# Project Mentor Guide

- A project mentor can also propose a project idea and lead it. But the priority should be on enabling leadership and collaborative work by participants themselves. The project mentor shouldn't be the center of attention.
- Monitor participation by *everyone*, to mitigate situations where extroverts dominate discussions or introverts don't feel comfortable to participate. Suggest ways to rebalance participation so that everyone feels they have something to contribute.
- Provide scientific advisory support. Serve as a resource. Ideally the project will be in your broader scientific domains, but it's not really necessary.
- Provide technical advisory support. Serve as a resource for Python, R, git/GitHub, sources of relevant data, analytical or data processing methods, etc. Help the team arrive at solutions to specific challenges.
- When you can't help directly, help them seek help elsewhere in the OHW community. Link to other OHW helpers or participants who may have relevant expertise.
- Maintain regular communication with project team via a Slack channel, in person (as appropriate) and GitHub issues and PR discussions.
- Be a resource for the preparation of project presentations. Make suggestions if the team is stuck because the different strands of a project are not coming together semi cleanly.