As a trainer I find that my schedule changes on a regular basis and keeping my own diary up to date is a full time job.
Back in the early 90’s when I first started training we had a whiteboard with a hand-drawn grid on it. The numbers 1-31 were written across the top and the trainer’s names down the side. Each cell contained details of what each trainer was doing each day – prep, leave or if training, the title and location of the courses. The only way for me to keep a note of what I was doing was to use a paper diary (and either use a pencil or spend a fortune on Tippex).
Even when I moved to a company where we had our own Exchange Server and Outlook accounts, I had no way to access my schedule from home. I remember printing off my Outlook calendar and carrying it around in a ring binder!
Advances in technology have now made it possible to have access to my work schedule outside working hours although up until recently it was a manual process – export my Outlook calendar to a CSV file. Import the CSV file into my Google Calendar. Access my Google Calendar from my iPhone, iPad or desktop computer.
Of course, the problem with this is that as soon as my Outlook calendar is updated, my Google Calendar is out of date and I don’t have the time to do a daily import/export.
Utopia…I’ve recently been invited to be part of a beta program at work where they are testing an iOS app called Good which provides live access to my Outlook calendar, as well as my email, on my iPad. It’s working really well. One evening, earlier this week, Elaine and I discovered that we might need to take a day off next month. I was able to immediately check my schedule and book the day as provisional leave.
So how do you keep your schedule up to date? Let us know.