical team largely graduated and because there weren’t many resources my team had to relearn many lessons.

As the Team Manager I saw the importance of the team’s culture. I saw many people be excluded and eventually leave the team from the beginning of one term to the end. I think it’s important to place an emphasis on being welcoming to everyone.

Question 3: How different is being a leader on a school team vs. in the work force? Is the dynamic different?

It’s definitely very different. In our school team everyone felt relatively comfortable bringing up their worries, frustrations, and different perspectives to team leaders. While we had a ‘hierarchy’ at the end of the day we were all classmates/students so the dynamic wasn’t so defined. However in the corporate world its much more difficult to bring up your opinions, especially doubts or worries about a project. There is a lot more tip toeing at a large company.

Question 4: I saw that you went from electrical engineering to analyst, did your roles in the solar car team inspire you in changing your career decision?

I had done some engineering co-ops and I didn’t feel like I had such a large effect on the company. I also found from my time on the solar car team that I was largely interested in the data analysis part of engineering. So this ultimately brought me to my job as an analyst for United Airlines. As for the mechanical side of engineering, I do my tinkering at home. So even though I don’t have a job that is completely in the realm of engineering, I can still scratch that itch with my 3D printer.