curious_scouter

Sounds like a regular meeting night to me You will have a LOT of people telling you how to do the job. Some will tell you how terrible you are at it. Some will say that to you, others will just gossip about it. But ... you're in this role because you stepped up, or were suggested and importantly out of all options - you Chartered Org Rep approved you. I carry an index card with me and as scouts ask for time I scribble it down and try to set expectations "Hey bud, you're 5th in line and I have a few things to do before I can sit down for conferences. It might be after the close of the meeting - can you stay? If not, we'll get it next week for sure." You're new in the role so you will tend to want to do more, probably, to learn and hone your skill. You can definitely delegate. Use those older scouts if it's to get something signed off. If you know the Scout well, it's often better to delegate the SM Conf to an ASM. I like to "hoarde" conferences for Scouts I don't know well or see as much as a tool to get to know them better and have that touch but also - never stand in the way of advancement progress. Better to delegate out a conference than hold up a scout for 3-4 weeks. And when things get REAL NUTS (sounds like you have a larger troop) you can do things outside of meetings, minding YPT. I've done a LOT of conferences at Starbucks on a non-meeting night. I've done a LOT at campouts and in fact have a habit now on Friday night saying "If anyone needs a conference or is really close - see me tomorrow after lunch" or whatever. Remember too, SM Conferences do not have to be last. If they are 1-2 simple requirements away from "being done and needing one" - just do it now if it's convenient. Save the pressure that comes from leaving it last. Many thing it has to be the last thing. It's not a bad idea to encourage that and use the SM conf as a chance to make sure all looks square just before a board of review but you can do a SM conference ANY time for a rank. And I always sign off the requirement the moment I sit down to do it with the Scout. The requirement does not say "pass" a conference - it says "have" a conference. So I just check the book, sign off the conf, then focus on them for the duration. Takes the stress and anticipation of getting that initial out of the equation too and lets them engage better as well.

The first thing I do is never stop asking. The second thing I do is accept camping and being a leader is not for everyone. If they aren't super interested, you're probably better off letting them find another role. A disgruntled adult leader who's just super unhappy outdoors brings down everyone. As I find interested souls, I split adult outdoor support into two groups: ASM-types: Actively engage with Scouts, enjoy outdoor activities already, and spend time out of their chairs while participating in the program. They're involved because they love the activities and the program. Support Adults: Provide a relaxing presence at camp and assist with tasks as needed, like managing meals or running errands, when ASMs are busy with Scouts. They mainly come to ensure the Scouts can camp while enjoying some downtime. New adults (all) shadow me on their first few outings and learn "the way": Adults are a patrol, staying out of Scout activities unless there's a safety or behavioral concern. Parents often struggle to let Scouts make mistakes or rely on youth leadership, but it's key to fostering independence. Outdoor outings also provide valuable R&R for adults, often filled with campfires, stories, and cooking. Another thing I've done recently is I ask new leaders to come to meetings in plain clothes for a few weeks. Watch, listen, learn. Then come in uniform. On the first night in uniform, I introduce them to the Scouts. Who they are. What they will do. How to expect to interact with them. It's really done a lot to improve new leader engagement. It takes away all the "Who the heck is this person and where do they get off telling me what to do?" aspect. I think having a slew of activities and training may actually turn adults off. Entice them with some R&R and fellowship, get to know the person, find the things they may be passionate about and then leverage those things. Talk about all the downtime they will enjoy, the great food, the camaraderie with the adults. Then, if they say it's not their thing - take them at their word. But check in regularly in case it starts to sound more appealing.

