Remodeling the Roundtable
Scoutorama.com spoke with succesful roundtable
commissioners and asked them what makes their roundtables better
than most. The commissioners we spoke to identified a number of
challenges and suggestions for meeting those challenges. Not
surprisingly, they identified the same kinds of problems. We've
grouped them in 6 general categories, with an introduction on
roundtable history.
- Roundtable History
- Punctuality - On time isn't
enough, get them there early!
- Creativity - Presentations
that come to life.
- Relevance - Meeting Scouters'
needs.
- Quality - Making roundtable
"the place to be".
- Clique - Changing the guard.
- Change - So you like these
ideas, what next?
As early as 600 a.d., history begins the fantastic legends
of King Arthur, the illegitimate son of King Uther. Whether
through his upbringing or by nature, Arthur was known for
reform and justice.
The monument of his work is the roundtable, where all were
united without head or foot. Each lordship in his kingdom was
represented at the roundtable, and committed to serve those
they represented.
The BSA's Roundtable training meetings are a monthly in
service training meeting. The allusion to Camelot's
roundtable conjures up images of errant knights assembling to
discuss the problems of the people (Scouts) they serve.
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There are two groups of people who struggle with
punctuality at a rountable: the staff and the participants.
(Yes, that's just about everyone...)
The Staff's tardiness is a major complaint of
roundtable goers. When they don't know exactly what happens
next, or when the commissioner is tied down with last minute
details, volunteers' time is wasted. In business terms, it's
called inefficient. Who would pay 100 people to sit and wait
for 15 minuites? There are two ways to fix this problem.
- Carefully plan the meeting in advance, and stick to
the plan. Follow the programmed agenda from preopening
to after the meeting. Everyone should know
"what's next".
- Stick to time limits. Budget 10 minutes for the
opening and then watch the clock. The participants
will enjoy the fast pace and appreciate the value you
place on their time. The section on Quality will give
some ideas for maintaining a brisk pace.
Participants' tardiness was the number one
complaint of roundtable staffs. We were not surprised at
this, but thought that it was an unsolvable problem. The
Commissioners disagreed. They gave us two terrific ideas.
- Door Prizes. Give tickets to anyone who comes early.
The drawing is held after the opening ceremony so
that latecomers saw what they were missing. What
should you give as prizes? Ask a local merchant to
donate something of value (lantern, axe, compass,
knife, etc.).
- Top Twenty. Give tickets to the first twenty people
to arrive. After the opening ceremony, call the
"Top Twenty" forward and give them their
prize (a flashlight, notepad, signal mirror, or other
donated item.)
Were they successful? You bet. Not only did tardiness end,
but people started arriving early in hopes of winning. This
gave the staff time to get extra teaching in during the
preopening, and put the participants "in the mood"
for the rest of the evening.
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The Third Dimension
Most presentations are two dimensional: a presenter (1st
dimension) stands and lectures on a subject to the audience
(2nd dimension). The third dimension is the Scouts.
You can teach an adult about knot tying by giving him a
rope and walking him through a few examples. But when he
enters the third dimension (in troop meeting) he'd better be
ready with knot games, stories, and a few candy bar prizes.
Why not prepare the Scouter by teaching him in the third
dimension?
One district completely eliminated the lecture mode by
requiring the the presenters to convey their messages
entirely in skit form. This increased audience participation
and taught adults to relate to youth.
Another district decided to make all presentation
"live". When they taught firebuilding, they went to
the trouble of building a platform out on the church lawn
where they met so that the Scouters could sit around a real
fire and get hands on experience. A lot of trouble, but they
all remember it!
Involvement
When a person is given responsibility in a meeting, they
become committed to its success. To stimulate this
commitment, one district brought a shovel and bugle to each
roundtable.
The "Service Patrol" got the shovel, they were
responsible for setting up and cleaning up for next month's
meeting. The "Program Patrol" got the bugle. They
ran the closing ceremony for the next month's meeting.
Stiff penalties punished the group who forgot their duties
or left the shovel and bugle home. They usually had to come
up and perform some embarassing dance or feat in front of the
entire group.
