Roster Progress Report to Council

22 Apr 2014

(with moral support from DavidMorgan and WarrenGreenwood)

Overview

Roster programs (almost) completely rewritten
- technical details, see http://ajh.co/~ajh/parish/rosters.html
salient features described at RosterNewSystems
introduction to the rosters at ChurchRosters
additional user options introduced
plug for workshop, Monday, 28 Apr 2014, 2-4pm (room 4)

intensity under individual control
- also gives a 'rest' or 'exclusion period' under individual control
individual allocation periods can be set by each individual
- RosterWelcomeLongExample
- RosterWelcomeShortExample
automatic allocation requires no coordinator intervention
automatic allocation ensures rosters always complete (subject to adequate numbers)
- we plan on a 4 week minimum, so that Office Door roster is always complete

email reminders and 'alerts'
when people allow short notice, swaps become unnecessary
coordinator alerts if no allocation possible
short allocation periods make rosters more welcoming to newcomers
roster coordinators can choose their allocation span, and whether to use manual or automatic allocation
automatic rosters can be manually populated - people can volunteer ahead of time

some rosters cannot be filled under current constraints (welcome, vestry)
do we need welcome rosters for 8, 4:30 and 7 services?
- if not, difficulties with unfilled welcome rosters vanish
- vestry roster is adequate in long term
we still do need more volunteers!
we argue for relatively short allocation periods - allocating a year in advance means that new volunteers not easily accomodated (see RosterWelcomeShortExample)
Automatic allocation should/can avoid people being rostered for mutually exclusive duties, or even rostered twice on the same day.
plan for different views of rosters, particularly for people wanting paper copies; e.g., PreachingPlanAuto.pdf, generated automatically from RosterPreaching
allow for email opt-out?