Getting Started :: Test Drive, Get Ready, Go Live!

Now that all the volunteers and the recurring schedules of your “regulars” are in the system, you are ready to test drive and get comfortable with the new system. Take the time you need to practice and become familiar with the most frequently used functions. In our experience, new users take anywhere between a couple of days to a couple of weeks to get to the point where they are “done playing” and ready to do business. The good news is that you don't need to know every function in the system to be productive, and you can’t really break anything trying new functions at any time.

Tell us when you’re ready to go live. We'll go through a final "Go Live" Checklist with you (volunteer reminders turned on? holidays blocked out?, etc.), and off you go! *

Your volunteers don’t necessarily need to do anything different with the new system, except that they should know that there’s a new resource on the web where they can see and sign up for openings you need help with. You can send them an email that looks like this to let them know: 

    From: Volunteer Coordinator <volunteers@yourMOW.com>
    To: joe volunteer <jvol@gmail.com>
    Subject: New Online Resource for YourMOW!

New Online Resource for YourMOW!

We're using a new system called "MOW Scheduler" to keep track of our volunteer schedules and activities. The MOW Scheduler system has a public web page you can visit to see what volunteer opportunities are available in the upcoming weeks. Please bookmark this page in your browser and visit it often!  https://<yoursite>.mowscheduler.com/helpwanted

You may also receive friendly email and/or text reminders to help you remember your upcoming commitments. If you find that you don’t need those, just let me know so I can “opt out” for you.

* If your program consists of several centers/branches that employed widely different practices/tools for scheduling in the past, some may require more time than others to get ready. In this case, you might consider "launching" MOW Scheduler one branch at a time. The branches that are ready can start enjoying the benefits of MOW Scheduler immediately, while others can prepare at their own pace.