Management of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma necessitates a multimodal approach. The neck dissection has evolved over many years but is well established as the key surgical intervention for management of nodal disease in the neck. The open neck dissection has many varieties based on location and degree of disease but is the gold standard surgical technique. Robot-assisted neck dissections have emerged in recent years as an alternative. More research is required to establish long-term oncologic outcomes achieved with robot-assisted surgery and to assess whether cost and operative times decrease with experience.