By Ian Brown
Student groups can make or break the college experience. Many have had experiences in student groups that have had lackluster communication, poor management, and no follow-through. How can one build a student group that provides a better experience for its members? Here in the AIAA Liquid Rocket Initiative, we have learned some tools that have helped us to build a student organization that can consistently execute on its goals.
1. Focus on tangible progress and deliverables
Since its inception, our group has placed an emphasis on starting simple. Starting simple allows us to move quickly through the design process, and to get something in hand that we can use to advertise ourselves to sponsors and to potential members. This way, we lay the groundwork for future progress while challenging but not overwhelming ourselves.
The big problem with student groups is that your most experienced members are the ones who are closest to graduation. Any project that takes longer than a year is doomed to delays, as many of the people who started it will be gone. Each person in our group is expected to finish what they started. For this reason, we have restricted the timescale of each of our projects to one year, maximum.
2. Define clear expectations and responsibilities
A clear accountability structure is necessary for the success of any organization. Every single member in your organization needs to know exactly what they are responsible for, and what each other member is responsible for. Clearly defined responsibilities remove communication bottlenecks, make it easier for leaders to follow up, and give each member personal motivation to do a good job. Additionally, clear responsibilities give members experience managing something on their own—a necessary skill for them to develop if they are going to take the reins after the current leaders graduate.
How does one establish clear responsibilities for each member of the organization? The best way we have found to do this is to have expectation-defining one-on-ones with each member. In these conversations, we communicate a prioritized list of goals for the person’s assignment, a suggested course of action, and a deadline. This creates a framework by which we can follow up later. The follow-up allows us to correct misunderstandings that may have arisen from the initial conversation and adjust the plan based on new information. Knowing that there will be a follow-up provides a strong motivation for your people to do good work.
3. Create an environment where your people feel like they belong
In a strong team, people know that they can make decisions and take risks without fear of ostracization. This allows for the team to develop a culture where each member can push independently, removing bottlenecks that would arise from a bureaucratic approval structure. The question is, how does one build an environment like this where the members feel psychologically safe, while at the same time adhering to a strict level of accountability? The key is to push members in a way that makes them feel included—the leader needs to be on the lookout for members who are isolating themselves from the rest of the team.
Three things can cause members to isolate themselves: not understanding what they are supposed to do, feeling like they aren’t contributing, and feeling like they cannot be themselves around their fellow members. It falls on the leader to prevent these situations as much as possible and to address them quickly when they arise.
The first of these situations, ambiguity, can be addressed with the expectation-defining conversations discussed earlier. If it becomes clear that a member has a vague idea of what they are supposed to be doing, someone needs to step in to add clarity. In the case where a member feels like they aren’t contributing, action must be taken to give them more ownership over work. It is important that they are given work that has a real bearing on the success of the group—busy work will not suffice to make people feel included. Lastly, so that people feel like they can be themselves, the leader needs to create safe spaces where people feel that they are free of judgment. When the leader takes initiative to be open about their mistakes and to request feedback from their members, this signals to the entire team that it is OK to not have all of the answers, to point out misjudgments, and to try things that might not work.
The challenge of leadership is to create an environment where team members are accountable for their work while feeling safe enough to take risks. If too much emphasis is placed on accountability, there is a risk of creating a toxic work environment. If too much emphasis is placed on cohesiveness, there is a risk of creating a culture where everyone feels good, but nothing gets done. It is the leader’s responsibility to keep these balanced.
In a student organization, the high turnover rate increases the difficulty of maintaining a strong leadership culture. For this reason, it is super important that every member of the group demonstrates strong leadership and takes responsibility for their contribution to the culture. If each member sees clear evidence that this approach generates results, then everyone will be highly motivated to perpetuate this culture after the current leaders are gone.
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