Remote Mentors

[lemiant]

Originally Posted by tim-tim

Sounds like a great idea. Feel free to contact me for support for things mechanical related. I also can provide some good insight on CAD and overall team structure.

And by I, I really mean myself and the other group of mentors I work with on a normal almost daily basis year round.

Thanks! I will most definitely contact you.

[hat_ios]

This year Team 610 mentored a rookie team (3541). We set up a webcam in out Robotics Lab and we got Skype onto the computers. Team 3541 was able to view us work whenever they wanted and if they wanted to ask a question, they were able to ask.

Another suggestion would be to have the senior on-site mentor or team leaders in contact with the remote mentors, giving them a description of what is occurring on your team (possibly email CAD files, etc...). The mentors could then add input into what they think are good ideas and which are not so good.

[flyingcrayons]

i was talking to another team member about just this today! our team is really heavy on seniors, especially in leadership positions. lets just say next year 1089 is going to be radically different, and the leadership will be fresh, but inexperienced. I floated around an idea that some of the seniors on the team could use skype to communicate with people on the team next year if they need help with something.

it would be beneficial for the new leadership to know that there is experience very close by. i like this idea, we're going to see how it plays out. good luck with your plans, i really hope they work out for you!

[Kims Robot]

This happens a lot already. In terms of mentoring other mentors, I think the easiest is just setting up phone & email correspondence between people that can help eachother out. When I was running 1511, I helped several other rookie team leaders this way, they ranged from mentors a few towns away, to mentors in CT and even further sometimes. They had my email address (and I was generally available within the hour), and my cell phone number. I was able to walk them through a lot and answer tons of questions that way and it was very simple.

I agree that if you are virtually mentoring an entire team, more fancy things like video chat, skype, etc can be beneficial. You can show design drawings, parts, etc... but really there is a lot that can be done by email. These past two years since I moved away from 1511, I have remote mentored them in several ways. The most common is just answering emails from various different mentors & the team leader. I even had one of the mechanical guys during build season have me check his motor calculations!! I also spent plenty of time on the phone with some of the lead mentors... talking over everything from initial strategy kickoff weekend to how to run certain meetings, deal with integration issues, etc. But I admit, it was great to be "in" on their early strategy and design sessions via their livestream video & chat. I even helped with some strategy & design suggestions that way!

But I think your idea of pairing up some of your inexperienced mentors virtually with experienced ones can be very beneficial. It gives them someone else to ask and talk over things with, as I'm certain you will be very very busy The number one thing to remember is that half the time, the new mentors may not know what questions to ask, or when to ask them. Seek out experienced mentors that are willing to poke and prod a little, or maybe set up every-other-day checkins to start.

Good luck!