Volunteer Roles

Overview of Volunteering Roles

Volunteers can fulfil five main roles on the day of a competition:

Presenters – Volunteers who lead the Induction Briefings and Technical Training (Tech Talks) at the start of the competition.
Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) – Volunteers who are assigned to a company to support the elections and assist/guide the executives through the competition without directly contributing to their proposal.
Technical Advisors (TAs) – Volunteers who move between companies acting as sounding boards for competitor design ideas whilst supporting the various CEOs throughout the day.
Red Reviewers – a role used at nationals only, are volunteers who provide a scheduled one-off feedback clinic.
Judges – Veteran volunteers who define the feedback to the companies and select a winning proposal.

Each role throughout the duration of the competition can accumulate various other minor roles and responsibilities, such as: leading Tech Talks, organising elections and organising food arrangements. Additionally, volunteers can also take on administrative roles in assisting the SSEF in setting up events, producing newsletters, constructing RFPs etc. A strong relationship between CEOs and TAs/Red Reviewers is critical to ensuring the smooth running of a Space Design Competition. CEOs should encourage their company to make use of the TAs at all opportunities. Similarly, TAs should validate the advice provided by a CEO if it is not being taken into consideration by competitors.

All volunteers should work together to ensure the mental and physical wellbeing of students is kept to the fore of activity throughout the course of a competition. All volunteers should be able to identify when students are overwhelmed by the task, the behaviour of teammates or the conditions of the room. It is perfectly normal for a student to feel stressed or overwhelmed. In instances where a student is feeling unwell, volunteers should discreetly pass their name and school to the SSEF staff present so that they can then contact the particular adult supervisor for that student.

Role Changes

This competition cycle welcomes the roles of the Advisor and the Client representative. The roles CEO and TA will transition into the roles of an Advisor and a Client Representative respectively.

Advisors – are volunteers assigned to a company to give organisational, operational and technical advice whilst providing support on technical disputes. Unlike the CEO, the Advisor will mainly support the company with technical, organisational and operational crises/disputes whilst directing students to Client representatives to check the coherence of their ideas with the RFP.
Client Representatives- are volunteers who answer queries about the Request for Proposal, the compliance of designs and the quality of designs. Unlike TAs, Client Representatives will be based in one room through out the duration of the competition so that competitors, if directed by Advisors, can go seek any clarification they require of the RFP as well as receive feedback as to how coherent their designs are with the RFP and quality of their ideas.

Presenters

Presenters are volunteers who conduct the Induction Briefings and Tech Talks held at the start of the competition. The induction Briefing, which typically lasts 25-30 minutes, gives a brief overview of the task, the timetable of the day, how a company is structured, final presentation requirements and the space quiz . A Tech Talk, which typically lasts 7-8 minutes, covers each department’s responsibilities and design considerations. Presenters should deliver informative, punctual and engaging presentations that should aim to not only but also students.

Role Responsibilities

Deliver – Presenters should deliver presentations punctually, enthusiastically and clearly in order to captivate students.
Inform – Presenters should aim to give presentations that help to prepare and inform students of their itinerary, task, company structure and presentations.
Enhance- Presenters that give Tech Talks should aim to enhance the students work ethic and competition mindset.

CEOs

CEOs are volunteers assigned to a company to guide the students through the competition without directly contributing to their proposal. You should be the first port of call for all students about technical, organisational and operational advice. You should foster an environment where competitors make use of your services by working with the executives to set internal deadlines, check for compliance and comment on the presentation quality.

Role Responsibilities

Electing executives – CEOs should host elections for the President, the Vice President of Engineering and the Vice President of Marketing & Sales.
Organising design reviews – CEOs should work with the executives to establish what content will be delivered for the Internal Design Review and provide feedback on how to improve the content.
Technical & organisational advice – CEOs should provide advice on design solutions, the organisation of the company and the schedule of the company.
Proposal & presentation feedback – CEOs should provide feedback on the quality of the proposal and presentation when competitors compile their slides and practise their presentation.
Conflict management & resolution – CEOs should aid the executives and heads of department in solving technical and organisational disputes within the company.
Directing competitors to the Technical Advisors – CEOs should encourage competitors to communicate with the TA.