(A side effect of this increased participation is the
lightening of the staff's workload.)
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[Suggestion Box] [Representation] [Patrol
Experience] [Stop Acting Your Age]
[Cracker Barrel] [Flexible]
[Troubleshooting] [Mock Trips]
Suggestion Box
How do you know what Scouters need to hear? A roundtable
staff is not representative of the entire district. Scouters
may be facing unique challenges completely foreign to the
staff. Placing a suggestion box near the door, and keeping it
supplied with pencils and paper will give the Scouters a
chance to voice their opinions. (Notice that nearly every
page in Scouting Online has a link to our suggestion
box! We want to meet your needs.)
One district mentioned that they put up a suggestion box,
and after two months received only one suggestion. They
didn't think it was that great, but did it anyway, and made a
point of mentioning that the change came about because of a
suggestion in the suggestion box. The next month they
received several suggestions that really improved their
meeting. People are skeptical, you must prove that
you are open to change!
Equal Representation
A number of Commissioners commented on their initial urge
to recruit their "friends" as staff members. With
some effort, they reached out and pulled in staffers from
across the district, which gave more power to the roundtable
because it then represented all the interests in the
district, not just a select group.
The Patrol Experience
Roundtable participants are commonly divided into groups
by chartering organization or geographic location. Many
districts carry this idea to maturity by dubbing each group a
patrol and requiring them to have a name, flag, yell, and a
patrol leader. Competitions are held between Roundtable
patrols.
This experience gives Scouters good insight into the
challenges their boys face and lets them see what a patrol
should be like.
Teaching Adults to Act like Boys
Adults have a hard time relating with boys because they
can't stop "acting their age". Glen Parker, in
Brigham Young University's Department of Recreation
Management and youth Leadership relates the following story.
Ministers attending a Scout campout were called to the
floor for a skit. The particular skit was rather
embarrassing, and brought hoots of laughter from the boys in
attendance. One particular Minister was rather
"stiff", and had never been able to relate to the
youth he had stewardship over. Acting the fool in front of
the boys was very difficult. But the boys saw a new man
before them. In the next few months the Minister grew closer
to the boys and helped them through a number of personal
challenges.
Roundtable is a good place to learn to stop acting your
age. Through skits, stories, and songs an adult can suffer a
damaged pride, but the experience just might open the door to
a boy's impressionable mind. (for ideas on helping adults regress, click here.)
The Cracker Barrel.
Some of the best things I've learned from roundtables
didn't come from the presentations. When Scouters sit around
the cracker barrel they ask the questions that are on their
minds, and get answers from peers.
In a good roundable the cracker barrel is not held after
the meeting, it is a part of the meeting. A warning
though, if Scouters stay out late socializing, spouses get
upset, so turn the lights out when the time is up! Don't be
afraid to leave them wanting more.
Flexibility
We read a lot about the ideal troop, with an effective
committee, dedicated leaders, and excited boys. In your
preparation, don't foget to lay the manuals aside and
consider the troop with 4 boys, or the group of boys with
single mothers.
Troubleshooting
One district opens the floor for 10 minutes of
troubleshooting. Scouters bring up current problems they
have, and the whole group works together to solve them. There
is never time for more than 3 or 4 questions, but the results
are tremendous.
Mock Trips
New Scouters struggle because they do not know the ins and
outs of local camping or other activities. One district
spends 5 minutes on a mock trip. The leader stands and says,
"Okay, I am taking my troop to hike Mt Timpanogos. What
do I need to know?" The group contributes their
information and experiences.
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[Avoid Repetition] [Be Prepared] [Show
and Tell] [A Boy Again] [Boredom!] [The Purpose]
Avoid Repetition
As a Scout, I spent many summers at Camp Freedom
(Transatlantic Council). Staff members were extremely careful
not to use the word "announcements". Because that
summer camp has a song with at least 15 verses, and it can
only be set in motion by the word "annou___". If
you slipped, there was nothing to do but sit down and wait it
out.
