The best way to help? Don’t.

A Scout is Helpful. It’s right there in the Scout Law. Number three. A Scout cares about other people. He willingly volunteers to help others without expecting a reward.

Except… when helping someone takes away an opportunity for them to help themselves.

Of course we want to help. But as we know, helping others doesn’t mean doing their work for them. You wouldn’t “help” your child by doing her homework, would you?

Much of the time, we are tempted to just jump in, grab the wheel and take care of a task ourselves if we feel it’s expedient, or we know how to do it better. Continue reading “The best way to help? Don’t.”

Making virtual meetings more successful

“Zoom fatigue” is a term that has crept into our lingo, given that so much of our collaborative work-from-home activity is done through online real-time video sharing tools like Zoom, Webex and GoToMeeting.

In our district, we’ve been holding our monthly Commissioner and Roundtable meetings via Zoom since March, and it has largely been successful in increasing participation. Our first online Roundtable attracted almost twice as many participants as a typical in-person meeting, which made us wonder why we didn’t think of it a long time ago. (Actually, we’ve thought about it for a long time, but the means and methods just weren’t convenient yet.)

You may have already held troop meetings and committee meetings on one of these remote platforms. Like in-person meetings, they are not free of issues. Continue reading “Making virtual meetings more successful”

More Q&A: Committee approval of advancement, smartphones at camp

The mailbag brought a couple more questions to the Bobwhite’s attention in the last few weeks. I’ll take a stab at answering your conundrums this week.

First, a question from an experienced den leader – and thank you for your service, as you are the front-line deliverer of Scouting to our Cub Scouts! – about a committee chair’s role in advancement: Continue reading “More Q&A: Committee approval of advancement, smartphones at camp”

Say more by saying less

I’m sure you’ve been in many meetings where the chairperson or meeting facilitator does most of the talking. There’s the discussion of business, summary of past activity and general announcements. Many times, people are hesitant to speak up, so the chair just fills in the quiet spaces.

If you’re a chairperson, you know the feeling too. You begin to wonder why others don’t have anything to say. Sure, you can count on the secretary and treasurer to deliver prepared reports. You probably even have one or two talkative committee members who can go on and on.

The leader who does most of the talking can be an asset in certain situations, but to get the ideas flowing and the brains storming, try being quiet for a change. Continue reading “Say more by saying less”