Technical Advisors

Technical Advisors, TAs, are volunteers who float around the companies acting as sounding boards for competitor design ideas. During this, they answer queries about the Request for Proposal, the compliance of designs and the quality of designs. A TA’s main aim is to allow the students to think through the technical feasibility and justification of their design choices. You should foster an environment where competitors make use of your services by supporting good ideas with enthusiasm, proving tactful criticism of design ideas that require development and ensuring competitors return to work with a clear understanding of what they should do next.

Role Responsibilities

Clarifying the RFP – TAs should answer questions competitors may have about the RFP if requested.
Checking compliance – TAs should answer questions about the compliance of a competitor’s design with the RFP if requested.
Checking quality – TAs should provide advice on a competitor’s solution and justification if requested.
Clear & consistent feedback – TAs should make a note of all questions asked to them by competitors and the answer they provided to ensure consistency of all feedback.
Conflict management & resolution – TAs should aid the CEOs in solving disputes within the company about the compliance and quality of design ideas.
Communicating with CEOs – TAs should communicate with CEOs to get an idea of the progress of a company.

Red Reviewers

Red Reviewers, a role used at nationals only, are volunteers which conduct a 30 minute review of the proposal, split into 20 minutes of reviewing the design and 10 minutes for questions. The Red Reviewer also has the ability to act as a Judge or a TA at various points in the competition. You should foster an environment where competitors feel comfortable to make full use of your service by providing points of constructive criticism, praise and questions aimed to develop design concepts or highlight areas of improvement. There should be an emphasis placed on the fact that the purpose of the review is for the competitors to receive feedback and that this is not part of the judging process.

Role Responsibilities

Clear and Consistent feedback – Red Reviewers, within their notes, should provide points of praise, points of improvement and design specific questions.
Clarifying the RFP – Red Reviewers should answer questions competitors have about the RFP if requested.
Constructive Design Enquiries – Red Reviewers should provide 10 minutes at the end of the review to ask slide specific questions whilst allowing competitors to also ask any specific design questions they might have.
Document Feedback – Red Reviewers should compile points made onto company specific documents and send them directly to companies to ensure workflow can progress with feedback in mind.

Judges

Judges are experienced volunteers and representatives of industry and academia who asses company proposals during their final presentations. These final Presentations typically last for 20 minutes at regional events with 5 minutes for questions and 35 minutes with 10 minutes for questions at the National final . Judges should asses proposals on their ability to fulfil the RFP. This includes the feasibility and creativity of the proposal as well as individual, detailed solutions.

Role Responsibilities

Good points – Judges should make note of each companies good points, in terms of proposal solutions, to compile them onto the Proposal Review slides.
General points of improvement – Judges should make notes of any recurring points of improvement, regarding proposal solutions, for each company to highlight trends for the general points of improvement slide in the proposal review
Note Questions – Judges should make note of any questions they wish to ask in the Questioning period.
Constructively Rank – Judges should individually rank proposals (Ie: from 1-3) to make deciding a winner quicker.
Collaboratively Decide – Judges, collectively, should determine a winner based on a majority vote.
Document Feedback – Judges should document all of their relevant notes and compile specific/decided points onto the Proposal Review slides.

Advisors

Advisors, a role implemented at the larger competitions , are volunteers assigned to a company to guide the students through the competition without directly contributing to their proposal. You should be the first port of call for all students about technical, organisational and operational advice whilst directing students to Client Representatives for a more in depth technical analysis. You should foster an environment where competitors make use of your services by working with the executives to set internal deadlines, check for compliance and comment on the presentation quality.

Role Responsibilities

Electing executives – Advisors should host elections for the President, the Vice President of Engineering and the Vice President of Marketing & Sales.
Organising design reviews – Advisors should work with the executives to establish what content will be delivered for both the Internal Design Review and Red Review whilst providing feedback on how to improve the content.
Operational & technical advice – Advisors should provide advice on design ideas, the organisation of the company and the company’s schedule.
Proposal & presentation feedback – Advisors should provide feedback on the quality of the proposal and presentation when competitors compile their slides and practise their presentation.
Conflict management & resolution – Advisors should aid the executives and heads of department in solving technical and organisational disputes within the company.
Directing competitors to the Client Representatives – Advisors should encourage competitors to utilise the Client Representatives.

