CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A PRINTABLE PDF DOCUMENT OF THE FLOWCHARTS
Yes, don't laugh, it really is a set of flowcharts.
The logistical difficulties of the exchange of work can be minimized if participants have a plan.
Here is the plan:
These flowcharts show how the amount of overall movement of people and work can be minimized if people swap pieces each time rather than having a one way cyclical movement of the work.
The challenge here is to get 8 pieces of work to 8 different people, that's 7 exchanges, with the least amount of travel, and not have any one piece end up in the same place twice.
Sounds like everyone's nightmare of a math problem from high school right?
The solution is pretty simple though.
Pieces could move one way around the whole group, like in the "Simple Exchange" example, however, that is not the most efficient way, especially if people are actually driving to meet one another to make exchanges. If all the participants in a group live very close to one another, however, they may choose to do it this way if they want to.
The "Efficient" exchange model is essentially the same, although it has pieces moving two directions around the group instead of just one (Each exchange is a "swap") . Each participant's group member number is located inside the large circle (1-8). The red flags outside the circle shows the location of each member's original piece at any given point during the project, and indicates which piece you will be getting at each exchange.
Using this method you will usually only exchange work with the two people closest to you.
You can either take turns "making the drive" or you could meet half way.
For Example:
George (participant 1) lives 45 minutes to Bobby Rae (participant 2) and 3 hours to Suzie Q (participant 8)
one the first exchange George will trade work with Suzie. He will either:
On the second exchange, George will trade pieces with Bobby Rae, which will be easier since he is very close.
Then the pattern above repeats, with whatever variations people decide on amongst themselves.
If for some reason there are two people in an area who must drive a long distance to the SAME exchange point, COORDINATE! One person could Take both pieces! and on the next such occurrence, the OTHER person could bear the burden of the drive.
I am sure you can communicate amongst yourselves to find ingenious ways to make this easier.
I highly recommend that all participants download a copy of these charts and fill them out before the project begins. Doing so will eliminate any confusion down the road.
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Efficient Exchange (below)The number in the red flag is the number of the person who originated the piece, and indicates which piece you will have AFTER the exchange takes place. It will be easiest to identify the pieces by this number, and showing it on the charts helps illustrate where each piece is at any given stage, and that they all make their way to everyone without doubling up anywhere |
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