Troop Devon 50, Boy Sscouts of America

Contents

5. Communicating

Get started
Plan the year
Patrol Meetings
Patrol Points
Communicate
Participation
Greenbar
Teamwork
Celebrate
Advancement
Merit Badges
Skills
Track Progress
Things you need

Over half of your job as the Patrol Leader is communicating.

         - You communicate with the scouts in your patrol and their parents.
         - You communicate with the Troop Staff and with the adult leaders
         - You communicate with others outside the Troop, from time to time.

    All communication should be:
               clear - think about how to say it so it can't be misunderstood
               brief - the shorter it is, the easier it is to remember, but....
               complete - with missing information, people only think they understand
               verified - just telling or leaving a message doesn't get the job done!
               two-way - questions, comments and expressions is feedback to you!

Communicating with the patrol members and their parents
    Your patrol members get just about all their information from you. From the Greenbar meeting, you bring back information about upcoming events, and about how things are done in Devon 50. You are the one who understands and can explain what your patrol's responsibilities are for our events, and what you have to prepare for. The more the patrol members understand, and the more enthusiastic you are about the troop and what we are doing, the better your patrol functions.

    A lot of your communication is to call people up. Be prepared to make many calls before you get the message across. It is not enough to send an e-mail or leave a message on an answering machine. You have not finished the job until you have a call or an e-mail back from the scout, telling you that he has understood.
    Sometimes, the only way is to give the information to a parent. Tell them what you would have told the scout, and get them to ask the scout to call you back. Don't give up!
    Call EARLY! If you call at the last minute, the boys or the families probably have other things planned already.

Communicating with the troop staff.
    You need to tell the troop about your patrol, just like you tell the patrol about the troop. You must also understand what your patrol thinks about the events we have planned, and about the troop and how it works. That way you can help the troop staff plan things that your patrol members like and will look forward to.
    You are one of the six patrol leaders in Devon 50, and the other patrols all have their ideas and things they like. You must make sure that your patrol is heard, and gets a vote in the troop program. The better you can explain what they want, the more fun your patrol will have.
     A VERY important communication is to let the troop know that your patrol is participating in our events. How many scouts are attending?, who are the patrol drivers?, are you prepared to do your part in the program? - you have to report this back to the person responsible for planning the event. The planning job is hard enough without having to guess how many will be there and not knowing if we have enough drivers!