Software search: Scheduling Sunday Field Service For Cong

[Nnaemeka]

Our congregation faces a significant challenge. Despite the encouraging turnout for our Sunday field service, manually pairing publishers and pioneers takes up to 30-45 minutes. This inefficiency hampers our ability to spend more time in the field, where our efforts are most needed. Therefore, I believe it's crucial to explore the possibility of implementing a software solution to streamline this process. 

First, the congregation members in each field service group would be told to indicate their availability for Sunday field service, including the time they intend to close, either in the app or with their field service group overseer. 

With this information, the software would have to assign publishers to territories mapped out for that Sunday on these criteria:

Pair publishers with the same closing time together. 

Assign weights to publishers so that more mature publishers will work with inexperienced publishers. Monitor the frequency of publisher A and B working together to expand their collaborations with others. 

Weights: if on field service days: pioneers + elders > auxiliary pioneers > older publishers > younger publishers > inactive or irregular ones being revived. So, pioneers and elders have more weight  and should be working with inactive ones, but this is not a rule fixed in stone. 

After the pairing, the software will then send notices of the pairing to the service overseer who will go through it and make any adjustments like for publishers without a pair, etc. Then he would send to the field service group overseers and each indicated publisher to their whatsapp numbers or SMS number. 

There are more features I have in mind but this is just a blueprint. I wonder if any JW software feature has this capability right now?

Thanks

[Jmystro]

We use our field service group overseers and they take care of those within their own group.

 

Each group overseers have their own territory and an assistant to help with arrangements.

 

In case we all meet together, after the service meeting, everyone is dismissed so they can meet with their own groups.

 

We are out within 5 min.

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Another option is to break into your smaller designated FS Groups

Old (Downunder) Tone

[carlos]

I don't know of any software to do this, but one possibility is something we learned from our CO: Ask who needs a partner and make plans for those. The rest were already scheduled with someone.

 

Another way is to ask who has plans, then pair the rest with the publisher next to them (within reason, of course).

 

There's also the method of making groups of four. That's half the work than making groups of two.

[Nnaemeka]

9 hours ago, Jmystro said:

We use our field service group overseers and they take care of those within their own group.

 

Each group overseers have their own territory and an assistant to help with arrangements.

 

In case we all meet together, after the service meeting, everyone is dismissed so they can meet with their own groups.

 

We are out within 5 min.

Yes, but our congregation meets as a congregation on the first and last Sundays. That's what I am talking about. Sorry for not clarifying it. On the second and third Sundays, the groups go to their individual territories. 

[Nnaemeka]

8 hours ago, carlos said:

I don't know of any software to do this, but one possibility is something we learned from our CO: Ask who needs a partner and make plans for those. The rest were already scheduled with someone.

 

Another way is to ask who has plans, then pair the rest with the publisher next to them (within reason, of course).

 

There's also the method of making groups of four. That's half the work than making groups of two.

Thanks

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Yes. We meet combined. Then we break into our groups, and head out - each group separately, with perhaps a few changes...

Old (Downunder) Tone

[Nnaemeka]

9 minutes ago, ➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone said:

Yes. We meet combined. Then we break into our groups, and head out - each group separately, with perhaps a few changes...

Old (Downunder) Tone
 

Every Sunday in the month?

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Every Sunday in the month?

We only combine one Sunday for the month, usually the 2nd.

Old (Downunder) Tone

[foghorn]

On 4/2/2024 at 3:04 PM, Nnaemeka said:

implementing a software solution to streamline this process. 

if you don't mind my saying - this approach to organizing the group strikes me as seriously unnecessary overkill. The way you are doing it manually seems really complicated and stressful, not to mention judgmental. Can you really picture Jesus doing it like that? If you just let the friends themselves, as well as the holy spirit participate in making the arrangements, I believe they would enjoy their ministry even more. 

[carlos]

1 hour ago, foghorn said:

if you don't mind my saying - this approach to organizing the group strikes me as seriously unnecessary overkill. The way you are doing it manually seems really complicated and stressful, not to mention judgmental. Can you really picture Jesus doing it like that? If you just let the friends themselves, as well as the holy spirit participate in making the arrangements, I believe they would enjoy their ministry even more. 

 

That's the way we make the arrangements too in Spain where I live. First you ask if anyone has plans (which are usually the exception), then you manually pair the remaining publishers. It usually works well and doesn't take more than five minutes for a whole congregation. I remember a recent video about two pioneers who used to go together all the time, and one of them realizes she needs to go out with different sisters, and that's the way the brother made the arrangements too, so it must be quite common.

 

Why do you think it's judgmental? Maybe there is some aspect I haven't noticed. I don't understand either why it takes so long in Nnaemeka's congregation.

[Nnaemeka]

2 hours ago, carlos said:

 

That's the way we make the arrangements too in Spain where I live. First you ask if anyone has plans (which are usually the exception), then you manually pair the remaining publishers. It usually works well and doesn't take more than five minutes for a whole congregation. I remember a recent video about two pioneers who used to go together all the time, and one of them realizes she needs to go out with different sisters, and that's the way the brother made the arrangements too, so it must be quite common.

 

Why do you think it's judgmental? Maybe there is some aspect I haven't noticed. I don't understand either why it takes so long in Nnaemeka's congregation.

How you make your arrangements in Spain is how we do ours in Nigeria, too. 

<< I don't understand either why it takes so long in Nnaemeka's congregation.>>

Thanks for bringing this up. The principle of being slow to speak and quick to listen comes here. Our congregation doesn't have a KH, and the branch is making arrangements for one for us. But because of the recent inflation, which rose steeply, everyone was trying to catch their breath, and everything had to go slow. Note: dollar rose from 700 to 1800 to the naira within three months. 

If we had a KH, our congregation might split into two or three congregations. Our CO is aware, and he's encouraging the elders to make the best of their situation until we get what we want. The friends have an attendance on Sunday of between 200 and 220, with most persons being publishers. If three-quarters of that number turn out for field service when the congregation works the territory as a congregation and not in different FSG, how many minutes would it take the captain to pair everyone? You can do the math. 

[carlos]

6 hours ago, Nnaemeka said:

The friends have an attendance on Sunday of between 200 and 220, with most persons being publishers.

 

That explains everything. You have a huge congregation.

In our congregation there are maybe 40 publishers at the meeting for service, which is a lot simpler to arrange.