What is the biggest problem faced by FIRST teams?

[LightWaves1636]

I would have to say keeping the program runnning in general. It's hard to start the program at your school or whatever but I think it's harder to maintain and keep the program running because of sponsors/funding and school adminstration or whatever fighting against or for it. I say sponsors because they're putting a lot of money in and sometimes they expect results out of the team because I know some sponsors that don't feel right about funding a team that would just fail. School administration because they expect results as well. I know some teams that have to win some kind of award next season in order to have that kind of proof saying that the team is not in operation to fail but to succeed and bring back something as proof. Unfortunately for my team, two trophies(Colorado Regional and General Motors Industrial Design) didn't outweigh other reasons.

[Zyik]

Money, Students, and Mentors.

Good sponsors can help the first, the school's never paid anything for us really so we rely heavily on fund raising.

My freshman year we had a team of 18 people. The next year we had about 10. We're trying alot more recruitment now so we don't have a drop like that again.

Mentors are almost always in short supply. The local college gives us some money as a sponsor, but even though we try to get college students to come down and join/help/have fun with us they never seem to have the time. Even the ones who already were in FIRST. We also have some mentors who really needed to learn how to step back and let us do the work. They wanted to do it themselves. We also had a massive falling out with our mentors, there was a fight between two and they left the team. Thus, no more faculty member or electrical engineering mentor, as well as a couple of the mechanical mentors leaving. We almost didn't come back from that.

[Herodotus]

Money is our biggest problem. Though it is also due in large part a problem because of our second problem, turnover. We have about six very experienced members and two or three one year members, along with some incoming kids from all grade levels so it is tough to really get out there and present to our sponsors and potential sponsors.

[rogerlsmith]

I can't even get to where money is a problem. I'm trying to persuade our educators and administrators that this is a good thing, but they don't want to deal with anything else (so it seems). The good teachers that would likely be great help are already committed to other things like Science Olympiad or Odyssey of the Mind.

I fear we would not have adequate resources if we try to start a team without our school (like a place to work, tools, computers, etc.)

Roger

[vivek16]

Im going to say students. not only is it critical to have students participate but also do what they say they will. we've had problems with this in the past. and I also think that might be because of FIRST compared to other academic activities: there is waay more minimum effort involved.

-vivek

[KathieK]

We always ask the NEMs at our general NEMO meetings, what are your team's top three concerns? Consistently the top answer is Mentor Recruitment and Retention. Number two is consistently fundraising and recruiting sponsors. Number three varies.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Money is a big problem, but I'm going to say lack of quality mentors. It's hard to get them (harder than getting money, in some cases), it's hard to keep them, and they're usually critical to a team's success.

What he said ^^

Money is an issue, but it can be managed. Once you get past the first level of funding - the entry fee and one or two thousand for supplies - a team can scrimp, save. beg/borrow/redirect to make it happen. After that it's sophistication and depth.

No mentors leaves a complex process to inexperienced help - design and fabrication - and tends to discourage rather than inspire.
Not enough mentors leaves the mentors overwhelmed and burned out quickly.

I know that many engineers would enjoy helping; but we can't seem to figure out just how to get them there the first time. After that, they'll be hooked, I'm sure.

Don

[KathieK]

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

I know that many engineers would enjoy helping; but we can't seem to figure out just how to get them there the first time. After that, they'll be hooked, I'm sure.

As we often hear, "FIRST is hard to sell, but if you get them to an event, it sells itself..." that applies to mentors, sponsors, school administrators... Mike Betts and I staffed an exhibition booth at a conference today and had two rookie FTC teams help demo for us. I took the CT FIRST website calendar of FIRST events for all four programs in the New England area and made lots of copies, and handed them out all day. I can show them the promo DVD, can talk about FIRST til I'm blue in the face, but if they show up at one of our events, that's when it will all click into place. Another giveaway I usually have made up is a business card with my info on one side, and the local FIRST events listed on the other side. I give it out saying to put it on their frig at home (actual refrigerator magnets would be great, too!).

