Best Modern Ways to Communicate

[Beavah]

Yah, hmmm....

 

Moosetracker's thread got me to thinkin'. With all the developments in communication (many of which are still goin' on), what really is the best way to communicate different messages to different people. I think the norms are changin' in a lot of ways. It used to be that when yeh got a physical letter, yeh responded. That was just common courtesy. A letter takes time to write and money to mail. It meant someone spent effort on you, and yeh owed 'em the same courtesy.

 

Now, of course, somethin' like 80% of the USPS mail is junk mail, so a letter feels a bit like just another piece of junk from random people payin' to interrupt your time. And if yeh get a bazillion emails, then yeh simply can't respond to all of 'em, especially if the response takes some time and thought. Easy to set 'em aside for later and then forget.

 

So what are the best modern ways to communicate, for different groups and different tasks? What have you found that works

 

for Scouts?

for Young Adults?

for Scout Parents?

for Adult Leaders?

for older adults?

 

for informational items (like outing details)?

for requests for assistance or setting up a meeting?

for invitations with RSVP?

for group or event coordination?

 

I suspect a big piece is figurin' out how each individual person you're trying to communicate with behaves, but have folks found any general trends / best practices?

 

Beavah

 

 

[Kudu]

Yeah, I find that "modern ways to communicate' take care of themselves when you announce an event:

 

1) That Scouts actually like (real adventure),

 

2) Is subsidised with general Troop funds,

 

3) With a definite deadline to pay a non-refundable deposit (even a month in advance).

 

Campouts with climbing towers or unsupervised Patrol backpacking are the most popular in our neighborhood Troop.

[Scoutfish]

So far, the best way I know is a direct phone call.

 

My CC and myself probably talk to each other at least once a day if not 2 or 3 times.

 

Of course, we are also great friends that were brought together trhrough scouting.

 

Granted, I can't do that with every member of the pack or I'd spend all day calling everyone, so the next best thing is to rely on leaders to call or e mail when necessary.

[desertrat77]

For kids and young adults, texting and Facebook seem to be their prime methods to communicate. My eldest daughter is in her 20s and considers email very quaint, not unlike the telegraph.

 

Parents...I've noticed that a) having a centralized calendar on line listing all events and b) an email reminder a day or two before a specific event works alright. With busy schedules, "just in time" attention getting is needed, otherwise a scouting event is forgotten under a blizzard of other school and church events, and sports, etc. Facebook is good for this demographic too.

 

Asking for RSVPs is hit or miss. Very little common courtesy in that regard. A few will RSVP, but many either show up without doing so, or RSVP and not show. Sign of the times.

 

Adults/older adults: Interesting that many seasoned scouters are quite adept at modern communication. There may be one or two that have no computer and require a phone call, but it's manageable. A dedicated scouter can assume phone call duty to help the seasoned folks out.

 

Sending letters? Waste of money.

[acco40]

Letters are a tangible thing. Not the best communication vehicle for "what time is dinner" but for serious subject matter. Letters make the writer think and the reader to "listen." Something all to rare in modern communication these days.

 

 

[packsaddle]

#1 Face to face, friend to friend, in a quiet, friendly setting, start with a question, "How are you?" and then ask about what they've been doing and thinking about lately. Express genuine interest in their life, you'll get genuine communication. Anyone that says this is not still a modern way to communicate is mistaken.

#2 This is usually a distant second place: Phone call. Same approach. In some circumstances this is a close second with technology like Skype or similar technologies. A little boy's ability to see and speak to his father on the other side of the world is good...no other way to say it.

#3 Written letter. Take the time to craft your thoughts carefully so as to correctly express your thoughts in a way that can be understood the same way you understand them.

#4 Really distant fourth place, and I personally detest this substitute for a written letter even as I use the medium every day: email.

 

Worst ways:

#1 The silent treatment

#2 Rumors, gossip

# Tied for third: Facebook, tweets, text messages, blogs, scouter.com

 

Just my off-the-cuff opinion

[desertrat77]

Packsaddle, though I advocated FB and texting and all that stuff previously, it was with a heavy heart that I did so. I was just reporting what was happening in my neck of the wood. On a personal level I agree with you. I like old school correspondence and the protocol that goes with it. I regularly carry and use a fountain pen, and have a manual typewriter in my office at home. I often think I was born about forty years too late.

 

However, in my duties as a UC, I've found that 98 percent of the time, the adults I interact with on the pack and troop level will only respond to the text/email/FB jazz. And even then, there's no guarantee they'll acknowledge receipt, call back, etc. They are all solid scouters and good family people. But I know their lives are very busy and it's tough to get them on the phone, and even tougher to get together for a cup coffee. I for one wish life were less complex and packed with events, but I think folks in their 20s and 30s cope by using the instant comms to prioritize and manage their lives.

