Eagle Project Beneficiary unsatisfied---what NEXT?

[dietmom5]

So, I'm the parent of an Eagle Scout-he has worked incredibly hard on a project, with little to no guidance and therefore, has had to do a lot of problem solving on his own.  He was doing log cabin chinking on a primitive structure for an Indian Village.  The beneficiary had NO oversight on the day of and we waited and waited for them to come out and check the work.  Finally, packed up all supplies--which was EXTENSIVE.  A day later beneficiary is not satisfied with the work.  He completed the exterior of the cabin chinking, but although they did not say, they want him to do the inside work as well.  Also, they didn't like the primitive look of the chinking and said it looked nothing like a "modern log cabin," which it isn't!!  It was well done and not sloppy.  My husband has been a General Contractor in the past and helped monitor the entire process.  Now she is expecting him to come back, touch it up, which might ruin it completely, and do the inside as well.  He has spent over 260 hours on this project.  How can I help him respond to this scenario?

[Rock Doc]

Sorry to hear this unfortunate situation. You say that your son is already an Eagle Scout, so is this project an extension of his commitment to a lifetime of service, or is he actually a Life Scout working on his Eagle Scout Service Project? 

 

Either way, it sounds like a situation that could have been avoided if expectations were clearly communicated before work commenced (in the Eagle Scout Project Proposal and Work Plan) and feedback was received during construction. Firstly, I'd recommend a face to face meeting with the beneficiary, your son, and his Eagle Coach, so that all parties can review the Proposal (which the beneficiary signed agreeing to the scope of work). I encourage our scouts to share the Work Plan with the beneficiary to agree on the details developed from the Proposal, and then hold a pre-construction meeting at the project site to agree on the specifics.

 

Hopefully, the Proposal was detailed enough to show that the work was only to be performed on the exterior and to meet certain standards. Good luck!

[dietmom5]

Sorry to hear this unfortunate situation. You say that your son is already an Eagle Scout, so is this project an extension of his commitment to a lifetime of service, or is he actually a Life Scout working on his Eagle Scout Service Project? 

 

Either way, it sounds like a situation that could have been avoided if expectations were clearly communicated before work commenced (in the Eagle Scout Project Proposal and Work Plan) and feedback was received during construction. Firstly, I'd recommend a face to face meeting with the beneficiary, your son, and his Eagle Coach, so that all parties can review the Proposal (which the beneficiary signed agreeing to the scope of work). I encourage our scouts to share the Work Plan with the beneficiary to agree on the details developed from the Proposal, and then hold a pre-construction meeting at the project site to agree on the specifics.

 

Hopefully, the Proposal was detailed enough to show that the work was only to be performed on the exterior and to meet certain standards. Good luck!

Sorry-he is working toward his Eagle Scout--so this is his Eagle project

[dietmom5]

The scope of the project was not defined as an inside/outside job, only that chinking would be done to improve the look of the cabin, protect from water damage and keep it contained against insects and animals.  Doing the outside accomplished his scope.  The beneficiary had no supplies as originally thought, so fundraising had to occur to make the project happen in the first place.  The hands on work was about approximately a 2-3 day process-with removal of the old chinking, gathering supplies and getting them set up, and a 7-8 hour day of actual chinking on the structure.  The substantial hours were definitely spent in research and development on this project, very frustrated to see a beneficiary come back and express dissatisfaction when they did not offer any guidance. They dropped off water at 8 am-left and didn't come back once until 3:30 pm, after we had packed up for the day.

[John-in-KC]

Scoutmaster, Scout, and benefitting agency sit down, and discuss what's next.

 

The guidance can be found below.

I would recommend your SM invite your Unit Commissioner and a Member of the District Advancement Committee for a friendly cup of coffee to discuss matters.  There's more than one path in the link, but the decision on that path is the Scouts, and his alone ... not his SM, CC, Eagle coach, or YOURS.

