Communication Tips: Using the 21st Century to the Fullest

[TheSkyHornet]

Hey, all.

Looking for some ideas to help shape up communications in cadet programs.

It seems that many squadrons face the same issue---poor communicating of information from the top down, and back up to the top as needed. Whether we're talking about knowing who to contact in the chain of command, using the chain of command appropriately, sharing knowledge throughout the squadron, or any other subject matter that we feel needs to be disseminated accordingly, there are always road blocks.

So, I'd like to hear some ways your squadron has attempted to beef up the line of communication of information throughout your squadron, more specifically in regard to the cadet side preferably. My latest attempt has been to get everyone set up on a Google Drive, since our Wing email is already a gmail account, and start putting information into a drop box so everyone can access it on their own time, and we can make sure the latest updated information is always available around the clock, able to be updated in real-time by the cadets themselves for some items. For example, I set up a spreadsheet with everyone's name, grade, position in the cadet program, phone number, and email address. They can go in and change their phone number as it changes over time so those with the responsibility of calling individuals can quickly look up a current contact list and know exactly how to get in touch. Hopefully, this will work as an incentive to get them to start using their CAP emails more than their unofficial personal email accounts since all of the information we will share is automatically linked to their CAP login.

It's a start, but I'd appreciate some other ideas and see what we can adapt.

[Holding Pattern]

I'm starting to work on Trello combined with google apps as such a tool, starting with the continuity books.

http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=20265.0

[TheSkyHornet]

Well, so far, the Google Drive has been favored by the cadet staff but not the rest of the squadron. The senior members really like the idea, but the cadets have been so absent in getting on there.

The C/CC and I came up with an idea to track who is checking their emails and actually going on the Google Drive, which already tracks the users that log in. The task was, and this was all detailed in an email, to go into a spreadsheet with a contact list, and add your current phone number that you can be reached at. Everything else was filled in (name, CAP ID, email address).

I've had 5/13 fill in their information within the 7 day window I asked for.

We've already done emails, texts, posting schedules at home base, putting schedules on the Google Drive, putting schedules on the website, last-minute phone calls if we have to. We've had numerous lectures about it at our meetings, and have even made the "threat" of withholding promotions for lack of responsibility by people in positions where it is necessary for them to communicate with others.

Amazing that in a squadron of 13 active cadets, we can't get them to check their emails usually until meeting day. We had a recruiting event last week and actually received an email from one of the cadets (who's brother is also in the program) asking the date of the upcoming event during the event he was asking about. 

Any other ideas to get the communication up to par?

[CAPDCCMOM]

I am having the same problem. I e-mail cadets, copy the parents, and still no one seems to know what is being communicated. It is getting very frustrating. I am tempted to turn off my phone on meeting nights, %90 percent of the calls I get are regarding information sent out  by e-mail a week before.

If you have any good ideas I am listening.

[LSThiker]

We've already done emails, texts, posting schedules at home base, putting schedules on the Google Drive, putting schedules on the website, last-minute phone calls if we have to. We've had numerous lectures about it at our meetings, and have even made the "threat" of withholding promotions for lack of responsibility by people in positions where it is necessary for them to communicate with others.

You can lead a horse to water, but cannot make it drink.  It sounds like you are getting the information out there but no one is caring enough to bother with it.  Perhaps you need to uphold one of those "threats" and see how things change. 

I did this one time with an NRA badge day.  Sent out emails, letters, talked with parents, etc and only a few cadets responded with RSVP.  The day came and those cadets that were on the list went to the range.  Those that were not were sent home.  For those that complained, I showed the amount of evidence.  The following activity was a bit more responsive. 

[THRAWN]

We've already done emails, texts, posting schedules at home base, putting schedules on the Google Drive, putting schedules on the website, last-minute phone calls if we have to. We've had numerous lectures about it at our meetings, and have even made the "threat" of withholding promotions for lack of responsibility by people in positions where it is necessary for them to communicate with others.

