Losing members?

[JPBlacksmiths]

So I have noticed a trend with my team over the past three years, and I want to know if others experience it.

During the months leading up to build season, we get an influx of members. We get around 35 to 40 members, but as soon as build season hits, the number drops down to like 10 committed members. I hate this, and I wish this didn't happen. I understand the reason for people generally leaving is the fact that we meet every day during build season, but I want to find a way to prevent the new member loss. Does anyone experience this? And if so, how do you deal with it?
Thanks,
JP
Co-Captain team 806

[KohKohPuffs]

Back in my previous team, a lot of members had other extracurricular activities, and they prioritize that over robotics. Another issue was the distribution of work; sometimes we have so little work that we usually have some members idling around doing nothing.

So yeah, reasons for losing members are extracurricular activities, and for some members, the realization that they have nothing to do in the club.

[GeeTwo]

We've never had a drop that severe, but there's always some. We've found that the higher you set the expectations in the fall, the fewer you lose at the first of the year. This fall, we met Mondays and Thursdays for 2-1/2 hours and alternate Saturdays for 6 hours. Come build season, we'll add Tuesdays and go to every Saturday. The sessions will also get longer, especially around the middle of the build. We met a similar amount last fall, and had less than 20% dropout during build season, and a larger percentage "step up" their commitment beyond the expected minimums.

[JPBlacksmiths]

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

We've never had a drop that severe, but there's always some. We've found that the higher you set the expectations in the fall, the fewer you lose at the first of the year. This fall, we met Mondays and Thursdays for 2-1/2 hours and alternate Saturdays for 6 hours. Come build season, we'll add Tuesdays and go to every Saturday. The sessions will also get longer, especially around the middle of the build. We met a similar amount last fall, and had less than 20% dropout during build season, and a larger percentage "step up" their commitment beyond the expected minimums.

Maybe you doing that alternate saturday is the key. We meet monday and friday for 2 1/2 hours, but come build season we meet every single day and the meetings go until we finish what we were doing that day, or until we get to a point were we can pick up where we left off the next day.

[JPBlacksmiths]

Originally Posted by KohKohPuffs

Back in my previous team, a lot of members had other extracurricular activities, and they prioritize that over robotics. Another issue was the distribution of work; sometimes we have so little work that we usually have some members idling around doing nothing.

So yeah, reasons for losing members are extracurricular activities, and for some members, the realization that they have nothing to do in the club.

I think you are definitely right, its hard to involve everyone and that is definitely right.

[Knufire]

Set clear expectations as soon as people join the team, and give the perception that it's a serious committment. We do this in a few ways:

• Everybody must fill out a team application. If you completely/correctly fill out the application on time, you'll be accepted to the team. The students don't know that though.
• We have clear hour requirements that are outlined in an expectations agreement that every student must sign and turn it. This requires that students must attend 50% of offseason meetings (which are 2 hours long, twice a week) and must record 12 hrs/week in the shop per week during build and competition season.
• There's a set expectation that if you detract more from the team than contribute during the offseason, you'll probably be asked to leave the team. Note this isn't for members that simply don't do anything, but kids that actively distract other students or disrupt team activities.

[MrForbes]

The same thing happens in our (adult) car club....it seems to be normal group behavior. As mentioned by others, there are ways to increase participation (or at least weed out the non-participants early)

I just accept it as how things are. Maybe I should work harder at keeping more students involved.

[pmangels17]

If you wish to hold onto more members initially, one way to do it is to attend fall offseason events and bring new people with you. Let them spend time scouting, in the pits, and exploring to find what they like. Give them a chance to get behind the glass if they seem interested in it (sometimes they are too shy to ask, so you might have to say something like "Hey so-and-so, how would you like to take a crack at human player next match?"). Obviously if you are going to let them try the drive team, you have to train them at least somewhat before the event, but I've definitely noticed that getting kids to drive or be the human player is the easiest thing to get students to do at meetings.

Also, invite kids's parents and show them around as well. Sometimes if parents know their children are going to a safe place where they are going to have fun, learn a lot, have a chance to grow and develop, and be better equipped for handling whatever is thrown at them, then they will give their kids more support for being on the team. Having committed parents and guardians is important to making sure kids have the means to participate on the team, and also when students come home excited about something they did at robotics, having parents that are excited to listen is really encouraging.