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/GuideToAdvancement/EagleScoutRank.aspx

[The Blancmange]

How did his proposal and plan describe the scope of the project?  That's the most important piece of information that's missing here. The beneficiary had to sign off on the proposal.  

Edited October 16, 2017 by The Blancmange

[fred johnson]

Though this is your son's issue to solve, I would coach him.  He may not know how much he can stand up for what he did.  He may feel guilty that there is a misunderstanding after all his work.  He needs to own his project and be the driving force, but that doesn't mean you have to be 100% hands off.   

 

Also, there is definitely an imbalance of power that needs help.  They have power over not willing to sign.  They also have power because of age, size, experience.  I would not have an issue with his SM or another adult offsetting the imbalance.

 

I'd start by talking with the beneficiary to build understanding so they can understand your son's view.  From what I heard, the proposal is vague about whether chinking was both sides or just the outside.  I get that from your words where you said the proposal didn't address outside/inside and just addressed chinking.  Perhaps, they viewed chinking to be both sides of the log.  I must admit when I just learned what chinking was, I was surprised you could "chink" just one side.  I thought you would have to do both to do both sides.  But, I also understand what you wrote about it being water tight from doing just the outside.  

 

Second, is the beneficary better off than before with a complete stable result?  Or does the beneficary view it as they now have a worse situation?  I'm betting with a bit of discussion and friendly chat, they will recognize how much further along they are.  

 

Finally, perhaps there is a way to get them to invest and you to invest too.  Perhaps, they could cover cost of the materials and agree to provide 50% of the people.  Then you could schedule a day with some people and they would show up with materials and you could knock the remaining work out.  Is there a compromise possible?  

 

If not, you can pursue this as a disputed situation.  

 

In any event, your son should still be proud and I'd work hard to find a way that this does not tarnish his view of scouting.

Edited October 16, 2017 by fred johnson

[ItsBrian]

I have just completed my project and made sure to include every single detail, and I hope he did as well. Unless it states in the proposal that it was for outside only, your son could’ve interpreted “I’m doing the outside onlyâ€, meanwhile, the beneficiary is like “Great he’s doing the inside and outside!â€.

 

I think the main issue is communication. Ask if he could speak to someone above the beneficiary representative that is handling the project.

 

If the proposal does not say outside only, then in my personal opinion, the inside should be done or work out a mutual agreement. But, as long as he provided the plan and proposal (which he had to for signature), with all the materials and examples of what will be done there is no reason to redo the outside when they agreed on their behalf.

 

Also, as someone said in another post, this is your SCOUTS project, not yours. I have a parent in my troop who did her scout’s whole project which is upsetting.

[Back Pack]

How did his proposal and plan describe the scope of the project?  That's the most important piece of information that's missing here. The beneficiary had to sign off on the proposal.

 

Yes this is it. My proposal and plan which I submitted to the beneficiary prior to doing my project outlined the final product complete with dimensions, materials used and whatever. When they asked me to do more we agreed it was beyond the scope of my project as outlined. I got my Troop to agree to do it as a service project. The beneficiary agreed to cover the materials but they signed off on my original project.

[SSF]

The OP is looking for solutions to the dilemma that her son is in, not to be lectured on how her son should have been more detailed and thorough in outlining the scope of work in his proposal.

 

I'm sure the scout himself regrets not being more detailed in his proposal and in his communications with the beneficiary. 

 

The vast majority of project beneficiaries are highly supportive. For whatever reason, this beneficiary is not. Either that or there's been some gross misunderstanding. Maybe they saw this as an opportunity to receive free labor and,nothing more and are now essentially holding the project "hostage" by refusing to sign off on it.

 

As others have suggested, being diplomatic is the key to resolving this. Find out what their concerns and grievances are, but by the same token, be clear and be firm with them in noting that this is a community service project being led by a youth with the support of volunteers.

[David CO]

Is it possible to remove the old chinking on one side only? 