When I came in as SM I felt similar. We had patrols, but the cohesion within them seemed kind of weak. My observation was on a campout, there was a lot of intermingling when there shouldn't be. Like... some scouts from Patrol A were supposed to be cooking or KPing and just generally hanging out with Patrol A but instead were off at Patrol B's site hanging out because that's where their friends were. It caused problems within Patrol A (they should have been there helping but weren't) and at Patrol B (they were not helping there either - just kind of in the way or worse: eating their food). Those guys should have been in a patrol together already. Patrols got formed, then over time scouts just got "put in" Patrols and then it's obvious to me also that the bonds between youth change over time - some getting stronger, some getting weaker. So you may have started in the right patrol for you, but now a year or two later your better friends are not in your current patrol. This is compounded by the fact I think teenagers find it hard to say "Hey, I would rather be with those guys." It's true, but they don't want to feel like they are telling their current patrol "I don't like you" or that they are leaving them hanging. So they just hang on where they are at vs. where they ought to be patrol-wise. My proposed solution was a "Patrol Remix Night". I proposed it at the PLC and the PLC agreed it sounded like it was needed. At the next meeting, the SPL announced "Everyone is released from their patrols. Take the next 30 minutes and form new patrols." That was all the instruction we gave. We did not mandate a min/max size. Ages. Ranks. Nothing. We just let scouts group up how they wanted. We accepted all the patrols that night, there were 7. Then the next week there was some scout-initiated reshuffling and they ended up in 5 patrols. Some were a bit bigger, some smaller, but everyone in every patrol wanted to be in that patrol. It worked well and if you have a feeling the dynamics in your Patrols are off it could help. By doing it that way I feel like we took away the stigma of wanting to leave a patrol and go be with a different group since EVERYONE was told to go re-sort. Two patrols kept prior names, the rest rebranded with new names, flag, call, etc. which I feel like that helped a lot too. The names were the decision of the current group - not something they just walked in on and had to live with. This made it more their patrol not "A" patrol. We do have a "first year patrol" but I'm even considering doing away with that concept in our Troop. Our Troop Guides, ASMs and older scouts can find and help the younger scouts no matter what patrol they are in. But I will say that over the past 5 months or so, our youngest Patrol consistently sets the bar. They are up first. They are done their meals and KP first. They have the best menus. Their campsite looks the best. They are having the most fun too. I use them all the time to challenge the other patrols to do better - and it works lol.

We had no problem at all renewing people in batches and paying for them as a unit. We did this for about 6 youth who's parents couldn't sort it out (or be bothered to) so they would not expire. We did this for all adults as we currently pay the fees for adults. On Jan 1 we have full renewal of everyone we expected to renew - exactly as we would have if doing recharter. The scramble was honestly about the same. It should have been less and maybe it will be but we still had to chase the usual suspects. I do agree we should have auto renewal in place. I suspect they didn't want to over-commit to this process. You get people on a subscription using a service and you're stuck there. When something is very new, you want the freedom to pivot if needed. Not having auto renewal is a miss, but it avoids vendor lock in for payment services in a new process so it does have some merit. I hope they add the option by next renewal.

Outing signup is so messy. I don't have a good answer except I want max attendance, so I do not want to put unrealistic expectations on early signup. We let it go "as far as practical". Menu planning happens in the monday meeting before the outing. Someone leaves as grubmaster, they usually shop Thursday. We cut off self-serve signups on Tuesday AM but allow people to contact me right up to Thursday afternoon as long as I can confirm with the grubmaster's parent that they can add one for shopping. My goal is to get as many of my scouts on every outing as possible so I'm probably TOO lenient on this, but in my experience teens/parents don't commit weeks ahead and the last minute excitement of the planning in the meeting and post-meeting chatter on their group chats, etc. results in those who were not passionate about going suddenly caving into FOMO and wanting to jump in. Not uncommon for example that a Patrol plans their menu on Monday for 4 scouts and ends up shopping on Thursday for 7 because 3 more from that patrol go "What the heck, I guess if so and so and so and so are going - I may as well".

yeah, keeping an eye on renewals is going to be a regular affair for sure. It would be great if they would offer the option to auto renew. Most places I have a membership with like Geocaching.com, Gaia GPS, etc. all email ahead of time "Your membership will renew on X" and it gives you a chance to end the subscription otherwise it just renews. Unsure why they didn't go this route for everyone's sanity and their financial benefit.

This is the answer. It should be highlighted to the beneficiary in the first meeting IMO. They own ongoing maintenance or not. If a Scout sees an eroding project and chooses to do something to spruce it back up that's a nice windfall but should not be an expectation. Also, I tell people often: The first step to getting help is often to ask for help. If a beneficiary is incapable of doing maintenance on a past project, but would like something done - educate them that they can ask the troop the scout was from. The worst thing that happens is it's not possible and they're no worse off. I'd give service hours for renovating a past project for a beneficiary.