What is an Internal Design Review?

Purpose: It should be to assess the progress of a company’s proposal at the halfway point of the competition.

Duration: It should be no longer than 20 minutes.

Who: It should be chaired by the Company Advisor.

Preparation:

Students should discuss which tasks should be prioritized within their departments.
Advisors should host a 10-minute meeting with the executives and heads of the technical departments.
All parties must work together to establish what sections of the Concept are delivered by the Internal Design Review as well as a time to hold it.
Advisors should ensure that all participants in the meeting contribute to the decision.

During the review:

Anyone from the company can present the current state of work. Advisors may wish to place a limit on the number of speakers.
Advisors should assess to what extent the company has delivered what it intended to deliver.
Advisors should provide feedback on the cohesiveness of the concept and strongly recommend what changes should be made to help the company get back on track where necessary.
Advisors should ensure that the Internal Design Review ends with praise towards the company and ensure the participants remain motivated to work towards delivering their final proposal.

Client Representatives

Client Representatives, a role implemented at the larger competitions, are volunteers who answer queries about the Request for Proposal, the compliance of designs and the quality of designs. You will be located in one place throughout the completion so that they are accessible to all companies. You should foster an environment where competitors make use of your services by supporting good ideas with enthusiasm, proving tactful criticism of design ideas that require development and ensuring competitors return to their company with a clear understanding of what they must do next.

Role Responsibilities

Clarifying the RFP – Client Representatives should answer questions competitors may have about the RFP if requested.
Checking compliance – Client Representatives should answer questions about the compliance of a competitor’s design with the RFP if requested.
Checking quality – Client Representatives should provide advice on a competitor’s solution and justification if requested.
Clear & consistent feedback – Client Representatives should make a note of all questions asked to them by competitors and the answer they provided to ensure consistency of all feedback.
Conflict management & resolution – Client Representatives should aid the Advisors in solving disputes within the company about the compliance and quality of design ideas.
Communicating with Advisors – Client Representatives should communicate with Advisors to get an idea of the progress of a company.

How do you Workshop?

Context: Workshops are held between a Client Representative and a member of a company. An Advisor from the same company should be present.

What should you do as a Client Rep:

1. You should make a note of the student’s name, company and details of their query.

2. The Client Representative should allow the participant to outline their problem and ask questions to clarify that they understand the participant’s problem in its entirety.

3. Work with the student to break down the problem and help them solve the first step.

4. The Client Representative should prompt the student about what they think should be done next to continue working on the problem. (EG: “what would you do next now that we have solved this first step?”)

A Volunteer's Day

Volunteer Briefing

Primary role: Client Representative

Secondary role: Advisor

You may be asked to deliver the Volunteer Briefing.
This starts with a 5 minute structured overview which starts with appointed volunteers (pastoral officers, conflict resolution officers etc) giving a 20 second introduction including their name, room location and an explanation of their role. This is followed by an explanation of the voting process as well as details of where to access the volunteer handbook.
There is then an 8 minute informal Q&A where volunteers can ask and answer any specific questions other volunteers may have.
Advisors and Client Representatives should get to know each other during the briefing.
Finally, SSEF staff will announce any notices or changes to the day's schedule.

Student Registration

Helping with registration

Primary role: Judge

Secondary role : Advisor, Client Representative

You may be asked to help with registering students.
Registering includes taking the names of the students who are present and providing them with name tags.
On the day, Competition organisers (SSEF staff and senior volunteers) will explain any additional details.

Competition Briefing

Opening Presentation

Primary role: Presenters

Secondary role: Client Representatives

You may be asked to deliver the Induction Briefing.
The Induction Briefing includes: giving a brief overview of the task, the timetable of the day, how a company is structured, final presentation requirements and the space quiz.
You may also be asked to lead a 7-8 minute Tech Talk.
Tech Talks involve the volunteer covering each department's responsibilities and design considerations.

Move to Company Rooms

Primary role: Advisor, Client Representative

Secondary role: Judge

You should gather all of your company and direct them to your allocated room.
You may be asked to stay behind to round up any competitors that are unsure of their company allocation.
You should ask a Competition organiser if unsure.