[Chris Fultz]

I think every team needs a leader with vision and a view of the big picture of FIRST so that they can then sell it to the mentors, students, administration and sponsors.

FIRST is a difficult program to grasp -

To maintain the support of adminstrators and sponsors $$ (both mentioned in other posts) it takes someone who can explain it is more than kids building a robot.

To maintain mentors it takes someone who can manage conflicts and personalities and keep eveyone moving forward.

To maintain students, it takes someone who can continue to inspire them, let them learn and grow, and let them see the benefits to them personally from being involved.

For some teams this all comes together in one person, for others it it a small core team of mentors - but i think it has to be there for a team to survive and thrive.

[kramarczyk]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

I think every team needs a leader with vision and a view of the big picture of FIRST so that they can then sell it to the mentors, students, administration and sponsors.

FIRST is a difficult program to grasp -

To maintain the support of adminstrators and sponsors $$ (both mentioned in other posts) it takes someone who can explain it is more than kids building a robot.

To maintain mentors it takes someone who can manage conflicts and personalities and keep eveyone moving forward.

To maintain students, it takes someone who can continue to inspire them, let them learn and grow, and let them see the benefits to them personally from being involved.

For some teams this all comes together in one person, for others it it a small core team of mentors - but i think it has to be there for a team to survive and thrive.

I've gotta go with Chris on this one. Without a single vision for the team the limited resources get spent managing people and trying to get them all pointed in the same direction instead of managing projects, driven by the collective passion, that set the team up for success. Basically, without an agreed upon definition of success the odds of succeeding are slim.

[JaneYoung]

Communication.

Without communication there is no:
recruitment
training
requests for sponsorship/money
networking with other teams/students/mentors/businesses
ability to help
understanding
fun

It works with machines and with people.
The better the communication system, the more efficient the organization and team. From the top down and the bottom up. It takes time, patience, and focus to develop a sound communication system, making sure everyone is on the same page and keeping it that way as new members enter the team/teams/FIRST.

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

Communication.

Without communication there is no:
recruitment
training
requests for sponsorship/money
networking with other teams/students/mentors/businesses
ability to help
understanding
fun

It works with machines and with people.
The better the communication system, the more efficient the organization and team. From the top down and the bottom up. It takes time, patience, and focus to develop a sound communication system, making sure everyone is on the same page and keeping it that way as new members enter the team/teams/FIRST.

I'm with Jane 100%

[emersont49]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

Communication.
The better the communication system, the more efficient the organization and team. From the top down and the bottom up. It takes time, patience, and focus to develop a sound communication system, making sure everyone is on the same page and keeping it that way as new members enter the team/teams/FIRST.

Jane's comments are the keys to real success. Good communication can solve a host of issues.

I believe that mentors should teach, advise and assist. If mentors are suffering from burnout then they are too involved.

An issue that is just as important as funding is getting space for robot work and parts storage. Having to move from location to location make it difficult to maintain any degree of organization.

[Rosiebotboss]

Originally Posted by emersont49

Jane's comments are the keys to real success. Good communication can solve a host of issues.

I believe that mentors should teach, advise and assist. If mentors are suffering from burnout then they are too involved.

An issue that is just as important as funding is getting space for robot work and parts storage. Having to move from location to location make it difficult to maintain any degree of organization.

Not too involved.........they are probably not involved enough.

Get more involved in your school, in your booster club, with your students, meet their parents, meet their teachers and admins. The only way (IMHO) to avoid burnout is to replace/duplicate yourself. If you are able to do this, the load becomes lighter with better results.

I believe it was Henry Ford that said, "I wouuld rather have 1% effort from 100 men than 100% effort from 1 man."

[Pavan Dave]

Students is our problem.

We have had three high schools feed our team [it is a district team] and now we have four, but still we can only get around 20-30 people to stick around during the build. For three, soon to be four, 5A schools those are low numbers of participation. Some of it has to do with grades and eligibility while others have to do with time constraints and other options but still 20-30 people isn't great especially from schools with over ~2-3K+ students each.