New Troop/Committee

[Scoutingmama]

Hello! We started a new troop in November 2007. We now have 15 boys, a SM, 3 ASM, a committee and an active ( meeting monthly) PLC. So far we have been essentially flying by the seat of our pants as there is not much district support and only a few members with previous expericence in Scouting (SM- Eagle, ASM 6 year scouting leader, advancement chair 6 years leading). We were fortunate enough to start wth boys from many levels.

 

So, my question as committee chair, I would like to begining planning with a vision. Is there such a thing as a five year plan for troop development? Were can I go to look at how our troop should be developing and what the committee can do to help it get there?

 

We were also fortunate enough to participate in spring popcorn sales and our boys did very well. So we will have the ability to bging purchasing needed items (Unit flag included!)

 

TIA,

Dawn

[Gunny2862]

Hi Dawn,

I don't have a direct answer to your question and am not aware of a Five year plan other than the Four years offered in "Program helps" (may not be the correct name)which I don't think applies to your question. But, there is another thread called "New Troop" in Todays active topics you might be interested in!

 

There are many here who are more qualified than I am but for my two cents:

Get ALL of the adults to training.

SET the expectation that any new adults will do as you have done and will all get their training.

FILL the Committee.

Then,

Get OUT of the boys way and ensure that you give them the support they need while encouraging them to run as much of it as possible, then encourage them to do more. Or, do this last thing first and then do all of the rest.

GET the Position holders trained in their respective positions - if the money is there then expect that higher ranking Scouts will go to Philmont get additional training and then be expected to come back and help lead the troop with their new knowledge.

 

Let your vision be of a troop where none of the adults actually work more than an hour a week - because the boys CAN do more than most adults think they can. Let the boys OWN the program.

 

Now, Expect that it all happens and guide it in that direction.

Let us know how it goes!(This message has been edited by Gunny2862)

[AnneinMpls]

Hi Dawn, and thank you for your work volunteering as the committee chair!

Two things..

First, do you know who your unit commissioner is? (Or do you have one?) Ask to speak to your district commissioner at roundtable if you do not know. Your unit commissioner can provide you with a lot of resources to help develop your troop (that's what commissioners are for!)

Secondly, the process for achieving the Centennial Quality Unit Award may help provide the framework you're talking about, although it is based on setting goals for one year at a time, and you are thinking long-range (which is good!)

Anne in Mpls

[Scoutingmama]

Sadly our UC is brand new too...

[allangr1024]

I don't know that I would put together a five year plan, but the troop definately needs to plan for a year an a half out, especially outings. As a committe chairman, I would establish goals, and a means to achieve them.

 

These would be my goals:

 

-Define the committee positions needed by your troop.

-Staff those positions.

-Set up a regular means of recruiting new boys. Contact cub packs, church youth groups, fifth grade school principals; Add ??? (5, 8, 10) new boys per year. (Our troop neglected this, and our numbers are so low we cannot field two patrols. Hard on a new SM.) This may require a committee position.

-Set up a rotation to replace patrol and troop equipment every few years.

-Set up unbreakable record keeping system. (You will be glad you did. Investigate scout management computer systems like troopmaster).

-Plan on SM recruitment every few years. Set up procedures for finding a new SM and CC.

-Train committee members on conducting Boards of Review.

 

I would not say to create a five year plan, but to grasp the big picture, and prevent problems.

[eisely]

There is also a training syllabus for committees of boy scout troops that is worth doing. This can be done on line, although most people who have done that have found it rather dry. There is a program available for live training that might be offered in your area.

[Beavah]

Hi Scoutingmama! Welcome to da forums, eh! Are you and T78 from the same unit?

 

I think you're thinkin' exactly right about the 5-year plan. One of the most important roles of the Committee as the troop's "Board of Directors" is to keep the long-term, strategic vision in mind. Scoutmasters are always goin' to be immersed in the day-to-day operations and yearly program planning, eh? They don't have the time to be thinkin' about that other important stuff!

 

Your strategic vision will affect both the things yeh need to set up at the start, and your plan over time.

 

Stuff to set up now

Most important thing to start is to keep da roles clear, eh? What is the SM's "turf" and what is the committee's turf. If yeh start from the beginning ruling program complaints and details "out of order" at committee meetings, you'll set good precedents goin' forward.

 

Biggest decision for you and your CO is your long-term committee structure. Plan now for how yeh want the committee to do business when you're a troop of 50 families and 80 parents who don't always get along. How are you goin' to select folks for the committee that bring the right skills and character, and who care about the long-term health of da troop, not just what their son/family wants? How are yeh going to build in turnover so that yeh keep some experience but keep introducin' new blood?

 

Be sure your committee has wisdom in addition to workers. Recruit a few outsiders , like perhaps the youth director of your CO, or a doc/nurse/attorney/teacher from the CO. As yeh move along, plan how you are goin' to keep some "graduated" parents and/or boys on the committee for their wisdom, but not forever.

 

Yeh have some money now. Set up your financial controls, and your norms for fundraisin' and how you are goin' to help kids of families without means.