[Scoutfish]

Well, let's clarify a bit:

 

Are we talking mass communication or one or two people or individual?

 

Individual I prefer face to face, then phone call if face to face is not feasable.

 

With my leaders,if I can't do face to face, I will try to call all and will leave messages , and also e-mail them.

 

For pack wide, we announce at meetings, and I also post on facebook and pack website. It has capability to mass e-mail on demand.

 

I'm not even gonna try to call everybody in the pack . Thinking of setting up a phone tree now, but in the past, we had one, but we barely ever used it at all, if ever per year.

[Beavah]

Yah, hmmmm...

 

Must be a bunch of old fellows like me hangin' out on these forums.

 

Had a young scouter tell me at last month's RT that phone calling was rude for anything other than an emergency. His reasonin' was that the caller is making an assumption that it's OK to interrupt someone else whatever they happen to be doin'. Because that's what a phone call is, an outsider who is interrupting people in the middle of whatever they happen to be doin'.

 

I have to admit, especially in these days of cell phones, the man has a point. If one of our boys in person were to run up in the middle of a conversation between two adults, ring a bell and say "listen to me! listen to me!!" we'd be havin' a sit-down about "A Scout is Courteous" unless he was lettin' us know that one of his patrol-mates was on fire.

 

Beavah

 

[acco40]

A phone call is no more interrupting than an email or text message. When my phone rings, it is my option to answer or not - same as with any other mode of communication.

[Scoutfish]

Yeah, I with acco - I can ignore the phone, and as far as the caller knows, I am out of the reception area, in the shower, asleep, too busy to answer, etc.....

 

 

Somebody walks up to me, they are right there.

 

The only other option is writing a letter , But if I mail my next door neighbor a letter, it will be two days before he gets it depending on what time I mail it.

 

I suppose I could tie a notes to a rocks and start taking out windows on houses!

 

 

[Twocubdad]

We're recently made some changes to our patrol rosters and suggested to the Scouts they take a few minutes of their patrol time to share contact information with each other (we'll distribute real rosters after the patrols are set.) I told the guys to be sure they got the preferred contact from each guy. "Wadda you mean?" Well ask how each of you prefer to be contacted and get that info -- home phone, email, etc. And I turned to one of the guys and asked what was the best way to get a message to him. "Facebook." How about you? "Home phone." Pointing to another Scout, "text message."

 

I didn't say so aloud, but I'm thinking to myself, "this is nuts!" Assuming I have an obligation to scratch every techno-itch, no longer can I sit down and send an email, or go down a call sheet, I'm supposed to have access to and use multiple mediums to hit everyone. May as well include telegraph, smoke signals and jungle drums to the list.

 

So with everyone with their own pet gizmo, how are you supposed to accommodate everyone

[Cambridgeskip]

As well as thinking about the form of communication I think that predicatbility is best.

 

I have now got into a habbit of sending emails to scouts and their parents on Monday morning before work. It may be that there are better times but parents in particular have now got used to this. Similarly our cubs send messages to parent son a Friday and again this predictability is convenient. For those scouts I have mobile numbers for if I need to remind them of something before scouts (which is Thursday evening) I tend to text them all at 4pm on a Thursday so that they are getting it around the time they get home from school and are hopefully going to do something about it.

[moosetracker]

Well as you know, for group communication mine preference it email.. I have slowly come to the same feeling as the scout who says the phone call can be rude, although I to have a phone that tells me if the person is on my calling list or not..

 

I don't understand FB enough to figure out how I can send out a message on it, and let my intended people I want to contact know that I sent anything, or to look at it. I heard you can limit who sees the message, and that would probably be needed also..

 

Text messaging is just wrong to me anyway you look at it.. It still interupts you as a phone does with ringing or buzzing or whatever. Then communication that would take 3 to 4 minutes to conclude on a phone call take more like 15 on text as you type onto the tiny keys, and ring or buzz each other ten times over to have a discussion.. Thereby annoying everyone around you as you ring, buzz, burp and tap away... AND ITS DONE ON A PHONE.. PICK UP THE BLINKING THING AND TALK ON IT!!!

 

OK.. yes, I am an old-fogey..

[packsaddle]

This is not related to scout communication but it was interesting to me:

Had to do some legal things so I'm getting documents from different places around the country. The court people tell me that they will accept copies that have been faxed to me. I ask them if I can just print a pdf of the file and they say, "No. It can't be a scanned copy. It has to be a faxed copy."

I ask them if they know how a fax machine works. They look at me like I was from another planet. In case anyone is wondering, I'm not.