Getting Mentors out of Comfort zone

[Hot_Copper_Frog]

Originally Posted by M3NT0R

While I'm very passionate about FIRST, I quickly realized that running a team with 1 mentor is certainly a recipe for not good things.

Yes, I'd agree with that. 1 mentor is generally not enough to accomplish more than the bare minimum of what needs to be done administratively, especially if you are not dedicating 40+ hours/week to the team.

Originally Posted by M3NT0R

I was successfully able to get 2 new mentors but have unable to been get them to come consistently, and this year has again ended up being somewhat a 1 mentor team. Being a larger team with more resources, I end up being a severe bottleneck as major design decisions generally involve a mentor, and I'm the only one around.

How did you recruit these two new mentors? Do they have FIRST/FRC experience outside of this year? Were they made aware of what sort of time commitment and responsibilities would be expected of them? Are these mentors capable (read: trained/experienced in engineering design/electrical design/programming/CAD) of making major design decisions?

Sometimes when adults are recruited to a FRC team, they don't really understand what that entails. Nobody sat them down and explained that FIRST, while incredibly rewarding, will suck most of the free time out of your life for approximately 4-6 months of the year. A lot of adults simply don't have the time or free mental/emotional energy to deal with that but want to help anyway.

Originally Posted by M3NT0R

I was hoping by being very relaxed and nonchalant about it would create an environment of interest to the mentors and they would come more often but that definitely backfired.

I can see why you would feel this way, and from your perspective it makes sense. But your nonchalant attitude probably communicated that it was okay to be nonchalant and relaxed about commitment and adhering to a team structure. If you don't make expectations crystal clear, then in all likelihood you will be met with inconsistent attendance.

Originally Posted by M3NT0R

How can I get these mentors to come out more or be more involved? I'm worried that bringing this up will me lose the once a week they show up during build season.

You need to assign roles and responsibilities. These work best if they have nothing to do with the current people involved -- for example, it would be ideal to have a Team Leader, a Chief Engineer, a Chief of Business Operations, and a Chief of Public Relations, depending on the goals of your team.

Chief Engineer oversees all robot production/design/documentation. Chief of Business Operations oversees financial management and budgeting, administrative matters, food and event scheduling, etc. Chief of Public Relations handles community outreach, team documentation, Woodie Flowers submission, Business Plan submission, Chairman's submission, Animation submission, etc. Ideally, each of these positions would have at least one or two other mentors to help divide tasks.

By having a built in leadership structure at the mentor level, you can assign expectations to each position, and make sure that the position is filled by somebody every season. This way, they know what they're responsible for and it doesn't turn into a personal attack on their commitment to the team. It's much easier to say "Steve, as Chief Engineer you are expected to be present at least four days/week during the build season" than "Steve, you really need to show up more because I can't do all of this by myself!!!".

Originally Posted by M3NT0R

Side-note, any tips for cold recruiting mentors. I don't have good connections with local companies or industries.

You may not have connections, but guess who does? The parents of your students. Holding a parent meeting and asking them to help you brainstorm can be really helpful. Some of them may even volunteer to fill specific mentorship roles for the year, or know a co-worker who would love to get involved.