The song reflected the boredom an audience experiences
when announcements are repeated are repeated are repeated. In
a roundtable, the announcements should be printed in the
newsletter and read once. (If you repeat them in another
section, I hope you have someone from Camp Freedom in your
audience. Just once would teach you a good lesson...)
Be Prepared
Quite often a key person will be unable to come at the
last minute. This really tests the roundtable staff. Each
district had a unique way of preparing for the inevitable:
- Insist on team teaching.
- Collect outlines and handouts before the meeting. If
the presenter falls out, the information will still
be available to the participants.
- Assign a staff member to prepare a back up lesson.
- Assign a discussion leader to conduct a "talk
show", covering the theme with their own
resources.
Show and Tell
What do you do when someone says, "I have 3 rolls of
slides from our trip to Mt. Vesuvius that I'd be willing to
show next month...if, uh, you'd like me to." Say no, and
spoil the enthusiasm. Say yes, and tell everyone to bring
pillows...
One commissioner has the perrfect answer. Invite the
person to share only 10 slides. Express your sincere interest
and explain that you can't budget more time than that. After
the slide show, jump up and say, "Okay, we have time for
three questions!" After the third question, explain that
the presenter will be available for questions after the
cracker barrel.
This establishes a precedence. After two or three such
experiences, everyone "knows" that a slide show
means 10 slides and 3 questions.
Becoming a Boy Again
Convincing leaders to enjoy campfire singing like boys do
is no easy task. Commissioners had two great suggestions:
- Get someone who is naturally enthusiastic to get up
and lead a song. Example is always the best teacher.
- Start with a snowball song. The leader stands in
front of one person and sings, while hopping on one
foot, "Oh do you know the muffin man, the muffin
man, the muffin man?" The person then stands and
repeats the actions singing, "Oh yes, I know the
muffin man..." They each go to two other people,
and so on until the entire audience has joined in.
[if you hyper linked here, go back]
Boredom!
Slow moments in a meeting give people a chance to think
about what they'd be doing if they hadn't come. A brisk pace
is essential, but you don't want to offend someone by cutting
them off.
Each district had their own way of addressing this
problem. We combined them and think that this could be a lot
of fun for the whole group.
- Establish and announce time limits so everyone knows
that this won't "go on all night".
- Use a timing device like an alarm. If the audience
remembers the gong show, you might want a pan lid and
a wooden spoon. The gonging job could be awarded to
the most punctual person.
- Prevent people from being offended by announcing the
rules at the beginning in a fun manner. Someone
should be secretly assigned to violate the time limit
rule at the start, and "get gonged" to set
the example!
- Contrary to popular belief, there is such a thing
as a stupid question. Establish the "3
Question Quota", and defer all other questions
to the cracker barrel.
Keep the Purpose Alive!
To maintain high quality, remember the purpose of
roundtables. Many districts read over their objectives at the
beginning of each planning meeting. The two questions they
consider most important are:
- What is our purpose this month?
- How can we keep things lively?
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Ideally, Scouting is a movement driven by people dedicated
to developing character in boys. But just like boys (who
register for FUN, not character building), Scouters find a
social club where people with similar values meet to have
fun.
Leaders stay involved when they find acceptance among
friends with similar interests. This poses a problem when the
same staff conducts the roundtables year in and year out.
Each district offered their suggestions to regularly
"change the guard."
- Insist that 10% of the people involved in the monthly
roundtable be new to the staff.
- Involve the roundtable "patrols" by giving
them a chance to teach on a regular basis.
- Spreading the responsibility through several dozen
people makes everyone feel needed and keeps things
fresh.
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Tradition is stronger than law. If your roundtable needs a
little work, remember that people must agree that a change is
necessary before they will do something about it. Make change
itself a tradition. If you are in the habit of evaluating
your progress, and everyone understands whose responsibility
it is to act on those evaluations, your roundtables will
improve on a monthly basis.
Do you need to change? One district found that their
Scoutmasters averaged 3 months in office before quitting.
Why? Because their needs were not being met. Working with
boys is hard, people need high quality training to succeed at
it.
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