Communication

[scoutldr]

Serving on the District Committee, part of my job is to communicate with unit leaders on a regular basis to get information or to pass information. My communication method of choice is e-mail, mainly because I find it the most efficient use of my time. I can get a message out to 85 unit leaders with the click of a mouse. Unfortunately, the response is dismal. My last communication resulted in 3 responses, one of which was 2 months later. When I mentioned this at the Dist Committee mtg, I was soundly trounced by those around the table who hate e-mail. They "get too much spam", "do it all day at work and refuse to do it at home", "never check their e-mail at home", etc. Well, the one or two nights a week that I am home, I don't have the time to spend every evening on the phone, playing phone tag with answering machines, or waiting for people to relay messages and return my call (and I'm never at home to receive them, either). Trying to get this info at Roundtable is useless, also, since only the same 6-7 units are represented.

 

I tried phoning for FOS...spent an entire Sat afternoon on the phone and only actually reached 2 people.

 

Any solutions? How do you prefer to receive communications from District/Council that is fair and efficient to all?

[baden]

I receive most of my info from the District by e-mail. I do not like getting a lot of phone calls. I can read and respond to e-mail in my own time. I do check e-mail daily and respond in a timely fashion. Of course my kids are grown and gone. Perhaps your people can't get to their computers because the kids are always on it. We used to have that problem. I frankly don't know what to say to people that don't respond. Chances are they wouldn't perform much differently if you could reach them by phone. Our Roundtable has a post office in which all handouts are "mailed" to each Troop to save time at the meeting. Each Troop has their own P.O. Box. When I picked up our papers last month I noticed a few boxes overflowing. Probably hadn't had a Leader there since August. Of course they weren't at the Fall Camporee and we probably won't see them at our MB College next weekend. Or popcorn pickup or charter turn in. When I was District Commissioner I told a "SM" once if you're going to quit, tell someone so you may be replaced. WOW!! That was quite a bit more of a rant than I had intended, but people that don't follow through upset me. If you don't want to do the job just say so. You might mention this to some of your unresponsive comm. members.

[Eamonn]

I really like e-mail.

But....

I managed to upset our District Commissioner, he got to sending way too much.

I got really fed up with the jokes and a little upset with the prayers that threatened that if I didn't forward them to all the people I know all sorts of things would happen, none of it good.

I tend to not send or forward any of this sort of stuff and only send important stuff.

We use the R/T Mail boxes and if a unit doesn't pick up their mail it goes to the Unit Commissioner for him to deliver.

I suppose you might try things like prizes for the first so many replies? But the real trick is making what you send important enough that people will want to respond.

I don't like all the fancy stationary and background stuff, just keep it clear and I'm a happy camper.

Our District Commissioner is so upset that he now doesn't send me anything!! Oh well,he only has to put up with me as District Chairman for another month.

Eamonn.

[bbng]

I wish I had an answer for you; I'm still trying to figure out how to reach people effectively and I hate the phone. Both the District Executive and District Commissioner have identified this as a weak area and are working on it. E-mail is one way, but there is no way to know who actually reads the e-mails; even when requesting "read receipts", not all will respond. So we created a district web site to highlight council and district events, who's who in the district, and relevant info. When it comes to roundtables, items covered in RT don't go on the site until after the RT, and then it's limited due to copyright and logistics. Since I am the webmaster, I know the hits are still really limited, but the council site has been improving (it had undergone some pretty big changes) and more people are visiting it. Knowing that our Unit Commissioners have tried, without success, to get hold of current unit leaders in some packs (and the DE is not aware of a change, nor is the COR) as RT commissioner I am sending out a mailing to highlight what has been covered this past fall and to extend an invitation to anyone who has been unable to attend. The very best method I know of though is the one that is least practical: the personal invitation. As I meet leaders, I invite them to council and district events other than the RT, and quite often they come out. Bit by bit, we are working together to improve this area of communications, but it is not easy. Do you have a current council web site, or is the information info that you'd prefer not to have online?

[scoutldr]

We have a web site, but it is not very dynamic. Case in point, I had to survey all units to see where they were registered for summer camp. You'd think I was asking for their personal bank account numbers. The only e-mail I (or anyone else from District) sends is scout-related (no jokes or spam). Either time sensitive info, or a request for information. It would take less than a minute to read and respond.

[rkfrance]

My situation is virtually the same as bbng. Our Council's site was a joke which has since been completely revamped. Our District Chair volunteered me to build a District website. It's up, and some people check it out. We also have our District Program Chair send out mass emails to the District for quick fix or time sensitive info. I then incorporate the appropriate info onto the website. It doesn't get to everyone. Some still don't care.

 

My Unit Commish doesn't check her emails regularly but she visits every 2-3 weeks.

 

As a Commissioner, I know it's next to impossible to actually talk to a real person on the phone. I really prefer email. I've considered doing surveys for the preferred ways of communication, but there again, how do you deal with those people that don't care if they get the info in time or not? Many leaders I know have opted out of going to RT because their UC is going to come tell them what's going on.

 

You can only help those that want to be helped. If you related it to the rest of the world, the response that you would get back most of the time would be, "I"M JUST LOOKING."

[Cubmaster Jerry]

I brought this up at my last Pack Committee meeting. Like you, e-mail is much easier and I simply don't have the time to make 20 phone calls - even if I did want to! E-mail is widely accepted in my unit as the primary means of communication. However, there are always a few that refuse. Similar reasons as you mentioned. But I pretty much laid it out as the ONLY means that I communicate and if you don't read/respond you will be left out. I have one leader out of about 25 that doesn't have e-mail but the ADL does so it works out.

 

Response is not perfect but good. I told them that I will call them if they let me know if their e-mail is down or if I need an immediate (2-3 days) response. I may be pushing it here but I really see no reason that someone can't check their e-mail at least every other day.

 

I told my committe that if they don't get at least one e-mail a week from me (it's usually more like 2-3) then check the obituaries because I am probably dead.

 

A solution to the spam or having to sort through to find the Scout related e-mail - create an internet account (yahoo, hotmail, etc) specifically for scouts. Yahoo does a great job of filtering out spam.

[SemperParatus]

"How do you prefer to receive communications from District/Council that is fair and efficient to all?"

 

I prefer e-mail. I can easily ignore it and not respond to it, if I choose.

 

[evmori]

I like e-mail. Not checking their home e-mail because they use it all day at work is a poor excuse and nothing more. I use it all day at work, too! Do these same people read their snail mail daily? The SM in my unit is like that. He told me if I have something important to tell him, call him because he doesn't check his e-mail everyday! Best part, he doesn't answer his phone, either! He screens his calls!

 

Other than e-mail, a web site to strictly pass info like this to a large number of people is a good idea.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[acco40]

Ask people on an on-line forum what they prefer and the answer will be overwhelmingly e-mail. Do a telephone survey and the overwhelming answer of those who answer will be by phone.

 

I prefer email but, just because it is important to the sender does not mean it is important to me. Our unit (troop) re-charters in January. Every year in late November I get an email from our council to send in a copy of our rosters. I know that they are positioning themselves for Quality District/Quality Council. If we the units are registering our Scouts and Scouters as required, why are they asking for this information? Don't they already have this info? Do they want the name of the Scout who we registered in January '05 but who informed us in July that he is no longer interested in Scouting?

 

I get lots of requests from Council/District via email, mail, phone and the vast majority I do try to answer in a timely fashion but I don't answer them all.

 

I suggest that when units recharter, such annual information as date for unit FOS presentation, OA election, etc. be included (and required) for Quality/Premier Unit awards. This would make everyones life much simpler.(This message has been edited by acco40)