The World Selection Committee is the group of people who decide which applications are accepted fully, accepted as reserves or alternates, and rejected ahead of a BattleBots season. The committee also judges which robots best deserve to advance beyond the Fight Night stage into the Round of 32 (later 16) of each tournament. During the live show, committee members are usually present for each of the Proving Ground fights. This allows them to scout the skills of each competitor and weigh their performance in entertaining fights versus their record of wins and losses.
While the selection committee may be tasked with a specific task, such as selecting a team to compete in an international competition, it is still responsible for ensuring that their decision-making process is fair and impartial. In order to avoid bias, it is important to ensure that the committee follows strict procedures and is not influenced by any personal or professional relationships.
This is especially true if the committee includes members from different countries or organizations, as well as individuals who are not affiliated with any of them. Using a variety of people helps to reduce the chances that a certain subgroup or individual is favoured or ignored. Moreover, it is essential that all committee members are given the opportunity to express their opinions during discussions and deliberations.
Aside from avoiding bias, it is also necessary for the selection committee to make sure that they take adequate time when making their decisions. This helps to mitigate implicit bias that can result from rushed judgments and decisions. To accomplish this, the committee should schedule regular meetings and set aside ample time for discussion. Additionally, it is essential that committee members take time to evaluate the information they are provided and consider each applicant’s strengths and weaknesses.
Ideally, the members of a selection committee should be experts in the field they are evaluating. However, this is not always possible. When this is the case, it is important to ensure that the expertise of the members is not too broad or too narrow. This can prevent the committee from becoming too focused on a specific issue and allow them to come up with innovative solutions to complex problems.
Another way to avoid bias is to limit the number of committee members who have had prior connections with the prize winners they are evaluating. This can prevent issues such as nepotism and corruption from occurring, as the chances of a quid pro quo between selectors and candidates are reduced.
It is also helpful for the committee to keep a roster of potential replacements in the event that one of the original members has a conflict of interest. In addition, it is important to be transparent about any potential conflicts of interest that the members have and to use a public forum for discussing any concerns. Furthermore, it is essential that the committee follows a protocol for dealing with any potential conflicts of interest.