By cameron gutierrez
Clear Brook High School
At Clear Brook DECA, our number one goal is helping our members reach success through competition and bonding. This is something that is of extreme focus for our officer team. With that, our officer team also enacts a unique set of strategies to focus on officer team bonding as well! Below, we’ve provided some things that have worked for us so that you can bring your chapter officers closer together.
Group chat strategy
If you’re an officer team, chances are you have a group chat with your fellow officers to keep each other updated on all things DECA. While Clear Brook DECA has a group chat, we also enact a super informal strategy to foster a sense of friendship between us. After all, DECA isn’t just all business: we’re here to have fun! Throw in a funny profile picture, and open your group chat up to more than just DECA.
Officer Meetings
Officer communication is key. At Clear Brook DECA, we host biweekly officer meetings with our chapter advisor to keep up with all things DECA. Plus, our officer meetings are pretty laid back: we have lunch together, engage in funny conversation, and overall keep it pretty casual!
Organization
While your officer team should have a close bond, it’s also important to realize that you all serve a specific purpose: guiding your chapter members to success! Therefore, some level of organization and clarification must be done so that your chapter operates as efficiently as possible. At Clear Brook DECA, for example, we utilize a shared Google Drive and a shared Google Calendar in order to ensure that all information we have is centered and easy to access, eliminating any stress.
Host a Social
Socials aren’t just for chapter members: they can also be for officers specifically! If your chapter has a large amount of officers, then great: a simple ice cream social between everyone is a great way to foster unique connections! At Clear Brook DECA, our officer team only consists of 6 people. Therefore, we try to host socials with other officer chapters in our school district. Not only do these bring us together, but they foster a sense of district spirit and allow us to bounce ideas off of each other!
Connect with your Advisor
Your advisor is the backbone of your DECA chapter, and without them, your DECA chapter simply wouldn’t exist. Therefore, make sure that you include your advisor in some officer events as well! As mentioned, at Clear Brook DECA, we loop our advisor in on officer meetings, as well as any events we host.
Participate in Campaigns
From service campaigns to the “Bring a Friend” campaign, national and Texas DECA campaigns serve the great purpose of bringing together your chapter. However, they can also directly connect your officer team! Try working on campaign ideas together, as well as partaking in them together and, along the way, helping members Be the One when they participate in campaigns. Not only will you foster that unique officer and chapter connection, but you’ll be making a difference in your community.
But… why even focus on officer connections?
Connecting with your officer team is one of the greatest ways that you can bring your chapter together. When your chapter sees your officer team connecting, it encourages its members to do the same, thus increasing your chapter spirit!
Whether you’re a team of 2 or 30, bringing your officer team together is key to a successful membership year. On behalf of your Clear Brook DECA officers, we hope that this list of tips proves helpful in your Texas DECA chapter!