 

Your initial group is goin' to be an example for all who follow. Encourage the best example - everyone takes training, and after that everyone keeps learning! How are you going to encourage / assist / insist on that? Do yeh want an annual budget for adult leader training, where you cover 50% if the adult agrees to at least a year of service? Remember to think beyond BSA training, eh? Your adults will need CPR, Red Cross ALS, Wilderness First Aid, canoeing, youth with disabilities and other trainin'! Think outside the box - perhaps schedule visits to different troops each year, or to district committee meetings. Get someone in to talk about planning for helpin' special needs scouts, like ADHD boys or autistic boys. Build some committee resources to be ready to help your SM/ASM.

 

And a big one - how are yeh going to select/screen ASMs and SMs in the future? Decide now on a system, before there are people and personalities in play. Your system should talk to the current SM/ASM especially, should probably talk to kids and parents, and should allow some time for "good fit" checkin'.

 

Finally, how are you goin' to maintain and build relationships with your CO? In your first year, set up the habit of doin' 'em a good turn or two, of giving them an annual report, of inviting their officers to your Courts of Honor, and of asking them for money. A CO needs some skin in the game.

 

It's always easiest to put things in place before an issue comes up, eh?

 

Planning for 5 years

For strategic plannin', set your target for 5 years out

 

#1) (Most important) What will an Eagle Scout or other older / graduating boy from your program look like? What experiences/abilities should he have? Your answer to this question determines almost everything else.

 

2) How big? How many kids do you want this troop to be, ideally? Where will those kids come from? What will their needs be that yeh have to be ready for?

 

3) What activities do yeh want to be ready to support? High adventure in particular takes some longer-term planning, for both gear and $.

 

Now take those answers and divide by five:

 

* Whatever you want your Eagle / graduate to be, divide by 6. That determines what the committee and da Scoutmaster / ASMs together think a Life Scout should look like, and a Star Scout, and a First Class, etc. Agree as a group to set your expectations for recognitions / advancement / program to match... and then communicate that early and often to everyone, especially parents! Similarly, the experiences yeh want an Eagle or graduate to have get divided by 6 and yeh begin planning for 'em now.

 

* If yeh want to be a troop of 40-50, each year you'll be adding one patrol of 8-10 or so. That means budgeting right now for gear for a new patrol each year, because a patrol can't be a real patrol without its own gear that no other patrol touches. That means plannin' right now for adding a new ASM each year and getting him/her through training.

 

* If yeh think you'll be running one high adventure trip per year for high school aged boys, perhaps yeh start setting aside some fundraising each year to partly fund it when the lads get there. More importantly, yeh have to be recruiting and/or training physically fit, adventurous, skilled adults for those activities. And you'll need equipment. That might affect yeh right away, as you choose between "lightweight" versatile gear and "heavyweight" car-campin' gear (check out da threads on that).

 

 

You can see that the work of a good committee is hard, eh? No time to be interferin' with the SM's program. Between handlin' the strategic side and the behind-the-scenes support side, the group will be busy!

 

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

Beavah

 

[John-in-KC]

Dawn,

 

Like the others, welcome. There's lots of sage advice above which I won't repeat.

 

I hope your District has a good Roundtable ... one of its main missions is to provide your SM/ASMs a "heads up" on the National program about a month out. RT dovetails with the program helps insert in Scouting Magazine and the articles in Boy's Life. It runs on a 3-year cycle which covers most of the major topics of Scouting.

 

On the assumption your District RT is good, I'd encourage you, your advancement person (always good to know how the District Advancement Chair thinks), your SM, and his/her Assistants to attend regularly.

 

One other thing: Have fun doing this. Some of the best moments in your life to come will be when a kid, grimy from a week on the trail, runs to give you an attack hug as he drops gear at trails' end There will be other victory moments, savor them for the kids' sake

[Bob White]

Vision: A picture of future success.

 

I think having a vision of what you want to see the successes of the troop to be down the road is the perfect place for the troop leadership to start its planning. It will be important that you are able to get other key members of the unit to share in that vision so that as you build long range (annual) plans, and short range (monthly and weekly) plans, they keep moving you closer to your vision.

 

Having everyone trained in their roles (and following their training) will help to avoid pitfalls and give the unit its best chance for delivering a quality program.

 

best of luck,

BW

 

[Scoutingmama]

Gunny I love your emphasis on getting the adults trained and not working more than an hour a week- keeps tehm from getting burned out!

 

Annie, I looked up the information on Cenntenial Quality Unit Awards- first time I or SM had heard of it, looks useful for planning where we want to go with this. Very helpful!

 

Allan, We are planning month to month right now. One thing we have done right is get three of our members trained on BOR procedures at the Universtiy of Scouting in January. I don't think we would have done so if the Advancement chair ( previous scouting experience) hadn't highly encouraged it. Worked out well because we had a scout transfer in who only neede to complete his Eagle project. That training came in very handy!

 

Eisley I will look into that information. Training can never hurt, eh?

