OnlineSignupSheet.com 5.3.1 released!

This release contains some tweaks to the Group Search feature, some usability optimizations, and some bug fixes

How to represent "Work Shifts" for Service Projects

OnlineSignupSheet.com makes managing the resources, people and tools, you need to run service projects quite easy.

I was recently contacted by a leader who wanted to allow multiple families to signup for shifts for an upcoming service project (a setup shift, a serve shift, and a tear down shift). In addition, she wanted to allow those same families to sign up for multiple shifts. She asked how to best represent that in OnlineSignupSheet.com. I replied: Quantity Signup Sheet Items. We discussed Quantity Signup Sheet Items briefly before, but let's show how to use Quantity Signup Sheet items for this example of work shifts.

Group Search iNquiry Attention Governor

The worst thing to happen to a potential group member is for them to submit an inquiry to a group, and hear nothing. No email, no phone call, no nothing. How demoralizing that would be, especially for those who are hesitant to join your groups as it is.

With the goal of not letting anyone slip through the cracks, the iNquiry Attention Governor was created.

Quite simply, the NAG system will escalate emails to Group and Organization leaders based on the recorded interaction with inquirers. There is one set of rules for inquiries which have been set to contacted, and another set of rules for inquiries which have not.

Custom Group Meta Data

Every Organization needs slightly different information from their small groups when advertizing their small groups to potential members. For a softball team, it may be open positions, or when they practice. For study groups, it could be normal meeting times, or what they are studying, or if childcare is provided.

Without this kind of meta data about the small group (meta data means data about the data, or data above the data), potential group members have incomplete information on which to base their group selection criteria.

OnlineSignupSheet.com solves this challenge by allowing Organization leaders to set meta data about their organization. This is presented as a set of questions to each Group leader who answer those questions. These answers provide rich detail to potential group members when using the Group Search feature.

Group and Organization Leader Inquiry Management Pages

Organization Leader Inquiry Management Page

Group and Organization leaders are provided simple tools to manage their open inquiries. The primary intent behind the inquiry process is to not let anyone fall through the cracks. So, getting the right information, and making the right decisions on how to proceed with an inquiry is important. This is why the Organization leader should establish inquiry process expectations and communicate those expectations to their group leaders.

The Group Search Inquiry Process

The new Group Search feature has an Inquiry process which allows potential group members to easily submit inquiries to groups in which they are interested, and then allows the group and organization leaders to manage the queue of inquiries. The key goal of the inquiry process was to "not let anyone slip through the cracks".

Once an organization leader decides they are interested in being searchable, there are some steps they should follow:

Group Search Site

The core of the brand new Group Search functionality for OnlineSignupSheet.com is the aptly named Group Search Site.

Once an Organization decides to set their Organization as Searchable, they automatically get this new Group Search Site, and it's URL is displayed on the main Organization Leader Site. This allows Organizations to add a link from their web site to the OnlineSignupSheet.com Group Search site.

OnlineSignupSheet.com Group Search Site

The OnlineSignupSheet.com Group Search site will display all groups within an Organization in both a map and list view. The map begins centered on their location based on the best guess to their location based on their internet address. Potential Group members can then enter a specific zip code, and specify a smaller or bigger search radius.

Each group then displays the Group name, description, and some information derived from data already stored within OnlineSignupSheet.com like age ranges and next scheduled event. You can see those details on the Blue group, which is the 3rd group from the bottom of the list in the screenshot. (This is test data to protect the anonymity of current OnlineSignupSheet.com users and groups). This initial information provides a first pass at filtering groups.

The logo in the upper left corner of the page can be uploaded by an Organization Leader to personalize this page.

Group Details

Clicking on one of the groups brings up more detailed information about the group. Each Organization may define a set of meta data which they would like each group to fill out. For instance, on this example, the current series, gender, and marriage status for the group was requested by the Organization, and answered by a Group leader. This once again allows potential group member to filter the groups in which they are interested.

Once a potential group member finds a group in which they are interested, they may submit an inquiry. This inquiry is emailed to both Group Leaders and to Organization Leaders, and will be listed on specific pages on the Group and Organization Leader Sites to allow Group and Organization Leaders to follow up as appropriate. A 'Inquiry Sent' marker will be shown on each group which a potential group member has submitted an inquiry, in addition to the confirmation email sent to the potential group member.

The iNquiry Attention Govenor and inquiry process will be detailed in a subsequent blog post. Click here for more details on the overall Group Search release.