Is your troop successful?

Is your troop successful? Or is it failing? Tackling all the methods of scouting and trying to fix everything in a short time may be unreasonable, but focusing on a few ideas may give a good boost to your program.

Some examples of failures may include:

scouts earning many of their requirements without actually doing the tasks;
boys earning their Camping merit badge even though they they didn't do the required camping (which is 20 nights with the troop and can only include one week of summer camp);
Eagle scouts who have no outdoor skills and have no desire for outdoor activities;
Troops only holding a few nights of outdoor camping a year (year after year) excluding summer camp;
Eagle scouts who didn't have any leadership training but were supposed to lead an important leadership project (the lack of leadership opportunities become obvious when Eagle projects are described and led by parents);
Eagles who don't even know the requirements they (supposedly) did;
and scouts (of different ages) who have not had a one-on-one conference with their Scoutmaster nor a Board of Review for a couple years. (This adult association is one of the methods of scouting.)

Three of the key methods of scouting are: Patrols, Outdoors, and Leadership Development. Troops should have working patrol method and youth leadership. The boys should have leadership training, the boys should plan and run their own meetings and hold patrol activities. Scouts is about the outdoors. The scouts should do hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities.

The BSA provides score cards to help diagnose if a troop is working correctly. (See Journey to Excellence.) Some of these goals (related to the few points above) for the year include:

Scoutmaster and 60% assistants complete Leader Specific Training.
66% committee members complete Troop Committee Challenge.
Four to nine short term campouts.
60% to 70% of boys attend long-term camp
Troop holds a patrol leader training each year.
Patrol Leader Council (PLC) meets at least four times a year. Should meet at least six to ten times a year, including an annual planning meeting and one scout attend National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT).
Troop plans are reviewed with parents.

(These are not complete JtE lists and are just summaries of some of the goals.)

Fixing some problems:

The adults should have training.

The troop can try to hold at least nine short-term campouts each year (and maybe schedule more). They should not have campouts that go from 7 pm to 7 am only. The campouts should be planned by the boys. The scout committee should find more assistant scoutmasters to take the boys camping and who can stay later. The boys should consider doing more activities while camping, like hiking or backpacking.

The troop should have a patrol leader training that is taught by the Senior Patrol Leader. The youth leaders should meet at least four other times and do an annual planning conference. The results of the annual planning conference should be shared with the parents (after presented by the SPL and okayed by the committee).

New patrol leaders and other positions should be taught by their youth leaders. The troop should take advantage of the older boys as needed to teach skills and leadership, for example to the new scout patrol or 11-year-old scouts (i.e. "Troop Guide" and "Troop Instructor" are youth positions).

The Scoutmaster should be holding conferences with each boy frequently (at least a few times a year) regardless if they are seeking a rank advancement. The committee should be doing periodic board of reviews with every boy regardless if they are seeking rank advancement. This will help the committee understand the troop's failures and successes better and may help motivate the boys.

The boys should run their own meetings based on the plans they made during their PLCs. A well-run unit has the adult leaders saying and doing nothing except sitting in the back of the room. The adults can provide assistance when asked or can provide advise to youth leaders in private.

The Scoutmaster should provide curriculum and assistance to the SPL to have him provide the youth leadership training and for the SPL to run some PLC meetings and then an Annual Planning Conference. This needs to be a continuing cycle where the experienced boys teach the new youth leaders. This should be ongoing many times each year as new boys age in or get new responsibilities.

To help fix some problems, first you need to identify them. Use the Journey to Excellence scoring as one way. (In a later article, I will discuss the JtE further.) Attempt to identify the root of the problems, such as adult leaders not following the program and adult leaders running the boys' meetings; youth leaders having no leadership training and not planning nor running their own program; and not enough camping.

How do you identify success and failure in your troop? What have you done to improve your troop? Any examples of successful improvements?