 

Bevah, T78 and are are from the same troop literally and figuratively! He's my husband! He orginally put me on the board as a means of making his life easier in terms of paper work and to get the 5 he needed. I thougt it be a sorta temp position until he found someone else that could lead, however I am beginnnig to see the benefit of us working together for the troop. So, I am going to jump in with both feet and see where the wild ride leads! We have one boy in the troop and two more eager for the pack to start so they can be Weebs.

 

Your advice is sound. I will take it to the next committe meeting and we will begin the process. We started the troop with out the infrastucture in place- now we need to go back and put the policies in place that will make sure the troop can withstand change. Right now we are eager and ready to see it succeed and we need to strike while the iron is hot to make sure when times get tough the boys will still have a great program.

 

John with the busyness of starting the troop ( and getting the adults trained to believe that the boys really don't need one on one supervision every second0 but that is another thread!) we have not been to a roundtable. DH said he will go to the May RT and see what is happening there.

 

Bob- so the committee makes the vision or the SM and teh committe provides the vehicle for getting there

 

One more question for all- who does the long range planning?? The SM? the committe? or both?

 

Thanks for your help! We are on our way to a good troop!

 

Dawn

 

 

[AnneinMpls]

Hi again Dawn!

Regarding vision and long-range planning,

I'll give you the Bill Clinton answer - it all depends what you mean by vision and long-range planning

 

The Scoutmaster should be trusted and empowered to develop the vision for the troop - he the one with the most training on developing the boy-led troop so that's got to be left in his hands. and you're right, the committee is there to assist in seeing his vision carried out.

 

Long-range planning on the program level is done through the PLC: annual planning conference, troop meeting plans, but also developing program over the longer term, especially as it affects the troop's sustainability: so planning for making sure the troop is well-connected with Bears and Webelos coming up through invitations and den cheifs, and also making sure plans are in there for providing challenging program for all levels of scouts: new scouts, experienced scouts, and high adventure.

 

The planning done through the PLC should then in turn drive the planning of the troop committee.

 

I am not quoting chapter and verse - this is the best of my understanding, so please take this as only my opinion!

Anne in Mpls

[Eagledad]

>>Bob- so the committee makes the vision or the SM and teh committe provides the vehicle for getting there

[Beavah]

One more question for all- who does the long range planning?? The SM? the committe? or both?

 

Yes. Except yeh forgot the kids, eh?

 

Generally speakin', the SM and the PLC are going to be out playin' the game. Some of that involves medium-range planning, like the older boys planning for a high-adventure trip. But most of their time is going to be in the daily game.

 

The committee should not be involved in the daily game at all, except when individual committee members are asked by the SM to help with somethin'. So if you get to discussin' the menu or itinerary for the next trip in a committee meeting, you're failing.

 

Committee work is shared with the SM at the medium-range level. So the PLC and the SM will bring a semi-annual or annual calendar to the committee for its help and support, eh? Or their plans for a high adventure trip. The lads and the SM are the generators and prime movers; the committee is support and advice and review. Yeh help clear the road of obstacles.

 

At the long-range level, I've rarely seen a SM or youth members get involved. That's the committee's turf, because if you don't do it, the others won't have time to give it the thought it needs. Plans for recruiting leaders, and improving the knowledge and skills of all the leaders, and recognizing leaders. Long-term plans for gear depreciation and replacement and purchase of capital equipment. Maintaining good contact with the CO and building the partnership. Setting that vision and keeping it in mind when the SM is covered in mud and can't see it any more, or when a lad or their family demands special treatment or a lesser vision. Conveying that vision to new parents. Remembering that gettin' where you want to go requires recruiting now, and fundraising now, and service now, and buildin' that support so that when the kids and the SM come to you in three years with their ambitious plans and dreams, you can say, "Yep, we've got your back."

 

Ultimately, your job as strategic planners on the committee is to open doors and make things possible, and inspire your SM. If you are there for him, and you open those doors, he'll be energized and encourage the kids to dream big. If you're not, or if yeh close doors and say "can't" a lot because you weren't plannin' or are getting scared or lose sight of the vision, then your SM will be less energized and won't encourage the lads to dream big.

 

Beavah

 

[Scoutingmama]

Bevah,

LOL! I have already forgotten the kids, eh? Forgot the vision of boy lead already.... JK! but thanks for the gentle reminder!!

 

Great advice!!! I so appreciate those of you that were willing to post such long well thought out posts. The best help we've gotten yet in starting this troop.

[Bob White]

Scoutingmama

There is room enough for more than one vision within the unit program. What you want to develop are visions that are complimentary and supportive of each other. The Charter organization and committee should have a vision of what they want to accomplish using the BSa programs. The adult progrm leaders should know what that vision is and develop their own vision for what they what to accomplish iwthin the spirit of what the charter organization is aiming for. The youth leaders should have a vision as well for what they want to see the unit acconplish and it should be in harmony with the goals of the BSa and the charter organization.

 

Who make lomg term plans? Everyone, Just realize they will likely be plans for different things. A PLC's long term plans will likely be centered on the adventures they want to have, while a committee's long term goals might be based on adult recruitment and training, membership growth and financial resources.

 

A unit leaders long term plans might include coaching and mentoring goals, youth training, patrol funtions.

 

Different people, different responsibilities, intertwining visions.