Looking for Tips on Exit Interviews

[5570xr2]

Anyone use exit interviews when Scouts leave the pack? Our enrollment has recently dropped and I'd like to get some ideas why they left. Are there any existing resources that may have a good list of 'canned' questions? Thanks for any advice.

[Trevorum]

When I was CM, if the DL said someone had dropped, I'd call up the parents and just ask why. It was usually a schedule conflict (little league, etc.). Sometimes there were family issues (custody, etc.). Sometimes there were leadership issues in the Den or personality conflicts among adults. These I'd probe a little deeper. Occasionally a youngster just lost interest in Cubs. These worried me the most and I'd ask questions of the parent trying to find out exactly why. Was it boring? Was he harrassed by other kids? Whatever the answer, I always came away feeling as though I had lost; I always asked myself what I could have done differently. My wife finally realized how much this bothered me and told me not to blame myself, that not all of the seeds one plants in a garden take root.

[OneHour]

Exit interviews? Some of our scouts simply don't show up any more. In our troop, so far, both Scoutmasters to date have not cared enough to want to know why. Personally, I have called those scouts and their parents whom I know well since Cub Scouts to find out why. My questions were simple:

 

1) Is Timmy doing okay? I'm a little worry since I have not since Little Timmy at troop meetings for a while now?

 

2) Is there a reason why Little Timmy decided to stop scouting?

 

3) Is there anything that the troop could improve to make it better for the other scouts?

 

and an open-ended invitation:

 

4) Whenever Little Timmy is ready to come back into the troop, he is more than welcomed! Remember one thing, he can start where he left off. In scouting, there is no such thing as being behind!

[5570xr2]

yeah, I guess the term "exit interview" is a little too corporate. I'm thinking more on the lines of a simple phone call.

[EagleInKY]

We see pretty much everyone at school functions, so I would usually just talk to them and try to see what happened. Most of the time it was around schedules or just a lack of interest. However, if there were problems, I was more likely to find it out from a friend of theirs. If I suspected there was a problem (usually with a DL or family/scout in the den), I would try to find something out from a 3rd party.

[Cubmaster Mike]

I always call someone who doesn't show up for three or more meetings. The biggest break is always at the start of the new school year. When I contact them I let them know I am calling to make sure everything is all right becasue I haven't seen them for awhile. If they indicate they are not returning, then I ask them why. If the parents tell you tht "we're just too busy" I acknowledge that and ask them why Scouts was the "busy" activity that they decided to drop. If little Johnny is just "not interested" I ask what are Johnny's new interests. If there is a personality conflict then I dig into that.

 

Sometimes the excuse you get is one of convenience and not always truthful, because some folks are just not comfortable rejecting you when they know that they'll probably see you around school/town/church. So take what you get and decide how much to weight it.

 

It may sound probing, but information you get back may keep the next boy in the program.

 

CMM

[Bob White]

I don't know if this is the kind of tip you are really after but it might be a lot of help to you.

 

About three years back the BSA did an extensive poll of both Scouts who left the program and of the leaders they left.

 

They polled a couple thousand boys and their leaders. 8 out of ten boys listed as their #1 reason for leaving the program as "boring meetings".

 

Interestingly enough not a single adult leader even mentioned that in their lists of why these same boys quit. They had in fact listed the same excuses we have heard from some posters here. The leaders listed: unsupportive parents, peer pressure, too much homework, too many conflicting activities, (sun was in my eyes, rock in my shoe etc.).

 

Here's my point. When you ask you scouts why they left you will probably hear the same things the leaders listed, because the boys and their families have no interest in hurting feelings so they are going to say the things you would think they might say.

 

But to a third unknown party (also to their friends and neighbors, they are going to tell the truth.

 

Odds are if you are lossing a significant number (around 10% or more) the very first thing you should do is look at the weekly program activities. Personnaly, I know very few folks who are able to look objectively at their own program delivery.

 

So you might sit down with someone whose opinion you trust from outside the unit and revioew the week to week program to see if the oproblem is their.

 

One quick way to check is see how many minutes in a den meeting the scouts are sitting down without an activity in their hands.

 

If thay are going over 10 minutes without moving around and doing things then you have a program problem.

 

If you do chose to interview the scouts,be sure to use an outsider interviewer and remember to ask the same questions of their leaders.Then compare the notes.

 

 

[Prairie_Scouter]

Actually, I've found that, while Bob is right that parents will many times be "polite" when asked about leaving, the Scouts themselves have *no* problem telling you that they were bored and not having fun. So, just ask'em.

 

Other than that, the questions and methods raised above are all good ideas.