Company Elections

Primary role: Advisor

Company Elections

Introducing yourself

Should:

You should take it in turns with the other Advisors to introduce yourselves.
You should tell the competitors what your experience is in the competition and what you are doing now (studying, working, etc.)

Should not:

Do not take longer than 20-30 seconds to introduce yourself.

Company Elections

Electing Executives

Should:

You ought to allow time to explain the voting process so that students are aware that their voices matter.
You should ensure at least one representative from each school runs for a leadership role.
You should take it in turns to explain each roles responsibilities.
You ought encourage students to select candidates based on skills and qualities rather than their previous experience.

Should not:

Do not let this process take longer than 15 minutes.

Company Elections

Electing Department Heads

Should:

You ought to allow executives to determine how they elect Department Heads.
You should suggest competitors form technical departments and host their own elections.
You ought allow those elected to be brought in front of the whole company so they're aware of whose been elected.

Should not:

Do not let this process take longer than 10 minutes.

Company Elections

Meeting with Executives

Whilst department heads are being elected, the Advisors should establish a productive and professional relationship with executives to ensure organisational advice is communicated effectively.

Should:

You should tell them what you will to do ensure that the company runs coherently.
You should encourage them to come up with an initial schedule and to set up a shared google drive.

Should not:

Do not impose how you believe the day should be scheduled.

Meeting with the Executives and Department Heads

Advisors should remind them that they have an internal design review. Once they've read through the RFP, competitors should work with you to establish what they wish to deliver in the review.

Should:

You should outline what an internal design review is, the review format and the importance on determining deliverables.
You should set a time you want to meet back with decided deliverables.
You should recommend to the Executives and Department Heads ways to get the most out of their company during this time. (identifying points that require inter department communication, points to work on before the internal design review, etc.)

Should not:

Do not impose what the company should do.
Do not let this process take longer than 5 minutes.

Company Elections

Primary role: Client representative

Setting up the Client Representatives Booth

Whilst elections take place, set up the Client Representatives room/ booth/ table. The SSEF organisers on the day of the competition will help you with setting up.

RFP Released

You will be notified when this has been released on the day.

Both Client Representatives and Advisors should at the appropriate time read the RFP themselves.

RFP Released

Issuing of the RFP

Primary role: Advisor

Should:

You should recommend that the president has a clear plan of what the competitors should look for in the RFP.
You may want to recommend that the president set a time constraint on review of the RFP.
You should read the RFP yourselves.

Should not:

Do not impose on what the company must do.

RFP Released

Aiding transition into working

Primary role: Judge

Secondary role: Client Representative

Should:

You should check in with each companies Advisors to ensure the RFP has been shared to the entire company,
You should check with the Advisors that there is a shared google drive.
You should check with Advisors and Executives that everyone has access to WIFI/ working devices.
You should check that each company has the correct equipment provided (pens, paper, etc.)
You should assist Advisors with any technical difficulties and with setting up devices.

Should not:

Do not let this process take any longer than 10-15 minutes.

Set Deliverables for internal design review with Executives

Primary role: Advisor

Should:

You should recommend that those present should set clear deliverables.
You should recommend that Department Heads should be vocal if they disagree with certain deliverables.
You should offer advice as to whether certain deliverables are overly ambitious (ie: the entire proposal will be completed.)

Should not:

Do not let this meeting take longer than 15 minutes.
Do not let anyone leave until there are planned deliverables.
Do not make the internal design review seem like a stressful event.

Work Begins

Overseeing competitor work

Advisors should constantly be present in the company room and ready to answer competitor queries.

Primary role: Advisor

Should:

Technical & organisational advice - Provide advice on design solutions, company organisation and the schedule.
Conflict management & resolution - Aid the executives and department heads in solving technical and organisational disputes.
Directing competitors to Client Representatives - Advisors should encourage competitors to utilise the Client Representatives to hold Workshops on design solutions. Advisors should accompany a student to a meeting with a Client Representative and allow the student to lead the discussion. An Advisor should exercise their judgement as to when they should provide input to the discussion (e.g. prompting the student about a piece of information they may have forgotten or recommending to the Client Representative that they should set some actions if the session is going too long)

Should not:

Do not directly contribute to designs by suggesting solutions.

