November-December 1998November-December 1998
Edited by Robert Peterson
Illustration by Bill Basso
Some years ago I faced a similar situation. I was Cubmaster of a pack that had rather poor management. Our advancement records were a shambles, our pack treasurer was honest as the day is long but couldn't balance a checkbook, and deadlines came and went without anybody caring much.
The most glaring deficiency was lack of training. I think I was the only adult leader in the pack who had Fast Start and Cub Scout leader basic training. With the help of the committee chairman, I started a campaign to promote training. Within months, all the leaders had been through basic, the pack committee was having a Unit Leadership Enhancement lesson each month, and we were represented at each monthly leaders' roundtable.
The result: People started to meet their responsibilities--on time--and the pack began thriving.
L.T.G.
Houston, Tex.
Our pack does not have problems with meeting deadlines, because all the parents know that if our pack committee sets a deadline, that's it. We don't make exceptions, unless there are good reasons why someone couldn't meet the deadline.
In most packs, the committee chairman sets the tone. If he or she is firm on such things, deadlines will be met. K.B.'s pack committee should consider its leadership.
Pack Committee Member A.T.
Phoenix, Ariz.
Setting aside the question of deadlines, I would ask why K.B.'s family members were making the table decorations. Table decorations should be the work of Cub Scouts and Webelos Scouts, with help from their den leaders.
The blue and gold chair should be responsible for leading the planning for the banquet, not for making decorations. If it was necessary for adults to work on table decorations, she should have named a committee to do it, not assigned it to her family.
Pack Committee Member R.S.
Cleveland, Ohio
There are deadlines, and then there are deadlines. It sounds to me as if the blue and gold chair set a deadline far in advance of the banquet, perhaps so she could get all the table decorations done in time. In short, this deadline may not have been reasonable.
On the other hand, some deadlines must be met, such as handing in parents' permission slips before the den goes on an afternoon trip or getting a Local Tour Permit from the council office before taking the pack on a daylong outing.
Assistant Den Leader J.H.
Charleston, W.Va.
Not too long ago, Front Line Stuff had a question about what to do with a pack leader who refused to delegate responsibilities, with the result that sometimes things didn't get done. As I read K.B.'s question, that's the case here.
His wife, the banquet chair, apparently felt she had to do it all. Otherwise, why would her family be making all the table decorations?
In a unit, there should be plenty of boys and parents who can take on such responsibilities.
Assistant Scoutmaster J.S.
Cincinnati, Ohio S
How Can Tiger Cub Groups Be Energized?Our pack has a Tiger Cub group that meets only sporadically. Its family members rarely attend pack events. How can we energize this group so that it will become an active Wolf Cub den next year? Assistant Den Leader D.K.B. Send your answers to Front Line Stuff, Scouting magazine, 1325 W. Walnut Hill Ln., P.O. Box 152079, Irving, TX 75015-2079. Responses will appear in Scouting's January-February issue. We also solicit new questions of a provocative nature and pay $50 f or each one used in this column. |
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