FRC team crisis - any suggestions?

[EricH]

I would definitely have a discussion with Z.

What he needs to know: Because of these changes, a lot of the team members are seriously considering leaving the team. More specifically, the changes being made apparently without team input, and without reasons being given. (Note: You're going to need to be a lot more tactful about how you state this, at least initially. I'm cutting to the chase here, which generally means I overdo it on being blunt.) Because of that, you have certain questions, if he can provide answers. See next paragraph.

What you need to learn from Z: In addition to the reasons behind the changes (one possible reason is: he just doesn't have the time), is there anything that he doesn't know, and needs to know? And, what help does he need? It could very well be that the cutback is because he just can't handle it all on his own; it could also be that someone higher up his chain of command is putting pressure on him. The #1 biggest thing to ask is, what help do you need? Leading the team without help... not easy.




Now, for the rest of y'all, there is one thing that is really, really, really bothering me.

Originally Posted by OP

This year, our CAD coach decided to take over (no one agreed to that) and self-proclaimed himself as the lead mentor and coach of the team.[...] During the summer, he...fired some mentors.[...]Business and media, which contained most of the sponsorship and outreach, are now gone. We no longer have any team bonding events.

(I'm not going to go into the rest; I would regard these as having some of the most direct effect on the team, and hashing these out will improve the rest.)

Folks, I don't know how y'all's teams would react if someone (let's just say you) saw a leadership vacuum at the top and filled that with no input at all--particularly if the school administration is supposed to be hiring the coach (also in the OP). I really don't know how y'all's teams would react if other mentors were "kicked out" (whether or not they actually left voluntarily, I'll leave an open question here). But losing the business side of a team generally ends up losing the team a few years down the line! And if the team isn't well-bonded before the season, let's just say that having the "storming" phase right about Week 3 or Week 4 isn't exactly conducive to doing well in the competition. I'm pretty sure y'all can see where I'm coming from here--if these are in fact occasioned by one person, that one person is running a severe risk of destroying the team in a few years, and probably doesn't even realize it.

Because of those little details, I would say that rather than a one-on-one, the above discussion would need to be an "all-hands" meeting, with some parents included. For one thing, it reduces "telephone" effects. For another, everybody gets to see the reasons/effects/etc--I do include anybody on Z's side here. And, IDEALLY, someone in a (supportive) school administration is in the background observing--not participating, just observing. (And you don't tell them what the meeting is about ahead of time, just "we're having a team meeting at such-and-such a time, we'd appreciate it if you were there".)


One final note: FIRST Robotics Competition teams are, in many ways, simulations of engineering businesses. Welcome to the real world.