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Ward Organization Chart

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:25 pm
by mferiante
My Bishop requested that I make a ward organization chart as a helpful aid to facilitate extending ward callings more easily. He contemplated a large one that can be displayed in the Bishopric's office. I thought of mission presidents who have transfer boards. I realize there is a "no callings list" and other lists you can generate by organization on MLS, but has anyone developed a successful ward callings chart? Since callings change and people move in and out of wards it makes sense that the chart be adjustable/modifiable. Maybe magnetic or velcro? Any ideas or suggestions? Thank you.

I agree.

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 12:59 pm
by adopotato
mferiante wrote:My Bishop requested that I make a ward organization chart as a helpful aid to facilitate extending ward callings more easily. He contemplated a large one that can be displayed in the Bishopric's office. I thought of mission presidents who have transfer boards. I realize there is a "no callings list" and other lists you can generate by organization on MLS, but has anyone developed a successful ward callings chart? Since callings change and people move in and out of wards it makes sense that the chart be adjustable/modifiable. Maybe magnetic or velcro? Any ideas or suggestions? Thank you.

I wish I had the same option. We have a big whiteboard, but it is outdated and I would prefer to generate a report that can be smaller than the "callings by organizations" report.

Looking for answers

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 5:53 am
by showseason
We have a board with magnetic strips and has been a job to maintain. I was recently called as ward clerk and the board still shows the callings from 5 years ago when I was executive secretary. The bishop wants it updated but the materials used have vanished as well, so I have to come up with something. I've subscribed to this thread so also hope others have a process that works.

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 7:40 am
by TinMan
Why reinvent the wheel? The "Callings by Organization" list available to him on LDS.org is exactly the same thing and is maintained automatically by one of the clerks as they update callings each week in the MLS system. Also available is the "members without callings" report. Make the report smaller? Why?

Use the wipe board for teaching...

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:07 am
by showseason
I totally agree. I have even started bringing a notebook to bishopric with CURRENT callings by org, calling of members and those without callings. The bishop still wants that visibility that all the bishopric can view and discuss. All members have a smartphone (and a couple have iPads) so I've been thinking of what I can do to keep their devices updated so we could all view the current calling list using Ward Tools and/or LDS Tools.

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 10:32 am
by jbowne
Here is one method that works - it takes a bit of work to get it setup and going but isn't too bad. You can use the canned reports of Members with callings or members without callings. Export that to a CSV file (comma separated) - or if you are using lds.org/leader just highlight all the data and paste into excel.

I use Visio 2010 for this process to automatically create org charts based on excel data. If you go into visio 2010 > new org chart > org chart tab > select import > select 'Information that I enter using the wizard' > you can then pick a comma delimited text file or an excel file (pick whatever one you feel most comfortable working in) > a template file will be generated so you can see the structure that visio uses to import data to draw the org chart (I used Excel) > save the file out and close visio for now. I then import in all the data from the church report into the spreadsheet template just saved out by visio. You will need to modify the header names etc.. After you get everything set correctly with a set of data > open up visio > new org chart > org chart tab > select import > select 'Information that's already stored ina file or database' > select 'A Text, org plus, or excel file' > go pick your file > work throught he screens to pick what you want to show and how visio is to relate the information > select ' I want to specify how much of my organizatio nto display on each page' this will keep visio from breaking out each person onto their own page > finish.. You may need to work with you file and visio to get it where you want, however once you get this down, it is then just a process of exporting the report > inputing the report into your org chart excel file > then kicking out another org chart.

Again it will take some time to get this going initially but after you get it down, it is pretty quick to update everything.

Would be nice if the /leader website had an export feature for the reports and such in addition to the single function print button that creates a pdf. I could pay $20/year to just get the service from adobe to export to Excel, but I would rather drive to the stake center and export a csv from MLS to do the import..

Great Idea!

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 10:28 am
by mferiante
@jbowne: Excellent Post, Thank You! May be exactly what I was looking for...