Tech Forum

Did anyone else start pondering the 'Schedule Ward Resources' section of their LUWS when it came time to schedule tithing settlement appointments?

After all, the bishop is a "ward resource" we "make available for scheduling..."

From the help icon on the schedule resources "pop-up:"

• The ward administrator sets up ward resources that may be scheduled. Ward resources may include ward buildings and any other items the ward makes available for scheduling.

All slots will be 15 min. long instead of 10 min next year...

kisaac wrote:All slots will be 15 min. long instead of 10 min next year...

Handy, yes, but the decrease from 6 to 4 families per hour seems significant.

RussellHltn wrote:Handy, yes, but the decrease from 6 to 4 families per hour seems significant.

Our bishop decreases it from 6 to 4, no matter what the sign-up schedule says! ("that's why we have chairs in the hall and a membership audit!")

kisaac wrote:Our bishop decreases it from 6 to 4, no matter what the sign-up schedule says! ("that's why we have chairs in the hall and a membership audit!")

In 2008, we scheduled 15 minutes for each appointment and we still ran behind. Since my bishop felt like he was rushing he asked about scheduling more time. I calculated the number of hours he would need to make himself available based on 20 minute visits. He quickly agreed to do shorter appointments. In fact, I think his average is down to about 11 minutes now!

It's an intriguing idea. A downside is that it's hard enough to get people to scribble their name on a paper sheet posted on the ward's door. (In accidental emulation of Martin Luther. Then again, we aren't selling indulgences, either.)

Overall, getting everyone to log onto the website to make an appointment seems far too optimistic.

But in a few cases, online signup might actually aid participation, plus help the clerk. I fielded a few cellphone calls from people asking for slots, but I couldn't help directly because the schedule was at the church. I thought at the time the best of both worlds would be an online schedule, with a printout posted on the door each Sunday morning for non-tech members. Of course, the clerks would have to transcribe the scribbles onto the online calendar, but that is not a huge burden given all that already has to happen.

Fifteen-minute slots seem too long. Even at 10 minutes per family, if everyone in our ward came to tithing settlement it would take almost 100 hours of interviewing.

boomerbubba wrote:Fifteen-minute slots seem too long. Even at 10 minutes per family, if everyone in our ward came to tithing settlement it would take almost 100 hours of interviewing.

Indeed. The fifteen minutes was the limitation of the resource scheduling on LUWS- fifteen minute increments is as tight as you can schedule as yet, until we get a programmers ear...

It would be easier to do tithing settlement on the internet - it would save the Bishop hours

kisaac wrote:Indeed. The fifteen minutes was the limitation of the resource scheduling on LUWS- fifteen minute increments is as tight as you can schedule as yet, until we get a programmers ear...

There is another inherent problem with using the current online scheduling tool for this task: It is not truly self-service. Each reservation starts out as a request from a member, which then must be approved by the appropriate resource administrator before it goes on the calendar. Managing all these micro events does not seem feasible without a fundamental restructuring of the interface.

silid wrote:It would be easier to do tithing settlement on the internet - it would save the Bishop hours

It certainly would, but apparently it is not how the Lord intends it.

If saving time for the Bishops of the Church was a priority, I imagine long ago it would have been allowed for the Counselors to help in the interviews, letting there be at least 3 interviews going on per time slot. However, it appears there is something absolutely critical about every member physically going before their Bishop (and only their Bishop) to officially declare their tithing status to the Lord's representative.

boomerbubba wrote:There is another inherent problem with using the current online scheduling tool for this task: It is not truly self-service. Each reservation starts out as a request from a member, which then must be approved by the appropriate resource administrator before it goes on the calendar. Managing all these micro events does not seem feasible without a fundamental restructuring of the interface.

Yes, and entering the request itself is problematic as you can't change the labels on the input screen for the request, and that alone would cause confusion.

I wasn't really suggesting you use it like it is for sign-ups, but the process for scheduling a "resource" seems very similar to what would work. Why not be able to do a similar sign up for tithng settlement, or PPI's?

Perhaps I'll add this to the LUWS enhancements section.