Work continues

Client Representative Booth

Client Representatives during work periods should be present at their meeting location throughout the day and should take it in turns to deal with multiple requests from competitors.

Primary role: Client Representatives

Should:

Client Representatives should share the workload by establishing a rota of who will be present at the desk.
Client Representatives should deal with multiple requests from competitors. If there is a queue, the Client Representative should take initiative to deal with requests.
Checking compliance - Client Representatives must answer questions about the compliance of a competitor's design with the RFP if requested.
Checking quality - Client Representatives must provide advice on a competitor's solution and justification if requested.
Clear & consistent feedback - Client Representatives must make a note of all questions asked to them by competitors and the answer they provided to ensure consistency of all feedback.
Conflict management & resolution - Client Representatives must aid the Advisors in solving disputes within the company about the compliance and quality of design ideas.
Communicating with Advisors - Client Representatives should communicate with Advisors to get an idea of the progress of a company. Client Representatives should notify Advisors if their company is visiting them less frequently than other companies. Advisors should respond to this by directing their students to the Client Representatives more frequently.

Should not:

Do not directly contribute to the proposal by suggesting design solutions.
Do not berate design solutions.

Lunch

Both Client Representatives and Advisors should ensure that students have lunch during the day.

Primary role: Client Representative

Secondary role: Advisor

You may be asked by a senior volunteer to arrange food for the companies (ie: order pizza.)
You may have lunch provided onsite and should communicate with senior volunteers as to each companies allocated slot.
You should advise executives to encourage/announce that the company takes a 30 minute break from work to have lunch.

Work Continues

Overseeing competitor work

Advisors should constantly be present in the company room and ready to answer competitor queeries.

Primary role: Advisor

Should:

Technical & organisational advice - Provide advice on design solutions, company organisation and the schedule.
Proposal & Presentation feedback - Provide feedback on the quality of the proposal and the presentation when competitors compile their slides and practice.
Conflict management & resolution - Aid the executives and department heads in solving technical and organisational disputes.
Directing competitors to Client Representatives - Advisors should encourage competitors to utilise the Client Representatives to hold Workshops on design solutions. Advisors should accompany a student to a meeting with a Client Representative and allow the student to lead the discussion. An Advisor should exercise their judgement as to when they should provide input to the discussion (e.g. prompting the student about a piece of information they may have forgotten or recommending to the Client Representative that they should set some actions if the session is going too long)
Internal Review Preparation - Ensure executives have finalised internal design review deliverables.

Should not:

Do not directly contribute to designs by suggesting solutions.

Work continues

Client Representative Booth

Client Representatives during work periods should be present at their meeting location throughout the day and should take it in turns to deal with multiple requests from competitors.

Primary role: Client Representative

Should:

Client Representatives should share the workload by establishing a rota of who will be present at the desk.
Client Representatives should deal with multiple requests from competitors. If there is a queue, the Client Representative should take initiative to deal with requests.
Checking compliance - Client Representatives must answer questions about the compliance of a competitor's design with the RFP if requested.
Checking quality - Client Representatives must provide advice on a competitor's solution and justification if requested.
Clear & consistent feedback - Client Representatives must make a note of all questions asked to them by competitors and the answer they provided to ensure consistency of all feedback.
Conflict management & resolution - Client Representatives must aid the Advisors in solving disputes within the company about the compliance and quality of design ideas.
Communicating with Advisors - Client Representatives should communicate with Advisors to get an idea of the progress of a company. Client Representatives should notify Advisors if their company is visiting them less frequently than other companies. Advisors should respond to this by directing their students to the Client Representatives more frequently.

Should not:

Do not directly contribute to the proposal by suggesting design solutions.
Do not berate design solutions.

Internal Design Review

This is a 20 minute internal review where Client Representatives and Advisors can give competitors feedback on previously determined deliverables.

Primary role: Advisor, Client Representative

Should:

You should make comments on the slides of their company's proposal with constructive feedback.
You should encourage the rest of the company to give their feedback.
You may want to allow at least 5 minutes for competitors/volunteers to ask questions regarding any deliverables shown.
Client Representatives should give feedback in writing to the Advisors at the end of the review and should notify the Advisor of any major improvements the company should make.

