Yardsticks and Whips

[SWScouter]

Last May, the BSA presented its current strategic plan. This plan is made up of five "pillars," each with its own objectives. These are:

Every eligible youth has an opportunity to be involved in a quality Scouting experience.

Every local council is fiscally sound.

The number of engaged, accountable volunteers is dramatically increased at all levels of Scouting.

Local, regional, and national chartered organizations and strategic alliances are identified and engaged.

Enough of the right professionals are identified, developed, and retained in the right positions at all levels, with a focus on diversity.

I recently became District Commissioner for a large district.

 

We have around 188 units. If I go by BSA standards, that means I need a staff of about 63 Unit Commissioners, 4 Round Table Commissioners, and 16 Assistant District Commissioners. This brings the "ideal" commissioner staff to 83; I have nowhere near that much staff.

 

The units are categorized into two groups, LDS and traditional. About two thirds of the units are LDS. For the LDS, each ward (church) has four units (pack, troop, team, crew). There are about 8-12 wards in an LDS stake. Here, the COR for a ward is also the UC for its four units. The LDS stake also assigns ADCs for its wards. I'm just figuring this out but as far as I can tell, I'll have little, if any, input on selecting the commissioner staff serving the LDS units. I'm getting a crash course in the organization of the LDS church; thank goodness the District Chairman is a past bishop of an LDS stake and can guide me through this maze.

 

Back to the pillars

 

My immediate concern is the third pillar, to increase the number of engaged, accountable volunteers of the commissioner staff. To me, there is two parts to address. One is recruiting the staff, and the other is to make the staff accountable. If you have any suggestions for recruitment please let me know, but here I'd like to discuss accountability.

 

It seems that in order to have accountability, then a way to measure performance is needed. How can we hold someone accountable for something if we can't measure how well they are doing that something? That's the basis for the title to this thread, "Yardsticks and Whips." From what I've seen, there has been little if any measurement or accountability with the service staff here.

 

So what things are useful for me and the service staff to measure and how can the service staff be held accountable? Or perhaps it is better to ask what should I, as DC, hold the service staff accountable for?

 

So without offering any answers myself, I'd really like to hear your suggestions, especially from those of you that are or have been a District Commissioner.

 

Thank you,

SWScouter

[LongHaul]

I have never served on the Commissioner Staff so I speak only from the unit level. What I have always looked for in a UC is a person that can bring in an outside eye to the workings of a unit. On UC I knew always made friends  by asking that who every has been doing it for the past three years train someone else instead of doing it again this year. Replacing a SM, CM in a healthy unit on short notice is not as hard as replacing the person that organizes a major unit function. The UC helps units realize that they need back up quarterbacks in key positions. The Commissioner staff sees that all the packs know where all the troops are and that Webelos have options when it comes to crossover. Make sure that there is a good unit level Webelos to Transition program that is more than crossover oriented. I hope you get usable info from those with more hands on experience. Which brings up another concept, recruit people with actual field experience as opposed to training experience. Having actually done it is better than having taken all the training about it. Sometimes seasoned volunteers can be convinced they are needed outside their unit(s).

LongHaul

 

[Fuzzy Bear]

Yes, I have been a DC and here are my suggestions.

 

Lets see 2/3 of the total units are LDS units that are running their own show, so out of the 188 units there are only 62 units that need UCs to help them achieve quality program status. If you assign 1 UC for every three units, then you will only need 21. You can also allow the LDS people to run their own Round Tables, thus reducing your needs to 1 BS and 1 CS Roundtable Commissioners and ADCs. This is the case unless the total driving time from one end of the District to the other (E,W and N,S) is greater than 30 minutes, then, you may have to double up on Roundtables and ADCs.

 

Break the 62 units down into geographical areas and then prioritize them according to past program quality status. Check your list of UCs and assign your best to the most difficult units. Make sure to keep a check on units that have more needs than a UC has repair. These units will need help from District Committee, so report to them and ask for their help. The DE doesnt ever want to lose a unit so make sure that he/she knows and let them be the valiant one. As you recruit new UCs, train them and assign them to the best units that are closest to their residence. Also, assign a mentor to each new UC.

 

Recruiting people to do a job for free is always difficult, mainly because people feel guilty. Guilt also keeps leaders from expecting duties to be performed with excellence.

If you are expecting Program Quality, this takes time because the role of the UC is based on their ability to know the program and their ability to befriend the unit leader. Change comes slowly and then only with the inevitable pain.

 

I have addressed recruiting in the past and wont go over it again. It is similar to helping people get a job. People wont get off their chair long enough to reach out or they get so burdened with sadness when the one person they recruited backs out so they just stop.

 

Achieving a Quality District for this first year is a big goal and most likely not achievable, so set your sights on a three to five year plan instead. You probably wont get another patch for your collection if you fail for a couple of years but helping units achieve quality status means that more Scouts will stay in the program longer, an even bigger goal. fb