Bill's Blog |
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| 8/07/2009 - Teamwork & Expanding our Reach | |
This week marks the end of Boy Scout resident camp and it has been a great summer! We have one more week of Cub Camping and I look forward to visiting Camp Kingsley again. During my visits to camp, I heard hundreds of POSITIVE comments and received a few letters about our properties and our staff. We are not perfect by any means-but our camp staff knows how to treat our customers. This Saturday, we will be holding “debriefing meetings” with staff to review the written evaluations submitted by the campers and to start planning for 2010. I would like to thank each summer camp and council employee that helped make a difference in the lives of our Scouts.
My travels to and from camp also serve as a time that I can reflect on the issues facing our council and the conversations I have with leaders, youth, and camp staff and prompted me to write the following……………..it will also appear in the next edition of ScoutingNews………..
Synergy-
Synergy is the term used to describe a situation where different entities cooperate advantageously for towards a final outcome. In a team setting, it arises when two or more persons with different complementary skills cooperate. Simply defined, it means that the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.
Without going into a lot of details, team synergy is the goal of a four phase model of team development…..FORMING a team, STORMING from an “as is” state to a “will become” state, NORMING to resolve issues and define processes; and finally PERFORMING, working together effectively as a team.
Although the lines between the four stages are sometimes fuzzy and teams move back and forth through each stage, I believe our council is in the NORMING phase. We have a great team assembled, although we still seek to fill some gaps; and we have defined what our future will be, through our new strategic plan. Now is the time to define exactly how we will work together in the future. We have several choices, so I’ll offer some questions to help us think a little…
· What if we had no district or unit boundaries; and the volunteers and professionals, from across the council, came together to solve our issues and truly worked together to meet our goals in membership, program, finance, and unit service? Simply, we win as a team and lose as a team.
· What if we were able to have our 3 separate camps located on the same property and with shared staff, ideas, and resources?
· What if we never knew of the existence of a General Herkimer, Land of the Oneidas, Upper Mohawk, or Iroquois councils?
· What if individuals who noticed a problem or issue, got involved in helping to fix the problem or issue even though it wasn’t within their “area of responsibility”?
· What if units who never participated in a council or district event decided to help plan and conduct events in the future? I know they have a lot to offer to the rest of us.
· What if everyone totally and completely trusted each other?
· What if everyone knew what to do and had everything they needed to perform their job successfully?
· What if every charter partner was fully engaged at every level; in their unit, in their district and in the council?
· What if parents, of every youth, were asked to play a role in our units?
The answer to each of these questions in simple…….we would meet our potential in being one of the best councils in the nation. We would have more trained leaders delivering a quality program, resulting in higher camp attendance and advancement, and a better chance of keeping youth in our great program.
Synergy…….the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Recent Surveys
Although we have another few weeks before our recent surveys are final, we are reviewing preliminary results and we are listening. The early results show that we are not doing so well in: membership support, adult recognition, having a board that is visible to our units and districts, and commissioner/customer service. I believe our strategic plan addresses all of these areas but the results of the survey tells us where to begin. A good place is membership………….
Fall Cub Scout Recruiting
I was somewhat surprised to learn that unit leaders rated our districts and council the lowest in membership support. Although we place a lot of emphasis on membership, our units need more help and support.
We have a plan that is simple and proven but may be something new for a lot of our units. It is designed to provide a service to our units instead of handing them a packet of information and offering a few words of encouragement. Here’s an outline:
· A member of the district committee and/or professional staff will call each unit to schedule their school night. Our goal is to have only 1 meeting in each district each night so that we can provide attention and support to all units.
· About 3-4 days prior to each unit’s school night, we will conduct a boy talk for the school that the unit is associated with and distribute flyers and trinkets to the youth.
· During the unit school night we will use a very specific agenda. The school night will be staffed by one of our District Executives along with members of the district membership team. We will have a supply of handbooks, uniform order forms, and popcorn sales forms available. The meeting should take about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
· Units will need their core leadership to attend and have some activities planned for the new youth.
· The school night should be held at the place the unit normally meets.
· We will begin the process of recruiting adults on the first night.
· This plan allows the council and our district provide SERVICE to our units.
· Is it proven? Absolutely! In my first district, which was very similar to our districts, membership grew from 619 to 901 in three years (45%). In my second district, I had 19 packs and averaged 500 new Cubs each fall for 2 years. In 1999, over 300 new Cubs were recruited and registered in ScoutNET in September alone! From year end 1997 to year end 1999, my second district grew from 942 youth to 1125 youth-19%!
· Look for more information and the agenda in the mid-August Edition of ScoutingNews.
New Partnership
Last week, Rolland Miner and I had a great meeting with the superintendent of the Herkimer BOCES-Mark Vivacqua. We found out that he is a Scout alumni from our council and has many fond memories of Camp Russell. We discussed many ideas during our meeting and, although the details need to be worked out, decided to become partners in serving our youth. I anticipate several Explorer Posts, both on the BOCES campus and at community businesses, will result from this new partnership.
2009 Community Report
During a recent meeting with Mary MacEnroe, we discussed the concept of a community report for Scouting. Our plan is to publish an 8 page insert that will be included in local newspapers around the middle of September. It will highlight our community service, our emphasis on leadership development, results of being a member, and our wonderful camps. This project will showcase our council to the community. Depending on the cost, this publication may require us to change the final ScoutingNEWS to a different format such as an e-file or other type of publication……we will keep you posted.
SCOUTING MAGAZINE LAUNCHES REDESIGN
Magazine will introduce its most sweeping redesign in 12 years
IRVING, Tex. July 28, 2009--Scouting magazine, the Boy Scouts of America's publication for adult leaders, will debut an eye-catching, cover-to-cover redesign with the September-October 2009 issue. The editors' goal is to publish articles that provide valuable "What's-In-It-For-Me?" information for readers.
"Scouting's redesign puts an emphasis on columns and features that can make our volunteers become more effective leaders of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturers," said Scott Daniels, the magazine's managing editor. "Shorter articles, larger displays of photography and illustrations, and numerous informational graphics make the magazine an easier read and provide the BSA's 1 million volunteers the motivation to 'Lead, Inspire, Explore,' as characterized by the magazine's new tagline."
The magazine's graphic redesign is presented in four sections. The first, called Trailhead, offers news and information about people and events, reviews of books or videos, humorous Scouting anecdotes, and topics of historical interest.
The next section, Roundtable, includes FAQ's about advancement, a column for merit badge counselors, and an interview with a veteran Scouter, titled "What I've Learned." Two other columns emphasize teaching ethics to youth and focus on adolescent boy behavior. "What Would You Do?" provides reader responses to a question posed by a unit volunteer.
Scouting's main features will continue to showcase the nation's finest unit, district, and council programs, as well as provide information on current topics that leaders can use in their dens, packs, troops, and crews.
Last but not least, Scouting delivers equipment reviews, guides for better camping, Dutch oven recipes, and tips on how to survive almost anything in a new back-of-the-book section--Outdoors.
The magazine will now publish five times a year instead of six. All adult volunteers and professional Scouters receive the magazine as part of their registration fee. Issue dates are January-February, March-April, May-June, September-October, and November-December. The magazine's expanded Web site offerings at www.scoutingmagazine.org now include a weekday blog, Cracker Barrel, that further celebrates the fellowship of Scouters.
Yours in Scouting,
Bill Garrett
Scout Executive & CEO
Boy Scouts of America
Revolutionary Trails Council
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