Holding the attention of a non military type senior

Started by AndyA60, February 24, 2020, 07:12:10 PM

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Eclipse

^ Opening formation, post colors / announcements, awards - 15 minutes.
All-hands sessions - Safety, ES training / tasking, EO. 30 minutes (or as needed)

Cadet Breakouts
PT, Drill, Testing, Leadership, AE, CDI

Senior Breakouts
PD, Tasking, Personnel reviews, ES training & tasking, SUI prep and self-assessments, annual "stuff".

Closing formation, take / homes, retire colors - 5 minutes.

The rest of the time is flexible as needed.

One of the keys to cohesion is the formations and the all-hands times reinforcing
the "one CAP" concept and that's everyone is on the same team, working together.

There is a 13-week evolution to the cadet schedule that senior training
fits into nicely.  And for starters, seniors meet every week.  You can't complain
there's not enough time, and blow off half the potential contact hours every year.

I've inspected and mentored more then a few units where all they do is complain that
there is "no time for PD and all that administration stuff", then you find out they meet
only twice a month, blow off 5th weeks, and take all of December off, not to mention all
the random reasons they miss meetings.

Meeting only twice a month means that a member could miss only two meetings and not be seen
for over a month, losing momentum and initiative.  Meeting every week insures that the
momentum keeps going and that the unit doesn't grind to a halt because one guy is sick.

If you don't have time to do all the things you should be doing, you're not meeting often enough
or are not properly staffed. If you find yourself with time and nothing to do, you're not doing all
you're supposed to.

There's no way around that, and it's not rocket science.

"That Others May Zoom"

etodd

Quote from: Eclipse on February 26, 2020, 12:43:07 AM^ Opening formation, post colors / announcements, awards - 15 minutes.
All-hands sessions - Safety, ES training / tasking, EO. 30 minutes (or as needed)

Cadet Breakouts
PT, Drill, Testing, Leadership, AE, CDI

Senior Breakouts
PD, Tasking, Personnel reviews, ES training & tasking, SUI prep and self-assessments, annual "stuff".

Closing formation, take / homes, retire colors - 5 minutes.

The rest of the time is flexible as needed.

One of the keys to cohesion is the formations and the all-hands times reinforcing
the "one CAP" concept and that's everyone is on the same team, working together.

There is a 13-week evolution to the cadet schedule that senior training
fits into nicely.  And for starters, seniors meet every week.  You can't complain
there's not enough time, and blow off half the potential contact hours every year.

I've inspected and mentored more then a few units where all they do is complain that
there is "no time for PD and all that administration stuff", then you find out they meet
only twice a month, blow off 5th weeks, and take all of December off, not to mention all
the random reasons they miss meetings.

Meeting only twice a month means that a member could miss only two meetings and not be seen
for over a month, losing momentum and initiative.  Meeting every week insures that the
momentum keeps going and that the unit doesn't grind to a halt because one guy is sick.

If you don't have time to do all the things you should be doing, you're not meeting often enough
or are not properly staffed. If you find yourself with time and nothing to do, you're not doing all
you're supposed to.

There's no way around that, and it's not rocket science.

Good info , Good ideas. As yes, as I said earlier, we often do meet on the normally off weekends, for training. Thanks for your post.
"Don't try to explain it, just bow your head
Breathe in, breathe out, move on ..."

eopiela

Our squadron meets twice a month, with both seniors and cadets together; seems to work well.  Have attached a sample meeting schedule. 

etodd

#23
Quote from: eopiela on February 26, 2020, 03:35:41 AMOur squadron meets twice a month, with both seniors and cadets together; seems to work well.  Have attached a sample meeting schedule. 

Just twice, but its 6 hours each time.  OK

No Corporate Uniforms allowed?

Composite, but the schedule you attached is mostly Cadet oriented it seems.  I take it that you don't have an airplane or pilots? Ground Teams? Any ES?
"Don't try to explain it, just bow your head
Breathe in, breathe out, move on ..."

Fester

Quote from: etodd on February 25, 2020, 09:59:25 PM
Quote from: Eclipse on February 25, 2020, 09:45:33 PMThis is interesting as well, because you have all but stated any number of times that
you're part of a Senior Unit.

