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Unread 08-02-2017, 16:22
JeffB JeffB is offline
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FRC #5052 (RoboLobos)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Rookie Year: 2014
Location: Austin
Posts: 67
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Re: Looking for some brutally honest feedback...

Quote:
Originally Posted by HonestAnonymous View Post
  1. Our team as a whole does not have its heart in the activity.
  2. Our mentors - Don't get me wrong, they are truly awesome people, but they either don't really have their heart in it, or they are doing the work that the students should be doing.
  3. Our students - Yet again, we have some truly intelligent and hardworking students, but they lack the commitment that is showing up on time, learning and doing some of the more 'boring' stuff, and taking initiative. One of our "captains" taught themselves over the summer all the ins and the outs of the robot, and thus they are REALLY good at making the robot be awesome.

  1. Do you have seniors who do a lot of the work on the team?
  2. Do your mentors do a large chunk of the robot work?
  3. How involved are the majority of students on your team? Do they do a lot of the work, or do mentors?
  4. Do your students learn more by themselves or more from other students and mentors?


Thank you for your honest feedback.
Do you want honest feedback or an affirmation of your thoughts? Looking at your questions, they can be summarized as "do you think my complaints are valid?" And really, nobody can state that from what little we have to go by.

I can share the process I've seen on the team I work with. I can share ideally what I'd like to see. I can share what I've seen interacting with other teams. But, that would be three different explanations. And honestly, I think seeing that distinction provides you more value than knowing the specifics. Each team is different. Each student is different. Each mentor is different. Each culture is different.

In your time with the team, have you ALWAYS been the hardest working member (including now)? If not, how would you feel if the member(s) working harder views you as not committed?

If your mentors are doing work on the robot and coming to spend their free time with you, isn't it a little unfair to claim their heart isn't in it? From a broad stroke, mentors that are putting effort into your robot are mentors that want to see you succeed. I don't really agree with them doing the work themselves, but I understand where they're coming from. It's very difficult to know the answer to a question a student asks and not give it to them. But, I don't want to build a robot. I want to help provide an experience for the students on my team. I use a technique similar to your survey. I'll ask leading questions to help them on their path to finding a solution that works. Often, it's not the solution I originally imagined and that's amazing.

The most honest thing I can offer you is this: until you're honest with yourself, you won't be able to make progress. It's unlikely you, and your attitude, aren't a part of the problem. If I look at the short version of the rant, here's what I hear: "Only a few people work on the robot. The rest don't care. The mentors don't care enough to make us care. It's all their fault." What are you doing to engage those that show up to the meetings and keep them interested? How are you bringing them into what you are doing? Are you showing them how you write an algorithm? Are you asking for their input or just telling them? Are they late because they just don't care or because they have a very busy schedule to which FRC is only a part of?

You need to be a tad more fair with your colleagues and honest with yourself. Avoid placing blame and coming into the conversation with that approach.
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