Building a Team

A well-organized crew works together to accomplish tasks quickly and has more time to enjoy Philmont. It is essential for your crew to learn to cooperate as a team before you arrive. If your crew is a chartered unit, this should be easy. However, if your crew is a provisional council group, it may require some effort to become organized and learn to work together.

The most effective way for the crew to learn teamwork is to practice camping and hiking as a unit. Each crew should carry out several backpacking trips to prepare each member physically and mentally and to mold the unit into an efficient camping crew.

Tips for Effective Teamwork

The crew leader is a key person for a successful Philmont expedition. The crew leader will organize the crew, assign duties, make decisions, and recognize the capabilities and limitations of each member. He or she leads by example and discusses ideas and alternatives with the entire crew to arrive at a consensus before taking action. This responsibility requires someone with leadership ability and whom everyone respects.

An adult adviser counsels and advises your crew leader and crew, and assists if discipline is required. Advisers are also responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of each crew member, but otherwise, the adviser lets the crew leader lead the crew.

Good communication is crucial to your crew's success. Make sure everyone participates in determining the objectives for the crew each day. An ideal time to accomplish this is after the evening meal.

A daily duty roster will help organize your crew. Each crew member is assigned a responsibility for each day. Jobs should be rotated so at least one experienced and one new crew member work together. Every job should be clearly defined. Your crew should have a list of all tasks for each job so everyone knows what is expected.

Remember: When you are hot and tired, hungry and irritable, so is everyone else. Everyone is expected to control personal behavior, especially when the going is tough. Congeniality is important to crew harmony.