Zen and the Art of Timetabling

There are many elements we value in our lives. Some however, we don’t fully realise the true significance of them. We often take time as one of these values, to be mastered, understood and controlled. Yet, it is kept separate rather than seen as it should be. Having become one of a band of timetablers, I finally understood how time, space (no pun intended) and resources became part of a matrix often missed. I wrote about this in the book; Zen and the Art of Timetabling. 

The timetable is, or should be, at the heart of all we do. It is the centre of the universe, but it seems to be misplaced or seen as separate elements. A true timetable is a multi-dimensional beast, that interlinks the followings elements; time, space, resources and people. A number of these can be split down into sub-elements but time and space are key.

As I said in my book there are three hard constraints that, as yet, we can’t change;

There are only 24 hours in one day

There are only 7 days in one week

There are only 365 days in one year (yes I know about leap years don’t mention it!)

These three sub-elements create the basic timetable grid. If you work on one hour slots then you have in any one day you have 24 slots. Add 7 days in the week and your get 168 one hour slots. Now that seems a lot but only very few actually use or ever need or even can use all 168 slots.

We humans do but not always as productively as we think. An education timetable for example can’t use them, people would complain or would they? This is where things start to become complex. In teaching terms, the theory is you don’t teach Saturday and Sunday nor do we teach Wednesday afternoon in certain parts of higher education. You don’t teach at midnight, you tend to start at 9am and the list goes on.

Why then should a timetable be the centre of the universe?

A timetable brings together every element needed. Many think that in education terms it is only there to schedule teaching. But if you think outside the box, once teaching is complete, you can use the time and space for cleaning or security or non teaching. The timetable tells a person what they are doing and again, if you add all your workload into the matrix just how much time you have to write that research paper. 

It can become much more than just a calendar or diary. Many never look at the bigger picture. They say the devil is in the detail, but the detail creates the big picture. This matrix is capable, if used correctly, to alert staff to when a location is free to clean, to note where equipment should be and to guide people as top what is happening. True, it requires inputs the right ones give this power. 

Here is where some of the problems lie. Giving up the details to create the picture. At each level, the picture grows and thus so does the universal effect. In this day an age of data security and awareness, there are needs to be careful. Take the example of a bus company. In order for passengers to get from A-to-B, they need to know where the bus stops and when. They need to know how long it will take and where it might stop. Passengers don’t need the bus drivers name, nor the type or vehicle number. However, a level up and management do need that. The drivers need it as do the maintenance crew. They need to know when it can be cleaned and refuelled. Hence a properly run timetable is a very powerful beast and has the right to be centre of the universe. 

Checks and limits within the universe

If time is spent wisely designing the base data to the timetable, it can with the right help, alert its users to all sorts of events. In the education world, a room has limits which can’t be changed (not easily) – Rule 1 of Zen and the Art of Timetabling states ‘You can’t change the laws of physics’. If you set the limits and checks, you can or should alert yourself when the room is full. You can even make the timetable suggest alternative locations. or time. Again, it has a power that is often unknown. 

However, there are a number of aspects to any timetable, which if not addressed just creates a series of narrow silos that don’t interact. It is how to present who owns the data rather than how the data is presented. Sounds odd but take the following example; A bus driver for a bus company does not normally own his bus (note bus company not individuals). They might be assigned to various buses during any one week. So, to whom do the passengers belong? Not the driver, nor the bus but in theory the company once they enter the bus. The company then has both the big picture and detail data to work with. 

That same idea should be with all. Since the bus company is the top level, they own the timetable universe. Makes sense. Yet many people think that because they teach, they own the students. maybe for that hour or so but so do other people. This can create timetable tensions and the dynamics of the beast could be disturbed. Hence you need rules, structures and a policy to help govern. The universe itself is governed by laws, why not a timetable?

Expanding the Universe.

You could oddly enough, relate the Universe big bang to the start of a timetable year. It has all the same characteristics, just about. There is nothing, a whole series of elements come together and in an explosion (sort of) you get structure from chaos. If you think about it, timetable data can be drawn and used throughout a companies or establishments business. Education is at higher levels like a business these days. You can use it to predict how many car park spaces are needed in a given week or day. It can give you the costs for running a room (if you are clever), it can help in many ways. 

You are limited only by the data you feed it to the results you wish to find. So long as you understand the whole picture, you should be able to see the details as needed.

A universe is there to be explored, so explore the timetable. In my view, it should be the centre of all you do.