 

I helped replace the chinking on a few log cabins at our church camp. There was no separate outside and inside chinking. Like the logs themselves, the chinking went all the way from the outside surface through to the inside surface.

 

I wouldn't have thought it even possible to remove and replace just the old chinking on one side of the cabin without damaging the rest of it. We knocked out and replaced all of the old chinking.

 

If I were the beneficiary, I too would have assumed they were replacing all of the chinking. 

 

I suggest that the scout go back and complete the job to the beneficiary's satisfaction.

Edited October 17, 2017 by David CO

[Back Pack]

The OP is looking for solutions to the dilemma that her son is in, not to be lectured on how her son should have been more detailed and thorough in outlining the scope of work in his proposal.

 

I see responses with examples on how the scout can approach the problem. As a few people have said he can sit down and read the proposal with the beneficiary. That should outline the scope. If t doesn’t then that’s a problem the Scout, beneficiary and district rep who approved the project need to discuss. Doesn’t the advancement book/guide outline how to approach such issues? If the proposal wasn’t detailed enough then talking with the beneficiary and district seems the next logical thing to do. If there’s still no middle ground he would either have to do what the beneficiary wants or do another project for someone else. The eagle workbook and advancement guide have the answers. The SM or Eagle coach can help too. Edited October 17, 2017 by Back Pack

[The Blancmange]

The OP is looking for solutions to the dilemma that her son is in, not to be lectured on how her son should have been more detailed and thorough in outlining the scope of work in his proposal.

 

 

 

I don't see a single post in this thread that suggests the scout's proposal was deficient.  The OP provided minimal information about what was in the proposal, and more importantly, how it differed from what the beneficiary was demanding in the end.  That is important information in order to provide any useful guidance.   It's possible that the beneficiary is being entirely unreasonable by demanding something that is clearly outside the scope of the proposal.  It's also possible that the proposal was vague and lent itself to two different reasonable interpretations.  We have no idea.  

[CalicoPenn]

The first thing you need to do (and yes - the Scout needs to do but you are involved too as the advocate for your son) is sit down with the Scoutmaster, Eagle Coordinator, and/or District Eagle guru and discuss this.  Review the plan - it may be ambiguous but that might not matter.  You need to engage in some help to work with this beneficiary.

 

I would be really curios what the role of the person is who doesn't like the primitive look of the chinking on a primitive structure.  It sounds to me like your son did quite a bit of research to re-chink the building in keeping with a historical building.  Lesson learned for others - if, in a situation like this, a beneficiary wants a modern look to chinking a historical building - run - just run.

 

If the Scouting folks you meet with can see the project in person (though photos can help) and think it meets the proposal - they may decide its best to go forward without the beneficiaries signature - its actually unclear if this meets the definition of a BOR under disputed circumstances - follow their lead.

[Stosh]

When all is said and done, your son needs to work towards being a custom computer programmer.  No matter how extensive the proposal, no matter how finely tuned the communication process, no matter how many hours one has already put into the project, no matter, no matter, no matter.....  The job is done when the boss says so. 

 

If the job is too big for your son, he needs to recruit more help.  If there's not enough money to pay for it, he needs to do more fundraising.  No matter what, ya jus' keep on truckin' 'til the job's done.

 

It's not the answer you were looking for, but your son just found out what the real world is like out there and the lessons he's learning on this endeavor will do him well in the future.  The process is not the project, but all the little struggles one goes through to complete it to the satisfaction of someone else.

 

Just remember, this test of his character is not the most difficult thing he's going to have to face in life.  Better he does with this, the better prepared he will be when it really counts.

 

And to answer your last question?  There is nothing you can do to fix it for him.  He needs to keep at it on his own and with the help of those working with him.  Unfortunately there's a little nagging question I have.... is your son doing this alone or does he have others helping him?  I would be more concerned about him doing this alone with no "showing leadership" than not getting it done.