Seeing the other ward(s) calendars as the BUILDING SCHEDULER

Discussions about the Calendar Tool at lds.org. Questions about the calendar on the classic site should be posted in the LUWS forum.
bgtaylor4
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Seeing the other ward(s) calendars as the BUILDING SCHEDULER

#1

Post by bgtaylor4 »

They're busy after the webinar and probably just as frustrated by my repeatedly asking the same question different ways with other thoughts. Here's the deal. I'm the building scheduler by calling (as well as PFR) for both wards. That is I kept the callings when the agent ward swapped -- though technically my calling was in the PC Ward (I'm a member of CC Ward). The expectation is for me to take the lead on the use of Calendar 2.0 -- to answer questions, help members of both wards use it, supplement whatever they get by viewing the slide shows... this was the answer from chat advise, to point EVERYONE with a question to the webinar slides, EVERYONE to take an hour of their day for a simple question that supposedly is under my purview... that isn't going to fly in the real world... and I have no intention tonight or tomorrow after the PC Ward watched all this to answer questions and drive to their homes to be on their computers helping them with their calendars. I have two other callings and a life!

The alternative is having them give me their log-in info... completely inappropriate...

Bottom line, the building scheduler for a building needs to see ALL calendars in their building. Yeah, the view of scheduled events/reserved event helps me reserve stuff; but, it doesn't help me train the 50+ people who will want help and answers already emailing me questions today and tonight...

This apparently was not taken into consideration when creating this block/parameter. happily I will help people... but on the phone with them looking at their computers and me at home looking at the same things... helping them check boxes, pick colors, plan/enter events... etc

Thank goodness I have administrator rights in my own ward.
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aebrown
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#2

Post by aebrown »

bgtaylor4 wrote:Bottom line, the building scheduler for a building needs to see ALL calendars in their building. Yeah, the view of scheduled events/reserved event helps me reserve stuff; but, it doesn't help me train the 50+ people who will want help and answers already emailing me questions today and tonight...

As was explained in this post, you seem to be frustrated with the system because the new system was designed for distributed scheduling, and you're still trying to centralize too much of the work. I can certainly see how that would feel like a huge job. The wonderful benefit of the new system is that each ward can handle almost all of their own scheduling needs. And even within the ward, the responsibility can be pushed down to many people so that no single person in the ward has to feel the weight of all that scheduling.

As building scheduler, you should only have to step in for the rare occasions when there are conflicts between the wards. You can also serve a useful function in training administrators in the individual wards, if they need help getting up to speed.

In our stake we have requested that each ward designate a calendar coordinator. This is someone who has ward calendar administrator privileges. Almost everything you're talking about having to do as a building scheduler is instead done at the ward level. And that person has the benefit of having access to all the ward calendars. If those people function properly, then it's not a problem that you don't have the ability to see or modify all calendars in the building. For the rare cases where the building scheduler needs to work out problems, he can indeed see all the events in his building.
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bgtaylor4
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#3

Post by bgtaylor4 »

In a nutshell you're saying I'm to be the calendar coordinator for my ward. And any requests from the other ward, I just wish them luck and hopefully they'll call someone else. Doesn't sound particularly Christian. But I'll pass on this advice to their bishop.

I completely get the idea of distributed scheduling btw... it was I advising both wards to get on board and assign people to watch today's webinars. But someone needs to help them; maybe they had someone from their ward who is an expert who can take this on. I know the guy. He's already managed to RESERVE dates around me... I'm going to recommend to my bishop that he just take over this frustrating task for both wards.
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aebrown
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#4

Post by aebrown »

bgtaylor4 wrote:In a nutshell you're saying I'm to be the calendar coordinator for my ward. And any requests from the other ward, I just wish them luck and hopefully they'll call someone else. Doesn't sound particularly Christian. But I'll pass on this advice to their bishop.

I'm sorry you feel that way. I was not suggesting you wouldn't help people -- by all means, help them as much as you would like to. What I was suggesting is that the calendar system works better when the people administering the calendars are closer to the people using them. That means that ward calendar administrators can be more responsive to ward members who need to schedule events.

I'm not just speaking hypothetically; this is the model our stake is using very successfully. It is very rare that a ward needs to contact the building scheduler or any person at the stake level to get help with scheduling a ward event. The wards have all the permissions they need for almost all functions.
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bgtaylor4
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#5

Post by bgtaylor4 »

Hey... the this post link is awesome! Well stated and crystal clear. I forwarded that to both bishops and the stake clerk in charge. Obviously locally leaders can do as they are inspired; but, your presentation is a good model.

