France's UEFA Euro 2024 Ambitions Amid Coman's Injury.docx
Creating a strategic_direction_for_your_troop
1. Creating a Strategic Direction
For Your Troop
Steve Myers
Scoutmaster, Troop One, Akron
Crew Associate Advisor, Crew 2001, Akron
myers@uakron.edu trooponeakron.org
The University of Scouting February 11, 2012
3. Learning Objectives
• Learn why a troop needs a vision
• Sample write some vision statements
• A written troop policy is critical to
achieve the vision
• Strategic directions are the fine
tuning of the achievement of the vision
The University of Scouting February 11, 2012
4. • The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to
prepare young people to make ethical choices
over their lifetime by instilling in them the
values of the Boy Scout Oath and Law.
• It is the Vision of the Great Trail Council to
reinforce traditional family values through the
delivery of Boy Scout programs that will foster
creativity, promote family unity, and inspire and
motivate our Boy Scouts to develop the skills
that will provide the foundation needed to
become productive citizens.
The University of Scouting February 11, 2012
5. Try to write a vision statement
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6. What Issues Do Your Troop
Revisit over and over?
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7. What Issues Do Your Troop
Revisit over and over?
• Aren’t you tired of always
revisiting the same issues over
and over?
• Doesn't anyone remember how
we used to do it?
• Doesn’t anyone remember the
direction you set last year?
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8. Where Do You See Your Troop
in the next 3 to 5 years?
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9. Do you have a Vision for
your Troop?
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10. A troop without vision lacks
direction
How can you know where to go if you don’t know
where you want to end up?
So lets see how the goals and vision are achieved by
a group of boys called Boy Scouts.
The University of Scouting February 11, 2012
11. What are the steps to creating a
vision and policy for your troop?
• Formative Action
– Initial
• Brainstorming and
• Collection of Best Practices
– On-going
• PLCs
• Strategic Direction nights (2 per year)
• Policy voting (twice per year)
• Summative Action
– Distribute Strategic Directions & Policy with Goals
– Remember to Evaluate (quarterly PLCs, Annual Goal
Setting, Annual Planning conference)
The University of Scouting February 11, 2012
12. Formative Action
– Initial
• Brainstorming and
• Collection of Best Practices
– Where and when might this happen?
– Who should be involved?
– Write down the collection of best practices
– Include a statement of vision
– Distribute to PLC and a few adults (such as Adv. Chair
and CC)
The University of Scouting February 11, 2012
13. Formative Action
• On-going
– PLCs
• Every month the PLC has an opportunity to effect the
direction of the troop.
• Remember the good ideas for the Strategic Direction
night.
– Two nights per year (Friday night of JLT, the Friday
after SPL elections and on the 3rd Friday of March
and Sept.)
• Strategic Direction nights
• Policy voting
The University of Scouting February 11, 2012
14. Summative Action
• Distribute Strategic Directions & New Policy
with Annual Goals
– March and September COHs
– Usually put on the web or posted to
troopone@yahoogroups.com
– Policy is distributed every 6 months in the T1 JLT
notebooks
• Remember to Evaluate (quarterly PLCs, Annual
Goal Setting, Annual Planning conference)
The University of Scouting February 11, 2012
15. Strategic Direction Nights
Announce Results to the Troop Family
Strategic Directions is a term we in Troop One use for
the process and the results of a discussion among the boy
leaders of the troop at two dates in the year. Those
dates occur during the Junior Leader Training weekend
held in March and September. These statements below
recognize problems or concerns with the running of our
troop. Solutions are presented that represent the will of
the boy leadership as to how the troop operations will be
conducted. Sometimes, Strategic Directions, after being
tried in daily operation are voted on by the PLC and given
the force of Troop Policy. Our troop policy is available on
the web at http://trooponeakron.org/policy.html. Every
Leader coming to Troop Junior Leader training gets a
notebook with the policy printed out.
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16. Strategic Directions
• Let’s look at some examples
• Notice how they were voted to policy or
dropped after 6, 12, 18, … months
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17. New Policy: Uniform for campouts.
First proposed March 2001, approved for
policy inclusion March 2002 after 12 months of trial.
Problem: Some scouts continually show up unprepared for
campouts either by lack of preparing or lack of understanding.
Policy: It will be the rule of this Troop that anyone not wearing
boots on Friday evening or the date of departure on a trip will
be required to return home to get their boots or will not be
allowed to camp. “No boots, no camping.”
Further we travel in full Boy Scout uniform and we wear scout
pants, scout belt and scout socks. Uniform inspections will be
regularly held. Exceptions may be made by the SPL.
Current status: policy
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18. New Policy: Eligibility for elected office
First proposed March 2002
Approved for policy inclusion, Sept 2002, after 6
months of trial.
No scout may hold elected office if at anytime during
their term they turn 18 years of age. The term is
assumed to run between the dates of the elections,
that is, between the 3rd weeks of March and
September.
Current status: policy
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19. Strategic Direction #2: Games
First proposed March 2001, revised September 2001
Problem: We do not play enough games.
Solution: The PLC will plan a game into every meeting time
on the Troop One Meeting Planning Sheet unless the nature
of the evening activity makes a game impossible. The SPL
is asked to enforce strict time control over both the scouts
and the adults as the program is executed. The program
patrol is responsible for running the game. We will attempt
to use more Boy Scout games on campouts as well.
Current status: dropped
The University of Scouting February 11, 2012
20. Strategic Direction #4:
Only Scouts May Sign Boy Scout Handbooks
First proposed in PLC, passed September 2001, approved for policy inclusion
March 2002 after more than 6 months of trial.
Problem: Many scouts who complete a requirement are never required to exercise
that skill and be put in the position of a teacher of other scouts. No where is this
more apparent than in the skills most often taught and signed off by an adult. The
problem is having all older boys not being responsible for the advancement of
younger scouts.
Solution: Only scouts may sign Boy Scout handbooks indicating that a requirement
has been completed. Adults may instruct but a Scout must sign. It is our desire that
the adults that have so much to give will concentrate on training the older scouts to
train the younger scouts and to serve as mentors of the teaching process.
Scoutmasters retain the right and obligation to sign for Scout Spirit and Scoutmaster
Conference completion and the Troop Committee retains the right and obligation to
sign for completion of the Boards of Review.
The only Scouts empowered by the PLC to sign books are those Scouts meeting
both of the following requirements. (1) The scout must be a first class scout, and (2)
the scout must hold the office of Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol
Leader, Troop Guide, or Instructor; or be a Patrol Leader and have the expressed
consent of both the Scoutmaster and the SPL.
Rights to sign can be at anytime be removed by agreement of both the SPL and the
Scoutmaster. Current status: policy
The University of Scouting February 11, 2012
21. How can you capture the Vision?
• It happens in slow incremental steps
• It gets written down
• It gets remembered
• It settles arguments
• It empowers your leaders
• It protects your boys from the adults
• It introduces democracy in action since on any
issue the minority has to follow the will of the
majority for at least the next six months.
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22. Creating a Strategic Direction
For Your Troop
Thank you.
Now go and do likewise.
Steve Myers
TroopOneAkron.org
Or email us
Myers@uakron.edu
The University of Scouting February 11, 2012
