District Operations

District Operations
Recently, the council has started an initiative to attend and listen at all district committee meetings and roundtables. After the first series it was clear how passionate and dedicated every district level volunteer is to enhancing Scouting in our community. THANKS! It was also clear that we can do a better job supporting and providing guidance and support for your efforts.

 As a follow up to the recent district committee and roundtable meetings, the executive committee (board) had a fairly lengthy discussion about the role of district operations and our ability to drive unit support. I think we are opening a great new chapter in our growth. As we discussed at each district committee meeting the success the council has enjoyed over the past few years has been due in large part to the re-focusing of the board.  That re-focusing has enabled us to maximize everyone’s effort to Scouting and provide great tangible results. The debt elimination process, re-opening the pool and all the program growth at Sayre, SOAR and Scouting for Food, improved marketing and PR, fundraising success and  property improvements at Storer, Sayre and a better facility for Cub Scout summer camp at Norse.

The District Operations side of the council has not enjoyed the same rapid improvement. The national measurement system is called Journey to Excellence and functions as a balanced Score Card – an attempt to measure all the aspects that make Scouting thrive. Our balanced Score Card results are imbalanced. Our weaknesses revolve mostly around district operations.

Specifically:

·         Four Functions of Program (activities, advancement, camp promotions, training)
·         Council / District Campaigns (FOS Family, Membership recruitment, Popcorn)
·         Commissioner Service (unit commissioners and roundtables)
·         District Key 3’s

I mention Journey to Excellence not as a end unto itself but as a measurement tool that points out our deficiencies. It’s important as we start to make improvements in district operations that we do NOT “teach to the test.” Rather we develop systems that allow everyone’s skills and talents and time to be maximized for the good of the Scouting.

Our Council President, Mike Jeans is developing a Task Force to work with me, Bruce and Sue Ellen
Over the next two months the task force will ……

·         Continue to visit and participate in this conversation at District committee meetings, roundtables, commissioners meetings.
·         Review District Operations with an eye toward unit specific needs and support
·         Develop unit by unit specific action / support plan

At the conclusion of the three months the task force will share the results and the draft plans with the entire Scouting community to ensure we heard the needs of our unit leaders correctly. Also, to ensure we developed plans that enable practical solutions for those needs.
Sharing the results will likely look like roundtable discussions, a Scouters Summit, a blog or two, several emails, and likely a written document passed out at the annual meeting. (all roughly during late April / May and early June) Revisions will be made, based on unit level feedback, during that process. The board will likely roll these actions into the Strategic Plan, the Task Force will dissolve, and the District Operation actions with an improved focus on service to units will be adopted (likely our July meeting).

In September and every month thereafter the board will review the “District Operations and Unit Service Focus” as part of our board meetings. Just as we have done with Finance, Development, Properties, Marketing etc.

I am confident that the plan we will develop together will improve communications, increase volunteer satisfaction, increase customer service, increase retention, increase recruitment, and increase parent involvement. And those actions will compliment all the other successes of Boston Minuteman. (obviously, we can’t backslide on any of the other successes we have developed)

Last Comment – please forward this blog to families, unit, district and council volunteers, link it through Face Book and otherwise share with interested Scouters. The wider we distribute this initiative the better the results.