You can lead a horse to water, but cannot make it drink.  It sounds like you are getting the information out there but no one is caring enough to bother with it.  Perhaps you need to uphold one of those "threats" and see how things change. 

I did this one time with an NRA badge day.  Sent out emails, letters, talked with parents, etc and only a few cadets responded with RSVP.  The day came and those cadets that were on the list went to the range.  Those that were not were sent home.  For those that complained, I showed the amount of evidence.  The following activity was a bit more responsive.

Exactly. Saying "stop, stop, stop or I'll say stop again!" is useless. There are rules to be followed, and if they are not, there are consequences. Hold rank, awards, activities, etc and people will get the message.

[TheSkyHornet]

We've already done emails, texts, posting schedules at home base, putting schedules on the Google Drive, putting schedules on the website, last-minute phone calls if we have to. We've had numerous lectures about it at our meetings, and have even made the "threat" of withholding promotions for lack of responsibility by people in positions where it is necessary for them to communicate with others.

You can lead a horse to water, but cannot make it drink.  It sounds like you are getting the information out there but no one is caring enough to bother with it.  Perhaps you need to uphold one of those "threats" and see how things change. 

I did this one time with an NRA badge day.  Sent out emails, letters, talked with parents, etc and only a few cadets responded with RSVP.  The day came and those cadets that were on the list went to the range.  Those that were not were sent home.  For those that complained, I showed the amount of evidence.  The following activity was a bit more responsive.

I'm tired of our squadron contacting parents to find out if a cadet is coming to an activity. That's not their parents' responsibility, and it creates an incentive where people start thinking, "Oh, I'll just wait and see what my parents say."

We've already done emails, texts, posting schedules at home base, putting schedules on the Google Drive, putting schedules on the website, last-minute phone calls if we have to. We've had numerous lectures about it at our meetings, and have even made the "threat" of withholding promotions for lack of responsibility by people in positions where it is necessary for them to communicate with others.

You can lead a horse to water, but cannot make it drink.  It sounds like you are getting the information out there but no one is caring enough to bother with it.  Perhaps you need to uphold one of those "threats" and see how things change. 

I did this one time with an NRA badge day.  Sent out emails, letters, talked with parents, etc and only a few cadets responded with RSVP.  The day came and those cadets that were on the list went to the range.  Those that were not were sent home.  For those that complained, I showed the amount of evidence.  The following activity was a bit more responsive.

Exactly. Saying "stop, stop, stop or I'll say stop again!" is useless. There are rules to be followed, and if they are not, there are consequences. Hold rank, awards, activities, etc and people will get the message.

My big problem is that the cadets I'm having communication problems with aren't the ones that have had recent promotions or are coming up for promotions. And they are the ones that are starting to take a long time to promote. I haven't had the chance to make my recommendation to deny a promotion, and a board is a great opportunity to address it on paper. The verbal reprimands don't seem to do it.

We just pulled our First Sergeant out of his role due to lack of hustle. I told him the day he assumed the job that we would be expecting a lot out of him and we wouldn't put up with any B.S. Squadron CC kept running with the "Well, let's see if he improves." Over two months I said I was tired of it and wanted to get him out of the slot, but it was always this "Let's wait and see." I finally made the move and said I would like the permission to just handle this myself and get him out of that role. It took some other senior members to agree to finally make it happen.

I'm getting really tired of hearing excuses from the cadets and hearing senior members endorse these excuses, including the CC. If we lose a cadet or two because they felt they weren't being treated fairly even though we've given them all the opportunity to shape up, so be it. It's not personal, but I have a cadet program to run and other people that deserve better leadership from the cadet staff. At the end of the day, these cadets can walk away at any moment and we can't stop them. I don't want to see anyone go, but if that's the route they chose, so be it. But while they stay, I refuse to accept a stream of excuses and lack of action.

There are times I wish we could just walk into a meeting and say "Change of plan: it's PT day."

[LSThiker]

I'm tired of our squadron contacting parents to find out if a cadet is coming to an activity. That's not their parents' responsibility, and it creates an incentive where people start thinking, "Oh, I'll just wait and see what my parents say."

