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Unread 09-02-2017, 10:02
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pmattin5459 pmattin5459 is offline
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AKA: Patrick Mattin
FRC #5459 (Ipswich TIGERS)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Rookie Year: 2015
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 83
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Re: We are struggling.

Quote:
1.) Has your mentor/coach dropped off the radar unexpectedly for family/personal reasons, and if so how did you get help to keep the team going?
2.) Have you been behind/procrastinating during the build season before? How was it fixed and stopped?
3.) Would you suggest reaching out to local teams for help?
4.) If you have had horrible communication in the past, how was it fixed?
1. Mentors are not the driving force behind our team. Students take charge of nearly everything. Mentors merely provide some sort of direction and help if needed. The team goes so long as the students have a place to meet.

2. We're always behind where we'd like to be. Everyone is. The main thing is to make sure that you're meeting often enough and you set goals that need to be met. We meet nearly every day for at least a few hours. Everyone has a clear job, so procrastination is kept to a minimum. The environment is more professional. There's fun and messing around, for sure (this is necessary for a well-functioning team), but you, as a mentor, need to communicate to your students that there's time for that later. The key is giving everyone a set job.

3. Yes. Other teams that are miles ahead of where you are are probably very close by. And one of the core tenets of FIRST is coopertition. It's probably going to be a very positive and enlightening experience for you.

4. Have daily meetings. Make sure everyone is on the same page. Email. Use a messaging platform like Slack. Try to have some sort of bonding activity. Your students are not working for a corporation. They're a team. They should be friends, and a lack of communication is a sign of other serious problems.
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