This won't solve every problem, and you can't expect every kid who comes out at the beginning of the school year to dive full-on into robotics, but it might help you keep around a few more people every year, and having a larger body of interested, passionately engaged students on your team will also be a critical recruiting asset in the future.

[pmangels17]

Oh, and one other thing: when people come to meetings, try to keep them engaged. make sure everyone has a task or a challenge, or is working with a knowledgeable student or mentor to learn a new skill or technique that interests them. Once kids find something that they like to do, encourage them to explore, but make sure they can always come back to that thing. For example, if a student really likes running the milling machine, feel free to encourage him or her to check out design or electronics or something else, but make sure that he or she is always able to go back to the thing that interests them (and more than likely they will be interested enough in multiple things to want to become well-rounded). Once people find a niche on the team, they feel like they can contribute meaningfully to the team. Once they feel this, it is easier to feel like they are an important part of the team (which they certainly are), and they are definitely more likely to stick around.

[Cuog]

Originally Posted by JPBlacksmiths

come build season we meet every single day and the meetings go until we finish what we were doing that day, or until we get to a point were we can pick up where we left off the next day.

I think this irregularity can be a big cause of your drop in students. Many parents cannot/will not put up with such short notice on transportation and will give their kids a lot of greif about attending meetings, or may just decide for them they will not be going.

I've found on our team when we started setting more solid schedules we had a lot more consistent student turnouts(we do still sometimes meet past the end time, but its a lot less).

[Sperkowsky]

We have found success in starting off the first meeting with realistic expectations. By saying the time commitment is more then some sports people usually will refrain from signing up for more activities.

This year we had about 60 people come to our first meeting. About 45 people came to the next few meetings and now we are at 35 3+ per week members after a mock build season.

[JPBlacksmiths]

Originally Posted by Cuog

I think this irregularity can be a big cause of your drop in students. Many parents cannot/will not put up with such short notice on transportation and will give their kids a lot of greif about attending meetings, or may just decide for them they will not be going.

I've found on our team when we started setting more solid schedules we had a lot more consistent student turnouts(we do still sometimes meet past the end time, but its a lot less).

Thank you I think this is a very valid point. I certainly understand how this is difficult, having the irregular schedule

[JPBlacksmiths]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

We have found success in starting off the first meeting with realistic expectations. By saying the time commitment is more then some sports people usually will refrain from signing up for more activities.

This year we had about 60 people come to our first meeting. About 45 people came to the next few meetings and now we are at 35 3+ per week members after a mock build season.

What do you do during your mock build season, how does that work?

[JPBlacksmiths]

Originally Posted by pmangels17

Oh, and one other thing: when people come to meetings, try to keep them engaged. make sure everyone has a task or a challenge, or is working with a knowledgeable student or mentor to learn a new skill or technique that interests them. Once kids find something that they like to do, encourage them to explore, but make sure they can always come back to that thing. For example, if a student really likes running the milling machine, feel free to encourage him or her to check out design or electronics or something else, but make sure that he or she is always able to go back to the thing that interests them (and more than likely they will be interested enough in multiple things to want to become well-rounded). Once people find a niche on the team, they feel like they can contribute meaningfully to the team. Once they feel this, it is easier to feel like they are an important part of the team (which they certainly are), and they are definitely more likely to stick around.

Thank you for these points, especially the parents because I think that its a great idea. Parents have a huge effect on attendance, something I know well from experience.

[JPBlacksmiths]

Originally Posted by Knufire

Set clear expectations as soon as people join the team, and give the perception that it's a serious committment. We do this in a few ways:

• Everybody must fill out a team application. If you completely/correctly fill out the application on time, you'll be accepted to the team. The students don't know that though.
• We have clear hour requirements that are outlined in an expectations agreement that every student must sign and turn it. This requires that students must attend 50% of offseason meetings (which are 2 hours long, twice a week) and must record 12 hrs/week in the shop per week during build and competition season.
• There's a set expectation that if you detract more from the team than contribute during the offseason, you'll probably be asked to leave the team. Note this isn't for members that simply don't do anything, but kids that actively distract other students or disrupt team activities.

I like the ideas of required hours and team application. Our team lets anyone join, and nobody is ever asked to leave the team unless they do something very bad.