[techhelpbb]

FRC's build schedule tends to create a pressure cooker of sorts.

If it wasn't for the fact that so many teams actually manage to produce robots I would say straight out that it's too short a deadline.

However the fact that it gets done does come with a price.
Sometimes I wonder if that's a fair price.

When it comes to mentors take a step back as a student.
Try to understand the stress acting on them.
When it comes to students take a step back and remember where you came from in your life and what you can do to make that place better for them.

In fact if it's getting volatile take a break and don't just go and fume - talk about it - student to student - adult to adult - adults to apprentice (because to me FIRST students are apprentices we don't have time in 6 weeks to just talk about how to do this).

You might be surprised at just how much pressure is building that you don't think about: money, time, energy, illness, family issues, car troubles, politics and unrealistic expectations (of all sorts) all can make doing this very unpleasant.

There are ways to address this problem but all of them involve analyzing the situation and working as a team. If that is not a possible solution then there's a problem with your team work that needs some work.

I've heard in the past that this 6 week build cycle is supposed to prepare people for the 'real world'. I should hope people realize that if the 'real world' did all their work during this same 6 weeks so they can have their spring breaks, summer vacations, a brief spell of work before the holidays and start all over: then FIRST is in trouble. Imagine trying to do everything you value for a year during the same first 3 months. Now imagine you work long hours during the other 9 months when everyone else is recovering from those 3 months. Think about the consequences. Increasingly that's what I see happening. Bad economy - new year - everyone tries to: 'make up for lost time'. My message here is that good project management is understanding all the forces acting on your goal and working with them to try to achieve a realistic outcome in a realistic healthy manner. 100 hour weeks are not realistic and not healthy but I know I've been doing them lately as are I am sure others working these extreme hours.