So stop.  If they did not tell the squadron, then they are not coming, regardless of whether or not they show up.

[TheSkyHornet]

I'm tired of our squadron contacting parents to find out if a cadet is coming to an activity. That's not their parents' responsibility, and it creates an incentive where people start thinking, "Oh, I'll just wait and see what my parents say."

So stop.  If they did not tell the squadron, then they are not coming, regardless of whether or not they show up.

As I said, I'm in full favor of that. And I've already made it clear with the squadron that I will not be calling anyone's parents. Even if we have to cancel training events due to lack of people showing up. It's not worth spending money on resources if people can't commit. They need to earn it themselves.

We have some people in our squadron's leadership that disagree and still want to run the show the same way time and time again. It's obviously a failed effort the way they've been doing it all this time. But they just won't give up the same tactic that they repeat over and over.

I'm not officially the CDC yet, so I still have some limitations as to my reign over the cadet program, but I'm continuously being asked for ideas and help with the management of the program as it is today. I'll be the CDC by the end of October/early November is what I'm being told by CC, but until then, I don't have the authority to dictate any squadron policy changes. I'm at the point where we really do need a new change of leadership in our squadron. The current setup isn't cutting it, and it's driving the squadron into the ground.

[THRAWN]

Good. You'll be CDC soon and you're getting a new CO. Make positive changes.

[TheSkyHornet]

Good. You'll be CDC soon and you're getting a new CO. Make positive changes.

Working on it Our new CC is very optimistic with the changes we're making. We're just not too happy with the pushback we get while we await the transition, but he says if we have to wait until early 2016 to make things happen, we'll stick it out and then do it once we have the authority to make our own decisions.

Had another squadron CC tell me he had the same issue before he took over and they're still in a rut from the aftermath. He's hesitant on changing their training program, but would like to track our progress and see if it's something he can make work at his squadron if it goes well for us. He did say that he has had very similar issues with their cadet leadership causing a break in communications, and feels that too many cadets were promoted to senior NCO and cadet officer grades well before their level of maturity to back their level of responsibility. But he said he really appreciated me helping them out even though I'm not part of their squadron, saying he really needs something to move things along in a positive direction and was at a point where he really didn't know what else to do but seek outside help.

I tried to jump that one and get on here and learn what I could before I stepped into a spot where I'm the accountable person for our issues. So far, I do like seeing some of the progress we've made. We just have a lot of room for improvement that I know won't come overnight, but there's still that squadron culture in the air stemming from whatever the issues were before I got into the program. It's time everyone stop with the "Well, the way we used to do it..." mentality and move on. I think a lot of it comes from cadets who were formerly in positions of responsibility without maintaining those responsibilities because the CDC and CC did it all themselves. So these kids never really got the chance to play the leadership role and learn what they could have in all this time. It creates a new sharp learning curve with the changes we're making, but we will see improvements if people tough it out and put some work into it.

I'm always open to suggestions and criticisms.

[TheSkyHornet]

Here's a follow-up...

Still having communication issues, but they're slowly getting better. We still have that same group of cadets who never give much feedback and don't communicate frequently. After reviewing their records, we saw trends that indicate where they are in their progression, and they aren't positive. You can tell who's missing their CPFTs almost every time and completion of the LMS training courses for their grade.

But, those cadets who are big on communications are starting to perk up and give some good feedback. It's still hard to get them to write down their ideas rather than trying to communicate verbally, but it's a start. We had to move some people around and I'm seeing some improvement in the way things are turning. Got a long way to go.

Anyone have any opinion on perhaps setting up a forum, like a phpBB message board at the squadron level?

I'm find that one of the big challenges these days is getting people to get back onto a PC to send emails and share information. Their phones have definitely taken over and while we have put up quite a bit of information to reference, like schedules and CAP/USAF manuals, it's still lacking. Plus, I can see that email professionalism is not the forte of this newer generation as I've had a few "text talk" emails.