Building Scheduling

[jdlessley]

I agree with kisaac. The rotation method of scheduling deconfliction is inefficient and unnecessarily leaves resources unused or unscheduled because of incorrectly perceived use. The new calendar provides more flexibility for deconfliction on-the-fly. It is possible that one ward could be more proactive in getting their scheduling done far ahead of the others and locking resources unequally in their favor. But once again there are solutions available. Calendar editors can communicate with the other ward to get accommodation when it appears there is unequal sharing of resources. The building scheduler has some of the responsibility to ensure fairness also and can be the arbitrator for unyielding resource hogs. As a last resort the ward leaders could get involved when personalities are unyielding.

The rotating schedule worked to resolve issues from old reservation systems that lacked communication capabilities or information. The new calendar addresses those limitations and provides more flexibility.

[davesudweeks]

I agree as well, but we all know "old habits die hard." There seems to be some sense of false ownership of the building on certain days/evenings when it is the Lord's building and the "rotation" method only serves those who are too lazy to plan. I really see the Coordinators role to do just that - Coordinate. Yes there may be some instances where one unit wants to monopolize all the "good" dates, but that could be easily handled through honest communication. Our building has 2 standard wards and a Singles Branch. The Singles Branch was moved to our building about 6 months and there has been some adjusting to that, but nothing that we couldn't deal with with a Christlike attitude.

Hopefully we will all get beyond this as we learn how to use these wonderful tools to better organize our resources. I am excited so see us use it to its fullest extent!

[gdnabors]

What am I missing here??

Thanks

[aebrown]

building schedulers cannot see the ward calendars to schedule around??

What am I missing here??

I think you're missing the fact that building schedulers can see all the events scheduled for their building. They do need to check the box by the building name in the "Subscribed Locations" panel, but they can indeed see all events for the building then. Those would be the only events they would need to schedule around. They don't have to be able to see events on ward calendars that have nothing to do with their building, and those are the only events they can't see.

[aebrown]

The rotation method of scheduling deconfliction is inefficient and unnecessarily leaves resources unused or unscheduled because of incorrectly perceived use.

I agree as well, but we all know "old habits die hard." There seems to be some sense of false ownership of the building on certain days/evenings when it is the Lord's building and the "rotation" method only serves those who are too lazy to plan.

I tend to agree that a rotating schedule is unnecessary for weekends, but I don't agree with these characterizations of all uses of a rotating schedule. For Mutual nights, where two wards spit a certain weeknight, it has served us very well. Each ward knows that they get the cultural hall on the 1st and 3rd, or the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. That way they can schedule activities that need the cultural hall on their nights, and other activities on the off nights. That's neither "false ownership" nor laziness. It allows both ward to plan as far ahead as they want, without conflict.

On occasion, a particular ward would like a particular building for the night reserved for the other night, and they work that out and the building scheduler facilitates the scheduling. And the cultural hall gets used almost every Wednesday for something, so it doesn't leave the building unscheduled, either.

[gdnabors]

they tell me they cannot see the calendars for the wards in their building.??

[russellhltn]

they tell me they cannot see the calendars for the wards in their building.??

I think you're missing the fact that building schedulers can see all the events scheduled for their building. They do need to check the box by the building name in the "Subscribed Locations" panel, but they can indeed see all events for the building then.

As Alan said, they should see the option for "Subscribed Locations". When they check that off, then they can see all event that have booked the building. This won't be all the events, but only those that should impact on building scheduling.

[jdlessley]

they tell me they cannot see the calendars for the wards in their building.??

That is correct. They cannot see the calendars but they can see the events with a resource reserved for that event. That is done by selecting the location in the "Subscribed Locations" listbox. They may need to also remove clutter from the calendar display by unchecking all the calendars in the "Subscribed Calendars" listbox. For more information see the "View Calendars of Other Wards" section of the "Viewing Calendars" page of the calendar help.

[kisaac]

I agree as well, but we all know "old habits die hard.

The "fear" that jdlessley mentioned seems valid. Out of the three wards in the building, two are up and running on the calendar, and the third has not yet established one. It is this third ward that fears the other two wards, who are more organized, will plan their year full of activities and "lock up" all the good nights, leaving the third ward with the crumbs before they get around to scheduling. This could be a valid reason to do the "rotation," at least for a certain time period. I'm in favor of a "pre-scheduling" rotation period for the wards, then by a certain date all unscheduled days become free to all.

For Mutual nights, where two wards spit a certain weeknight, it has served us very well. Each ward knows that they get the cultural hall on the 1st and 3rd, or the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. That way they can schedule activities that need the cultural hall on their nights, and other activities on the off nights. That's neither "false ownership" nor laziness. It allows both ward to plan as far ahead as they want, without conflict.

I agree 100%, and should have clarified my hope that the Friday - Saturday "it's mine so you can't use it even though I'm not" theory of rotation goes away. For our Sunday blocks, Tuesdays (RS weekly meeting) Wednesdays (mutual for all three wards,) and Thursdays (Cub scouts & stake) I would encourage the rotation to continue and the resources remain assigned all year, and unavailable to others for scheduling, except on the discretion of the building scheduler.

The rotating schedule worked to resolve issues from old reservation systems that lacked communication capabilities or information. The new calendar addresses those limitations and provides more flexibility.

Agreed! It will take us a few years to fully realize these advantages.

[jdlessley]

I agree that rotation scheduling for the weekday mutual, Relief Society, and other regularly occurring events is the better method. It is the scheduling of other events that can benefit from the new calendar resource reservation system.