Mar 20
How to Set Effective Goals as a Timetabling Team
As a timetabler or timetabling team, how do you help your university achieve its overarching goals?
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Say, for example, one of these is to increase student numbers in the coming years.
As a timetabler, you may feel you have no direct influence in making this a reality.
And yet, the opposite is true!
The trick is to reframe the goal within the context of your role. And this begins by breaking it down.
Breaking down the big goals, step by step
Let’s take another look at the example we just mentioned. If the goal is to increase student numbers, what can you do to enable this?
Start by asking yourself the following question: “How can I become an enabler of my institution’s goal?”
Then, break the goal down.
You might begin by thinking “by having well-organised timetables, we’ll increase our reputation as a great place to learn.”
And next… “the route to well-organised timetables is effective time and room allocation.”
From there, you can identify how you can achieve effective allocation; for example by making sure the data you have to hand is precise and that you’re communicating regularly and clearly with stakeholders to get it.
In other words you’ve identified, in a few simple steps, specific goals you can work toward to help the university work toward its wider ones.
We call this scaffolding, and here’s a visual representation of it in action, with the specific goals in red.
Start by asking yourself the following question: “How can I become an enabler of my institution’s goal?”
Then, break the goal down.
You might begin by thinking “by having well-organised timetables, we’ll increase our reputation as a great place to learn.”
And next… “the route to well-organised timetables is effective time and room allocation.”
From there, you can identify how you can achieve effective allocation; for example by making sure the data you have to hand is precise and that you’re communicating regularly and clearly with stakeholders to get it.
In other words you’ve identified, in a few simple steps, specific goals you can work toward to help the university work toward its wider ones.
We call this scaffolding, and here’s a visual representation of it in action, with the specific goals in red.

Identify your roadblocks
Once you’ve identified your specific goals, the next step is to analyse any roadblocks you might encounter.
Take each goal, and ask yourself the following:
From there, you can begin to work out a plan of action that’ll help you achieve each one - and your institution achieve the goal that perhaps seemed out of your scope at first glance.
Take each goal, and ask yourself the following:
- How might I achieve this goal?
- Who might help me to achieve it?
- What will be challenging?
- Why will it be challenging?
From there, you can begin to work out a plan of action that’ll help you achieve each one - and your institution achieve the goal that perhaps seemed out of your scope at first glance.
Make goal-setting easy with our handy template
Here’s a handy template you can use to do all of the above and break institutional goals down into smaller ones. If you’re a timetabling team manager, why not use this to help you and your team frame goals for the new term or academic year?
Download our goal setting template here.
Download our goal setting template here.
And here’s another great goal to set… join The Timetabling Academy!
Our Timetabling Academy is brimming with useful tools, resources and learning materials, just like the one above and all of them developed for timetablers just like you.
The only online community for timetabling professionals, our Academy brings together peers from universities all over the UK and is a great place to boost your skills, collaborate, explore best practice and network. When you join, you’ll also gain access to live workshops, discussion groups, our community forums and so much more.
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