So, I spent a good chunk of time wrestling with what I started calling the ‘tide crossword’ in my head. Wasn’t an actual crossword puzzle, you know, with clues and squares. It was this messy situation trying to line up volunteers for the community garden project last season.
See, people’s availability was all over the place, changing week to week, sometimes day to day. Like the tide coming in and out, never quite the same. And getting the right number of hands, with the right skills, on the right days… felt like filling in a crossword where the clues kept changing. A real headache.
Getting Started – The Mess
First off, I tried the usual stuff. Shared online calendar? Nightmare. People forgot to update it, or they’d put stuff in wrong. Then I thought, okay, a big spreadsheet. Track everyone’s preferred times, blackout dates, skills. Seemed smart.
But it got complicated fast.
- Too many columns.
- Hard to see clashes quickly.
- Spent more time updating the sheet than actually talking to people.
It just wasn’t working. We had days where too many people showed up and got in each other’s way, and days where it was just me and Mrs. Higgins trying to shift a mountain of compost. Not efficient. Not fun.
Figuring it Out – The Process
I took a step back. Realized the tools were making it more complex, not less. What I needed was a way to see the flow, the ‘tide’ of when people were generally free or busy. So, I went analog for a bit.
Got myself a big whiteboard. Drew out the whole month, like a giant calendar grid. Then, instead of exact times, I started using coloured markers. Different colours for different people, or maybe different skill sets, like ‘heavy lifting crew’ or ‘weeding experts’.
I didn’t ask for exact hour commitments initially. Just general availability blocks. Mornings, afternoons, weekends. Broad strokes. Then I put those colour blocks on the board. Suddenly, you could see the patterns. You could see the gaps.
It was about visualizing the rhythm.
Then, I started making phone calls. Old school, I know. But talking to folks, confirming rough availability, then penciling them in more firmly on the whiteboard… it worked. We could see where the gaps were, days or weeks in advance, and specifically ask for help where needed.
Where We Landed
We ended up using a simplified version of that whiteboard, combined with a weekly check-in message. Much less rigid. We focused on the core needs for the week ahead, based on the ‘tide’ pattern we saw on the board. If someone’s availability changed, it was easier to adjust because we weren’t locked into some complex digital system.
It wasn’t perfect, still had hiccups. But it was way smoother. Less stress for me, less confusion for the volunteers. The garden actually got more done.
Funny thing, it reminded me of way back when I was trying to manage inventory for a small shop I helped run. Got obsessed with some fancy software that promised everything. Cost a fortune, took ages to learn. Never quite worked right. Ended up going back to a simple card system and just keeping a closer eye on things myself. Sometimes the simplest way, the one that lets you see the real flow of things, is the best. That whole ‘tide crossword’ thing just taught me that lesson again.
