equitable distribution of bi-annual work requirement

September 11, 2015 11:34 AM

We have eight departments where I work who take turns bi-annually hosting particular events. So, assuming events 1 and 2, it goes like this:

event 1 [fall]     event 2 [spring]
          1                            2
          3                            4
          5                            6
          7                            8

My question is how to equitably adjust the rotation so that the second time through, groups 1-8 are now doing the opposite event (those who did event 1 in the fall would now be doing event 2 in the spring, and vice versa). This would be easy with an odd number of departments, but alas. And if the events weren't significantly different, it wouldn't be a big deal to try and spread the love around.

I realize it requires something clever (which is evading me), but I'd like for there to be a feeling that it's equitable to all involved without increasing significantly the work load for departments within a short amount of time. Thanks!

posted by SpacemanStix to Work & Money (4 answers total)

Best answer: Just swap them around. So the order goes 2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5, 8, 7. Basically just switch your columns. That way each group gets almost the same amount of time between hostings as well, anything more fancy will have some groups repeating faster than others.
posted by shelleycat at 11:40 AM on September 11, 2015

Best answer: So the overall pattern is like this:

event 1 [fall]     event 2 [spring]
 1                   2
 3                   4
 5                   6
 7                   8
 2                   1
 4                   3
 6                   5
 8                   7

And then repeat.
posted by shelleycat at 11:43 AM on September 11, 2015

Response by poster: Man, that is so obvious that I feel a little embarrassed, but that should work brilliantly. Thanks for the quick response!
posted by SpacemanStix at 11:54 AM on September 11, 2015

Best answer: I haven't been staring at this for ages like I bet you have. Fresh eyes can make all the difference!
posted by shelleycat at 11:59 AM on September 11, 2015