Outside the meeting the boys agreed to meet for an hour to plan the events and up coming meetings for the quarter.. 16 year old SPL (senior patrol leader) published an agenda with numbered items, and handed them to the patrol leaders and his staff as they arrived at the church fellowship hall.. Just boys age 12 to 16 "ok guys, we have a lot to cover tonight so no messing around, let's go!" 23 items later... and an hour and a half they had a rough idea of what patrols had the opening ceremony and the feature and the closing for the next three months... They had reorganized the membership of the patrols to better serve the troop and had delegated scouts to develop a variety of new games for team building... The first night of the month would be "advancement night" and every three months would be a "court of honor" Patrol leaders reported on projects and took notes to share with the patrol members at the next regular meeting. *I attended this meeting, and sat on the sideline ...a little bored<G> but *stoked with the businesslike discussion of the boys deciding the issues of Troop 328! Scoutmaster was available and answered questions and provided explanations of the "rules" *but for the most part was just an "advisor" minimized<G> Just like WORK! Just like LIFE! *Today as I read about the *New program.. The regional seminars and the planning taking place by our leadership..(*thought) I wondered if this was not something purposeful and on target for our Ranger boys to learn to do... Planning sessions away take time, so planning needs to take place before every successful event or outing. However- we seem to never get it right.. and suffer along, missing the mark of good communication and effective planning. Where do we teach the skills of planning? I can't find it in the LTC or the boys handbooks, in the Merits or in the GMA! Have we ever faced the following Communication challenges.? Any of these seem to require LIFEFIGHT to rescue us<G> Do you- * wish you were more articulate during exchanges with professionals? *find team projects suffer from communication breakdown? *feel angry when someone put you down or challenged you *got cut off in mid sentence *have a tuff time getting others to buy into your ideas? *wonder if you are speaking english when you give instruction and receive blank looks? *fumble for the right words when unexpectedly asked a question? *envy others who express their ideas with confidence and power? We as Leaders face these challenges and so do the boys when they meet.. These are matters of Character development and maturity, and I've been right there holding the bag...dumbfounded and at a loss for words. Promote GOOD COMMUNICATION and Polite conversation... *Avoid and be watchful for "drift" off target! Act to keep the main thing the main thing! Set an "Agenda" a time line and limit conversation to the topic. What else? -=A=- _______ To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Eat the hay & spit out the sticks! - A#1's mule" RTKB&G4JC! http://rangernet.org Autoresponder: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
