This Page Last Updated 01/30/07
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This is where I, as Scoutmaster get to pass on knowledge, experiences, and words of wisdom about Scouting and life in general. This page should be updated often, so please visit often.
Communication is an important leadership skill. Without clear communication, tasks cannot be accomplished and misunderstandings can occur. The complaint that I get most often from Scouts and parents is that they were not notified about the meeting or the details of the meeting or activity. This happens often.
Patrol Leaders are the link between the Troop's leadership and the Scouts in the Troop. Each week, one of the Patrol Leader's most important responsibilities is to call their Patrol Members about the upcoming Troop meeting. Patrol Leaders are now called on Fridays instead of Sundays to give them more time to make their calls. If the Patrol Leader is not home at the time of the call, they will be called again on Saturday. If they are still not home, the Patrol's Assistant Patrol Leader will be called to make the phone calls. The Patrol Leader has until 9 pm on Monday to make sure that their phone calls are made. Phone calls should not be made after 9 pm on any day. The Patrol Leader can ask his Assistant Patrol Leader or another Scout in his Patrol to make all or some of the calls, as long as they get done.
In order to encourage the Patrol Leaders to make their weekly phone calls, phone calling has become part of the Patrol Competition. Each week when the Senior Patrol Leader calls the Patrol Leaders, a Code Word will be given with the message with instructions to e-mail the Code Word to codeword@bsatroop113.org or call me and leave a message with their name and the week's Code Word. The results are e-mailed out each week and posted on the website here.
I have put a lot of responsibility for communication on the Patrol Leaders, but communication is a two-way street. If the Patrol Leader does not get a call on Friday from the Senior Patrol Leader, they should call the Senior Patrol Leader. If the Senior Patrol Leader cannot be reached, they can call me for the information. If a Scout does not get a call by Sunday, they should call their Patrol Leader for the information about the week's meeting. This is especially important on Patrol Meeting Week. If a Scout cannot contact their Patrol Leader, they should call the Senior Patrol Leader and then if the Senior Patrol Leader cannot be contacted, Scouts should then call me for the meeting information.
Scouts and parents can also find out information about Troop meetings and activities by reading the Troop Newsletter, checking the Troop Calendar, or looking at the calendar here. The Troop Calendar can be downloaded from the Troop Forms page in the Members Area.
- Erik