<p>We looked at <a href="http://training.handsonconnect.org/spaces/hoc/manuals/3420/lessons/33499-Creating-Volunteer-Teams" target="_blank">how teams are handled on the public site</a> back in our first training. &nbsp;But let's dive a little deeper into how team's work in HandsOn Connect.</p> <p>Teams are a way to group people who want to volunteer together. &nbsp;Teams have the following advantages:</p> <p><strong>They provide a way to gather statistics around a 'group' of people</strong></p> <ul><li>Like all the employees, spouses, family and friends of a sponsor-organization that comes out to a day of service to volunteer together.</li> </ul> <p><strong>They provide a way for a group leader to manage a 'team' of volunteers</strong></p> <ul><li>Example: <strong>A Corporate Team </strong>may want a single person in the organization to take responsibility for 'signing up' multiple people from the organization for a volunteer opportunity</li> <li><strong>Civic teams, &nbsp;fraternities, or sororities</strong>. &nbsp; Usually one person is trying to arrange and manage the sign-up of their entire group.</li> <li>Teams are a great way to manage <strong>Families. </strong> &nbsp;since volunteers under the age of 13 cannot manage their own account, &nbsp;a parent or guardian can create a family team to manage signing up their minor children for family-friendly volunteer opportunities</li> </ul>

<p>Volunteer Teams make it possible for one person, the Team Captain, to sign-up others for volunteer opportunities. This creates an easy way for a family to volunteer together (and makes it possible for a parent to sign up children under the age of 13 for age-appropriate opportunities since federal law does not allow accounts on the site for those under 13).</p> <p>Teams are also used by corporate groups (where one person wants to handle the sign-up of an entire group of employees) and college clubs.</p> <p>The teams above are typically &quot;private&quot; teams - meaning the team captain invites people to be on the team and takes responsibility for them.</p> <p>The system also supports &quot;public&quot; teams - which anyone may search for and join. Public teams provide a way for people to group themselves together for the purposes of communication and to make it possible to report on the activities of the 'team&quot;.</p>