Suitable Eagle Project

[evmori 11]

Eagle projects don't have to be complex projects. My son's Eagle project was to build kestrel hawk boxes & place them. Simple. The key to an Eagle project is the leadership aspect. Does the Eagle candidate show leadership in the project?

 

 

[allangr1024 71]

To me, the key to the project is the role of the manager of the project (the eagle candidate).

 

In my college management classes, they outlined several roles that a manager takes on, including:

 

Staffing

Planning

Directing

Coordinating

Controling

 

I think a good scoutmaster can lead the scout in each of these areas, and see that he functions properly in each one of them.

 

In project management, you start with a simple concise statement of the project. I have my scouts do this, and at the end I ask "Did THIS get done?"

 

I like the Eagle project Planning Guide (http://home.flash.net/~smithrc/eagleprj.htm)

because it has some good basic project management information in it.

 

I usually tell my scout to find a project that will take 10 teenagers 6 to 8 hours to complete. I then tell him I expect to see 20 hours of work done by my scout up front. I want to see plans, supply lists, financial sources, lists of prospective workers, maps, drawings, diagrams, pictures. I even ask him to put together a list of prospective workers (troop members, school mates, youth group members, adult volunteers) and call to personnaly ask for their help in the project.

 

I dont mind being the quality control for my scouts eagle projects. After all, my signature is required for this to happen.

 

It is also helpful to know the thoughts of the district advancement chair on the bar they set. The project goes forward after they give their approval. I have not found one yet who will not share his philosophy on the subject.