Should not:

Do not make it feel stressful or like a judging process
Do not let this run over 20 minutes.
Do not ask questions on any work/points that aren't delivered during the review.
Do not berate the students if they have not fulfilled all of their agreed deliverables.
Client Representatives should not ask any questions or make any comments to the competitors.

Work Continues

Overseeing competitor work

Advisors should constantly be present in the company room and ready to answer competitor queeries.

Primary role: Advisor

Should:

Technical & organisational advice
Proposal & Presentation feedback - Provide feedback on the quality of the proposal and the presentation when competitors compile their slides and practice.
Internal Design Review Feedback - Should oversee and ensure feedback is clearly received and encourage that it should be acted upon.
Conflict management & resolution
Directing competitors to Client Representatives
Should not:
Do not directly contribute to designs by suggesting solutions.

Work continues

Client Representative Booth

Client Representatives during work periods should be present at their meeting location throughout the day and should take it in turns to deal with multiple requests from competitors.

Primary role: Client Representative

Should:

Client Representatives should share the workload by establishing a rota of who will be present at the desk.
Client Representatives should deal with multiple requests from competitors. If there is a queue, the Client Representative should take initiative to deal with requests.
Checking compliance
Checking quality
Clear & consistent feedback
Conflict management & resolution
Communicating with Advisors

Should not:

Do not directly contribute to the proposal by suggesting design solutions.
Do not berate design solutions.

Work continues

Proposal Practice

Advisors should ensure the company practices their presentation at least once. They should ensure that those who aren't presenting are preparing answers to potential questions.

Primary role: Advisor

Secondary role: Client Representative

Should:

You should give feedback to individual presenters.
You ought to advise on how to go about answering questions.

Proposal Submission

Aiding Proposal Submission

Primary role: Advisor

Secondary role: Client Representative

Should:

You should make executives aware 15 and 5 minutes before the deadline that they're nearing proposal submission.
You ought to ensure that one individual (typically the president) submits the proposal in the requested format, to the requested email address and by the requested time.

Should not:

Do not stress competitors out by pestering them with the impeding deadline.

Dinner

Assisting with Dinner

Primary role: Advisor, Client Representative

You may be asked to make dinner arrangements (ie: order pizza)
You may have dinner provided on site, if so you should confirm with senior volunteers timings and arrangements.
You should ensure, before leaving, that students tidy the room and have all of their belongings.
You ought to ensure, once the room is tidy, that the whole company attends dinner.

Company Presentations

Judges asses presentations which typically last and then answer 10 minutes of Questions following the proposal.

Primary role: Judge

Secondary role: Advisor, Client Representative

Should:

Judges should make note of any questions, good points and general points of criticism whilst ranking presentations (from 1-3 etc...)
Judges should ask questions that either clarify design concepts, asses justification or asses technical depth/understanding.
You may be asked, if not a judge, to do time keeping or hold up time stamp signs (ie: 5 minutes to go.)
Advisors should let their company know if they spot any plagiarism they should notify Advisors.
If there are any allegations of plagiarism, they should be made note of by Advisors and submitted in writing to judges for consideration.

Should not:

Do not allow an answer to a question to last any longer than 45 seconds if it isn't sufficiently answering the question.
Judges should not make a competitor feel silly when asking a question.

Judging

Primary role: Judge

Judges should spend no longer than
Judges should decide on a winner based on majority vote taking into consideration all factors (including plagiarism.)
Judges should accumulatively decide on up to 5 points of general improvement, 5 company specific good points and a winner.
You may be asked to fill in the closing presentation slides with the relevant discussed details.

Proposal Review

Primary role: Judge

Secondary role: Client Representative

You may be asked to deliver the closing presentation.
The closing presentation includes: general points of criticism across all companies and company specific good points as well as the announcement of the winner.
The presentation should not take longer than 20 minutes.

End of Day

Primary role: Judge, Advisor, Client Representative

Advisors should ensure everyone from their company receives their certificates.
Volunteers should ensure that competitors have transport arrangements.
Volunteers should ensure that everywhere is tidy and that no valuables are left behind.