You'll have to find a quote for that one.  I'm in a Composite. Never said otherwise.  The Cadets meet every Tuesday. The Seniors meet 1st and 3rd Tuesdays. We meet in separate areas of the facility. Except for certain special occasions, where we will meet together.  Occasionally the Seniors will meet during the off weeks for specific training. I held training for Mission Scanners recently for example. Hoping to start Observer classes soon.  We stay busy. :)


And what do you do to support the Cadet Program?  After all, it is one of our three mandated missions.
1stLt, CAP
Squadron CC
Group CPO
Eaker - 1996

Fester

Quote from: Eclipse on February 26, 2020, 12:43:07 AM^ Opening formation, post colors / announcements, awards - 15 minutes.
All-hands sessions - Safety, ES training / tasking, EO. 30 minutes (or as needed)

Cadet Breakouts
PT, Drill, Testing, Leadership, AE, CDI

Senior Breakouts
PD, Tasking, Personnel reviews, ES training & tasking, SUI prep and self-assessments, annual "stuff".

Closing formation, take / homes, retire colors - 5 minutes.

The rest of the time is flexible as needed.

One of the keys to cohesion is the formations and the all-hands times reinforcing
the "one CAP" concept and that's everyone is on the same team, working together.

There is a 13-week evolution to the cadet schedule that senior training
fits into nicely.  And for starters, seniors meet every week.  You can't complain
there's not enough time, and blow off half the potential contact hours every year.

I've inspected and mentored more then a few units where all they do is complain that
there is "no time for PD and all that administration stuff", then you find out they meet
only twice a month, blow off 5th weeks, and take all of December off, not to mention all
the random reasons they miss meetings.

Meeting only twice a month means that a member could miss only two meetings and not be seen
for over a month, losing momentum and initiative.  Meeting every week insures that the
momentum keeps going and that the unit doesn't grind to a halt because one guy is sick.

If you don't have time to do all the things you should be doing, you're not meeting often enough
or are not properly staffed. If you find yourself with time and nothing to do, you're not doing all
you're supposed to.

There's no way around that, and it's not rocket science.

I rarely agree with you, Eclipse, but on this one.... 100%.
1stLt, CAP
Squadron CC
Group CPO
Eaker - 1996

Fester

Quote from: eopiela on February 26, 2020, 03:35:41 AMOur squadron meets twice a month, with both seniors and cadets together; seems to work well.  Have attached a sample meeting schedule. 

Interesting.  Don't think I've ever seen a Cadet or Composite Squadron that only meets twice per month.
1stLt, CAP
Squadron CC
Group CPO
Eaker - 1996

TheSkyHornet

Totally with you on this, Eclipse.

Being a Composite Squadron doesn't mean that everyone needs to meet together in the same room at the same time for the duration of the meeting. Form up at the start, split off and do your thing, join up when appropriate, go back to doing your thing, and form up to fall out at the end.

"Composite" means that you're sharing common materials/resources for the overall unit. You can still run multiple operations and activities simultaneously while dedicating the same people and equipment that can be passed around as needed. You don't need two Finance Officers, two Supply Officers, and two Professional Development Officers. These are resources that can be allocated to everyone.

What we tend to run into is a lack of Cadet Programs senior cadre that can't devote their meeting time to whatever senior member-oriented class is going on. For example, if there is a briefing about the new Professional Development program, we might simultaneously be having drill testing (which requires a senior present) and an activity planning meeting (which requires two more seniors). Suddenly, the PDO is complaining that the senior cadre isn't in the PD briefing. Well, they're busy.

We have a relatively poor schedule coordination between our cadet side and senior side due to having virtually no "senior members" (dedicated to senior-type stuff). Everyone involved in Cadet Programs activities is usually busy for most of the weekly meeting (which is great on my end). But with the seniors meeting on the first week, and a third week staff duty meeting, it's challenging to coordinate the schedule with that group. Even more so when the seniors that usually show up leave after an hour after the meeting starts.

It seems incredibly uncommon at composites that the seniors stay the duration of the meeting every time (except for high level staff) and actually stay productive for the duration of the meeting. You really need to have an active Emergency Services operation running to make it valuable.