How to handle resources (now rooms and equipment) not associated with a building?

[jficklin]

I agree that the disconnect in classic calendar between event and resource calendars was a source of potential confusion. In our stake, leader and member training has resolved the issue and resource calendars are used by pretty much everybody that has a computer. The non-computer users still call the scheduler for the resource. Our resource calendars were set up to e-mail the resource scheduler... so nobody had to "monitor" the calendar for which they were scheduler.

I really like the new calendar concept of the integration of resource scheduling. Here's how I wish it worked.

When a requester wants to schedule an event, they go to the calender where all events are displayed and can immediately see the open dates and times. Then if they are an administrator they schedule their event, it not an administrator they fill out a request and click "submit." The calendar administrator is notified by e-mail and can go to the calendar and approve or not the request. If the person scheduling the event chooses to also schedule a resource, they are presented with a list of possible resources... when they pick one they are presented with a calendar for that resource showing every scheduled use for that resource (regardless of which unit scheduled it) so that they can quickly and easily spot the open times. It would be well if they could do this before they make a final commitment on the scheduling of their event, as the choice of event date/time is often dependent on availability of needed resources. Once they have seen the resource calendar, if they are an administrator for that calendar they schedule the resource. If they are not an administrator, they fill in a form, click "submit" and thereby request the resource. The scheduler for the resource receives an e-mail, goes to the resource calendar and approves or not the request. Simple, intuitive, easy for the requester, not too hard or the scheduler. It would also give stakes the option of allowing local priesthood leadership (who know their stake best) to follow the distributed scheduling model or the scheduler model or anything in between. It would also make the scheduling of resources not associated with a particular building a piece of cake.

In my case, and with the non-building associated resources we currently manage using classic calendars, it appears the new calendar (as is) will be unwieldy at best and extra work for me at worst for these particular resources. The system I've described above if implemented into the new calendar would handle these resources for me beautifully. At any rate, it appears that if the new calendar stays the same and they turn off the classic calendars, our stake will probably go back to the old off-line phone call/e-mail scheduling of these resources with its attendant problem that the requester can't see the availability of the resource before requesting it. However, that appears less problematic for us than any of the currently suggested "workarounds" for using the new calendar for these resources.

Again, thank you for the useful comments and suggestions. I think this discussion is very important as it shows there is at least one other stake with a problem similar to mine (the one with the tables and chairs). And perhaps it will also show the usefulness of a requester being able to see resource calendars showing all scheduled uses regardless of the unit who scheduled them so that they can find the open times without having to play "battle ship" ie. schedule an event, get a conflict notification, try another time, etc. until the schedule goes through without a conflict. I'm sorry that the continued use of the "submit" button seems to be such a sticking point, it would help resolve issues and permit stakes who are well entrenched in the scheduler-centric model to transition in a more orderly fashion to the distributed model.

Enough, already! You've been so patient to read this far. I've said enough. Thanks again to all.

[aebrown]

When a requester wants to schedule an event, they go to the calender where all events are displayed and can immediately see the open dates and times. Then if they are an administrator they schedule their event, it not an administrator they fill out a request and click "submit."

Throughout your post, you mention only administrator and non-administrator roles. I would emphasize that the new calendar has a very important "Editor" role, which can do almost everything you are suggesting an administrator would do. They simply schedule events, with no need for approval or additional communication. If you use the calendar the way it was designed, each ward will have multiple editors. In our stake, I would estimate that well over 90% of the events are scheduled directly by an editor (or by an administrator functioning essentially as an editor). So the whole flow of submitting requests is really an exceptional case. It's an important one that should not be neglected, as I have argued in other threads, but if the calendar system is set up properly, it is relatively rare.

If the person scheduling the event chooses to also schedule a resource, they are presented with a list of possible resources... when they pick one they are presented with a calendar for that resource showing every scheduled use for that resource (regardless of which unit scheduled it) so that they can quickly and easily spot the open times.

I like this basic idea, but I think you are oversimplifying a bit. Many events require multiple resources, and you really need to see the availability of all resources those resources at once in order to see the times when all the needed resources are free. That makes the implementation quite a bit more complex, but it's still doable (MS Outlook's scheduling assistant does this already, for example).

...our stake will probably go back to the old off-line phone call/e-mail scheduling of these resources with its attendant problem that the requester can't see the availability of the resource before requesting it.
...
And perhaps it will also show the usefulness of a requester being able to see resource calendars showing all scheduled uses regardless of the unit who scheduled them so that they can find the open times without having to play "battle ship" ie. schedule an event, get a conflict notification, try another time, etc. until the schedule goes through without a conflict.

Although it's not as straightforward as I would like, a requester can indeed see all scheduled uses of a location regardless of the unit who scheduled it (click the checkbox by the location under Available Locations in Week view). It's on a location basis, so some drilling down into events is sometimes necessary to see precisely which resources are booked, but it does provide a capability for looking for free times. If you're aware of that and are dismissing it because you think it's too hard to use, that's fair enough, but I didn't see any acknowledgement in your post that such a feature even exists.

[jficklin]

Throughout your post, you mention only administrator and non-administrator roles. I would emphasize that the new calendar has a very important "Editor" role, which can do almost everything you are suggesting an administrator would do. They simply schedule events, with no need for approval or additional communication. If you use the calendar the way it was designed, each ward will have multiple editors. In our stake, I would estimate that well over 90% of the events are scheduled directly by an editor (or by an administrator functioning essentially as an editor). So the whole flow of submitting requests is really an exceptional case. It's an important one that should not be neglected, as I have argued in other threads, but if the calendar system is set up properly, it is relatively rare.

Sorry about that... I believe in most places in my post where I refer to an administrator that could read "an administrator or editor"....

I like this basic idea, but I think you are oversimplifying a bit. Many events require multiple resources, and you really need to see the availability of all resources those resources at once in order to see the times when all the needed resources are free. That makes the implementation quite a bit more complex, but it's still doable (MS Outlook's scheduling assistant does this already, for example).

True... and I guess I had meant to imply that when presented with the choice of resources one could select one, several, or all of them and view either a group of calendars or a merged calendar representing those resources.

Although it's not as straightforward as I would like, a requester can indeed see all scheduled uses of a location regardless of the unit who scheduled it (click the checkbox by the location under Available Locations in Week view). It's on a location basis, so some drilling down into events is sometimes necessary to see precisely which resources are booked, but it does provide a capability for looking for free times. If you're aware of that and are dismissing it because you think it's too hard to use, that's fair enough, but I didn't see any acknowledgement in your post that such a feature even exists.

Thank you. I had somehow missed that feature. However, after my preliminary explorations of the feature I must agree with you that it's "not as straightforward as I would like"... I would hope for some means of getting there better than drilling down into events, but nonetheless I am delighted that you have pointed this out to me.