Saturday, May 30, 2009

Teams

How many teams are you involved in at the moment? As a scout leader, you are an important part of at least one great team and many more if you think about it.

The most visible teams are seen in sports, but aren’t families also teams? How about the group of people you work with? One of your teams may be a church choir, a study group, or car-pool.

Teams are created to achieve a purpose. They can perform at a high level or they can fizzle – depending on a lot of factors. Does the team:
- Share a common purpose and passion?
- Have designated leaders and engaged followers?
- Have a plan and structure that everyone understands?
- Have some diversity in the skills and backgrounds of its members?
- Communicate well?

To me, the Wood Badge curriculum boils down to “the team”. Everything the staff will demonstrate and teach for the course’s 6 days revolves around teamwork.

Think about a few of your teams and your role within them. Is your passion strong or are you just fulfilling an obligation? Are you typically chosen to be a leader or do you prefer to let others step up? Would the team be more successful if a new plan or new ideas were put forward? Is everyone on the same page and prepared for an event?

Wood Badge teaches that all new teams go through 4 distinct stages of development (forming, storming, norming, & performing). It is important to recognize these stages as they occur and know that they are part of a normal team-building process.

Over the next 120 days, the SR966 staff will go through this team-building process to become a high-performing team. There are high expectations at the moment and are ready to take on the challenge. There will certainly be some anxiety and maybe even be some “storming” along the way. However, by the time September roles around, I have no doubt that this experienced and spirited staff will come together and deliver an amazing course.

It’s what we have promised and with everyone’s effort is what we will deliver.

No comments: