Purpose
When I tell people I am a Timetable Co-ordinator this can often be met with a blank stare. If a staff member or student is where they need to be based on the information they can see in their schedule, then everything is working correctly and my role isn’t one someone would give much thought to.
Challenge
My role essentially is to make sure that all the information that goes into that output view is correct. I also need to make sure that people are aware of said information, especially when changes are afoot – and therein lies one of the many challenges I face in this role: the constantly changing requirements that need to be met from all stakeholders. Imagine a sculptor asked to chisel a figure holding a child. They create this by chipping away at the material shaping and smoothing it for hours on end to meet the original request. Then prior to the unveil, imagine the request is no longer for a figure holding a child – it is now for a dinosaur driving a racecar. As you can imagine, modifications are necessary! It’s these kind of changes I need to be prepared for; I need to be able to adapt and change my plan in any number of ways to meet new scenarios that arise.
There is a huge emphasis on decision making too: one seemingly small change request which appears insignificant at the time can have large implications later on, so every decision and process has to be meticulously thought about in terms of all the what if scenarios that may follow on as a result.
Satisfaction
Without a doubt one of the things I take pleasure from in my job is being able to assess needs and improve and develop my own processes through building models and increasing automation. I also see success in what most people would take for granted: 300+ individuals being in the places they are meant to be doing the things they are expecting to do, every day… or where that can’t happen, being able to facilitate a next best alternative and helping people in that way.