Why are certain ministers being scheduled more or less often than others?

For the most efficient resolution, follow the steps in the order they are listed and only until your issue is resolved.

Step 1: Modify the Times Served Start Date settings 

1. Click Scheduling Options
2. Select the General Options tab.
3. On the far right, click Edit General Schedule Option.
4. If you have several new ministers, one of the following options may help achieve a better balance:
   • Set the Time Frame option to 0 months (current day).
   • Set the Specific Date option to the first schedule date in the period for which you are creating a schedule.
5. Click Save.
6. Generate a new schedule and determine if the results are more acceptable. If so, publish the schedule. If not, continue to step 2.

Step 2: Run the Time Served Count report

The Times Served Count report lists the names of ministers that match your filter criteria and shows you the number of times each minister has served in the ministry during the specified time period.

1. Click Reports.
2. Select the Times Served Count report.
3. In the Select Filtering Options section, select the desired ministry group and ministry.
4. In the Select Date Range section, specify the date range.
5. Click the bar, Click Here to View Report.
6. Analyse the report for the following:
   • If a minister is missing from the report, go to Step 3 (below) to run an Unscheduled Minister report and learn why this minister was not scheduled.
   • If a minister has a particularly high or low Times Served Count value, got to Step 4 (below) look closely at the minister's data to figure out the cause of the imbalance.

Step 3: Run the Unscheduled Ministers report

For each event listed, you can see the names of ministers who were not scheduled. The Reason column provides an explanation. 

1. Click Reports.
2. Select Unscheduled Ministers from the Select Report menu.
3. In the Select Filtering Options section, select the ministry group.
4. In the Select Date Range section, select the date range for the schedule you ran.
5. Click the bar, Click Here to View Report.
6. Go to Common reasons why a minister cannot be scheduled for details.

Step 4: Look at settings that can cause the minister to be under- or over- scheduled

1. To open the minister's record, click Minister Directory.
2. Locate the entry for the under-scheduled minister.
3. Click the pencil/paper icon to open the minister's record.
4. Analyse the minister's record:
   • Does the minister have assignments in other events or ministries that can cause him or her to be scheduled more or less often than other ministers in the same ministry? To view other ministries and events, click View Current Ministries.
   • Are the minister's start and end dates the same as those of other ministers he or she is being compared with?
   • Is the minister in question being compared to other ministers who have the same ministry assignments?

Step 5: Review each under-scheduled minister's scheduling preferences and team affiliations

1. Click Preferences.
2. Locate the under-scheduled minister in the list. Then, click to display the minister's preferences.
3. On the Minister Profile tab, check the following:
   • Is the minister on any teams?
     • If so, do any of the teams have a willingness-to-serve pattern that can cause an imbalance?
   • Are any exception dates listed for the minister (or team)?
     • Do any dates coincide with the schedule date range to conflict with the minister's availability?

Step 6: Review your schedule setup and scheduling process

1. Did you create schedules one at a time for each ministry and/or event?
   • To achieve better balance, it is best to schedule everybody at once instead of ministry group by ministry group.
2. How long is your schedule?
   • Schedules of three months or longer tend to be more balanced.
3. Do you have a lot of teams?
   • Too many teams can affect the number of times each minister is scheduled and can affect scheduling balance.
4. Did you select a lot of filters to meet your requirements?
   • We recommend selecting the fewest possible filter options to meet your requirements. Filters impose specific criteria that the scheduler must adhere to. With each filter you add, the size of the selection pool of potential available ministers that meet your criteria is reduced so that the scheduler has fewer ministers to choose from when trying to fill slots in a schedule. You can end up with a schedule that does not equally distribute the service load among your ministers.

Related Articles

Common reasons why a minister cannot be scheduled

Guidelines for obtaining balanced and fair schedules

April 17, 2023 17:59