Roster Progress Report to Council
22 Apr 2014 |
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(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)
Particular Features (1)
User Control
- intensity under individual control
- also gives a 'rest' or 'exclusion period' under individual control
- individual allocation periods can be set by each individual
- 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
Particular Features (2)
Email and Management
- 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
Potential Problems and Further Work
- 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?