Sorry to be venting earlier. Truth was, this sort of did get dumped in my singular lap. Delegation in this case is wise; and less frustrating. I am sure that for my own ward I'll be this coordinator.
bgtaylor4
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#6

Post by bgtaylor4 »

:) Sorry... thanks for your patience.
lmherdz
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Bldg Scheduling Calendar

#7

Post by lmherdz »

Can ward Calendar Scheduler see other bldgs. calendar within the stake?
This is helpful when scheduling wedding receptions, Funerals, RS Super Saturdays
Sometimes 1 bldg. is busy and we need to schedule another within our Stk. Or can an email go to all Bdg. Calendar schedulers every time the bldg. is reserved? We are having problems with double booking. We have 3 wards in each bldg.

I liked the classic view calendar when we could see all wards within our stake calendar
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aebrown
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#8

Post by aebrown »

lmherdz wrote:Can ward Calendar Scheduler see other bldgs. calendar within the stake?
This is helpful when scheduling wedding receptions, Funerals, RS Super Saturdays
Sometimes 1 bldg. is busy and we need to schedule another within our Stk.

Any member of the stake (not just building schedulers or ward administrators) can see the events scheduled at any building that his or her ward is assigned to (in Week view, check the box by the building under "Available Locations"). Note that "assigned to" in this context is not restricted to the building a ward meets in, but rather an assignment made in the Calendar system by a stake administrator. By default, wards that meet in a building are assigned to that building, but any other unit may be assigned to that building.

Some stakes choose to assign all the units to all the buildings for precisely the reasons you mentioned. It enables more flexibility in scheduling events. That practice can create some tension if wards who meet in another building overuse this privilege -- then the wards that meet in a building can feel that other wards are using "their building" too much. But used prudently, this can be a good arrangement.
lmherdz wrote:Or can an email go to all Bdg. Calendar schedulers every time the bldg. is reserved?

It's not possible currently, but others have suggested that as an enhancement. I personally don't think it's a good idea. The calendar system will take care of making sure there are no conflicts, so a building scheduler shouldn't have to know about every new reservation. That would mean hundreds of emails each year for at least our stake center, which could be rather annoying.
lmherdz wrote:We are having problems with double booking.

That should never happen if the system is being used properly. If you would like to provide details as to what leads you to think that is happening, I'm sure some people on the forum would be happy to help you track down what is going on.
Questions that can benefit the larger community should be asked in a public forum, not a private message.
ShariCarnahan
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#9

Post by ShariCarnahan »

I don't know if this is the best way, but the way that we handle this in our building (I am the building scheduler for a building that has wards from two stakes) is that we have a building calendar (stake level) that I keep. For calendar 2.0 I have assigned the rotating agreed to schedule (CR Relief Society 2nd Tuesday, etc.) But I keep the Building calendar that I put all wedding receptions, funerals, play practice, sports practice etc. on for all to see. This way if anyone is trying to schedule on one of the non-blocked out times they can see what is going on in the building.

I also put the name and email address (or phone number) of the person who has requested the reservation so that if there is a problem people can see who made the reservation. That way they can contact the person directly and not have to go through me to resolve issues.
dshep2020
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#10

Post by dshep2020 »

sharicarnahan wrote:I don't know if this is the best way, but the way that we handle this in our building (I am the building scheduler for a building that has wards from two stakes) is that we have a building calendar (stake level) that I keep. For calendar 2.0 I have assigned the rotating agreed to schedule (CR Relief Society 2nd Tuesday, etc.) But I keep the Building calendar that I put all wedding receptions, funerals, play practice, sports practice etc. on for all to see. This way if anyone is trying to schedule on one of the non-blocked out times they can see what is going on in the building.

I also put the name and email address (or phone number) of the person who has requested the reservation so that if there is a problem people can see who made the reservation. That way they can contact the person directly and not have to go through me to resolve issues.
I am the stake building scheduler/coordinator and this is what we do in our stake. It seems to work very well. Non-ward related items on a stake "resource" calendar. Prior to v2, I would take a lot of calls and place events on ward calendars too. Now with the changes in v2, I can't do that and refer them to their ward leadership to schedule ward activities. It is a change that will take some adjustment from the members, but puts more control and visibility to what is going on at the ward level, which is ultimately a good thing.
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