It shows 100% completion with that day's date. It just never updates. I literally sat next to him last meeting and watched him do it again in an effort to help avoid any issues and he did everything I would do (and have) and it just doesn't reflect. My suspicion is that he's somehow created a new my.scouting account and is doing the training there, but I could not confirm it with him. That's probably the biggest issue right now for us is duplicate accounts. Maybe. But I think most people are accustomed to subscriptions these days and that's what this is now. If they can handle hulu, I think they'll be able to handle this. I think the biggest challenge is getting the "old guard" to do it in the new way. Starting this year for anyone who's new this will just be "how it's done". But, as you say, even spreading the pain and breaking the challenge into smaller chunks is a decent benefit. The only downshot right now is it looks like the "penalty" for not renewing on time is you LOSE your registration. You have to submit a new application is what I understand. That's just going to create MORE duplicate BSA IDs and more confusion. But I'll know whether that's a legit concern 'round about Jan 1

Pretty much the same here. We did tell leaders we will pay/do your re-up or reimburse if you DIY. So we avoided any controversy there and many who have the means have stated they do not want reimbursement. We insist they should not pay to volunteer, they insist they do not want repaid, we let it rest and it's a nice bump in support. We have a TON of adult leaders registered, all active, but it has put a financial strain on the unit as fees skyrocket. So even a small relief here is welcome. Everyone else is going through it at their own distressingly slow pace but going. I suspect we'll have to pin down people to finish and likely will have to submit a batch we pay and bill people for just to avoid apps expiring and having to be redone. The hardest thing right now is that one of our adults shows as YPT expired, but I've literally watched him take the course, get the thumbs up - and it does not register. We're perplexed, but unless we can sort it out we'll have to drop him to re-up the unit and deal with it later. It's new, so it's a bit bumpy but once everyone is in the groove, I think it's going to ultimately be a benefit. No more pro-ration confusion, no more CRUSHING the committee / renewal chair for 2-3 months a year. Recharter for us was always such a goat rodeo. Leading cause of CC burnout in my book. I think this is already marginally better and will only improve in the years ahead.

Earmark weekends and "big" themes (canoe trip, campsgiving, district camporee) at annual planning conference. At APC they come up with a prioritized list of locations they want to camp. Outdoor activities chair and I (adults) work off that list to get sites booked throughout the year. PLC meets monthly and plans specifics based on where we land for campsite. We used to try to earmark specific sites for specific months, but found the popular sites were often hard to get. So we just try month after month until we get it. Then that's where we'll be and the PLC determines the theme/activities for the campout based on all the facts. We are (now) strictly Patrols on campouts. Cooking included. No exception and I NEVER split patrols. Either they just deal with the fact there's only 2 or 3 of their patrol going or the Patrol decides to team up with anther Patrol. But it's the entire patrol teaming up. I don't permit patrol mates to be separated. And I usually encourage them NOT to team up and to just roll with it. It's not perfect, but it's youth lead and Patrol method and IMO that's the way.

Good time to practice using the most important gear a leader has: Your chair. And, a close second, working on your coffee (or perhaps tea) skills.

Another suggestion is ask the SM if it's okay if you plan and host ILST. They might just be overwhelmed, maybe they are even unaware it needs to be done annually and is a pre-req for scouts wanting to do NYLT. Or that it's their job to do it. I know my first year as a SM was super overwhelming and I had been an adult scouter and ASM for many years before taking on the job. The first year I was SM we didn't have OA elections - I didn't know I was supposed to request them and no one told me lol. Oops! Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by ignorance! Make the direct offer with a case. Once they let you do one thing and you do it well, you will find they have no problems letting you do more! Probably. Hopefully! I empathize with your position. It's not an easy spot to be in or to get out of. You seem like a good leader, but sometimes that means feeling lonely and having the weight. This too shall pass and things will gradually get better. Scouting is also generational. It's a blessing and a curse. Next year you'll have new crossovers (probably) with new adults and you may find your people then. Or someone presenting a headwind to you today find themselves busier with work in a few months and their absence means the bad habits they championed also fade a bit.

It's tough to turn a ship, it takes a lot of work. It can also be risky to turn it too quickly: Bad habits take time to correct and Scouting moves at Scouting speed - which can be frustratingly slow when you see that a lot of change is needed and your energy level for it exceeds those around you. SPLs serve for 6 months. Start working with prospective future SPLs now. Get them to NYLT. Then THEY will ask for ILST, THEY will come to PLCs with agenda. It's going to be tough to change things today. But you have to start planting seeds. If you like the unit otherwise, keep going. It takes TIME and PERSEVERANCE and REPETITION to change things like this but it'll come. If you don't have the time or tenacity to see it through, you might not be happy there long term and you owe it to yourself and your son to find a place where you can enjoy scouting. Or if your son is enjoying it in all its chaotic glory - maybe that's enough, you might be happier just being 'parent'.

If you like, you can probably still send feedback to: commissionerserviceteam@scouting.org

https://forms.gle/L5pHray2RdD4Xt2R9 for those interested n/m - no longer accepting input.