Module 6 – Scenario 1 Answers

Scenario # 1 – Commissioner’s Nightmare

Identify the problems.

Lapsed charters can be an indication that:

a.	The unit leaders and Commissioner staff need training in how to complete the charters.
b.	That the District’s organization is not adequately stressing the importance of getting the charters in on time.
c.	That there are communications problems.
d.	That the Unit Commissioners are not doing their jobs sufficiently to know of problems in the units and that they were not aware of the weak state of some units.
e.	That the program may not have been meeting the needs of the Scouts in those units.
f.	There may be leadership problems in the Unit where the Unit Commissioner should have been active.
g.	How should the District Commissioner and Assistant District Commissioner react?
h.	Should this figure into the Annual Unit Service plan?
i.	What kind of management problems does this suggest and how can they be fixed?
j.	Where do you think management attention should be brought to bear.

More lapsed charters suggests that the problem may extend beyond the Unit Commissioners to the management skills of the Assistant District Commissioners. What could have gone wrong here?

Dropping support of District and Council activities usually suggests that there are deeper problems in how units are operating and that the Unit Commissioner is not there to monitor and help the situation.

a.	What can be done to change this?
b.	Do the Unit Commissioners need training?
c.	Are the Unit Commissioners using the Unit Commissioner Work Sheet to evaluate units they visit?
d.	Are they visiting the units?
e.	Are they reporting the results and getting help when needed?

Bad press coverage may have been reasonable in light of what happened, but why did it happen? The related note on training is there for a purpose.

a.	What should be done about the lack of training?
b.	What is the role of the Unit Commissioner here?
c.	What is the role of the Assistant District Commissioner and District Commissioner?
d.	Should they be communicating this problem to the training committee?
e.	Should they be emphasizing promoting training in the units?

Paramilitary activity is definitely prohibited and no Scout leader has authority to add anything to the requirements for any Scout award. This is a unit leader that really needs to be helped and the chartered organization needs to be involved.

Okay District Commissioner, its your baby. What are you going to do now?

What additional information do you need?

1.	Do you have a good ratio of Unit Commissioners to Units?
2.	Do you have a Commissioner recruiting plan in operation?
3.	When was each unit last visited and what was learned?
4.	You probably need to visit each unit and chartered organization to find out what is going on. This is a great strain on time, so how do you handle this? How much can be delegated?

What are your alternatives in each case?

1.	Do you have priorities for action?
2.	You may not have many alternatives, because you need to get these units back on line or is this true?
3.	Should you be managing the crisis or is it managing you?
4.	What needs to be done for a long term fix?
5.	Who can help?
6.	Who on the District Committee can be drafted into action?
7.	Should you be doing some emergency recruiting?

What actions would you take?

Use your people resources and talk to everyone that can help:

a.	Your professional staff
b.	District committee
c.	Roundtable staff
d.	Prioritize worst cases for immediate action
e.	Recruit people
f.	Delegate when possible
g.	Work personally on the problem Troop with the UC
h.	Train your staff
i.	Revise the Unit Service Plan to address the real problems
j.	How are you evaluating the performance of current Commissioners?
k.	Do you need to make staffing changes?
l.	The rest of the options are up to you.