1. I called an administrator in my School to ask her to book a room for a seminar.
2. I was asked to email to confirm the details, which I did.
3. She emailed the Central Booking Office.
4. The Central Timetable Office emailed her back to ask for the purpose of the booking.
5. She emailed back and told them that this is for a seminar.
6. Timetable Office replied by email asking whether we are charging people to attend.
7. Our administrator emailed me back.
8. I replied that this was not charging.
9. I picked up the phone and called the Timetable Office to make the booking.
10. Then I was asked to email to confirm what I said on the phone, which I did. I asked the Timetable Office how often the University charges for attending seminars. The answer was "only occasionally".
11. The Timetable Office then sent us an email to confirm the room booking.

So it took 9 emails + 2 phone calls to book a room. It could have been doubled had I not picked up the phone. I am sure it was much simpler in the past. It is also worth noting that I was the only one who used the phone. Others preferred emails because it is important for them to record the exchanges.

I should emphasize that everybody in this process was doing his/her job, and doing it properly.

The question is: does the system need to be so robust? How often has the University detected room booking for irregular usage? Does anyone know how much we are paying to prevent misuses? Should the cost-effectiveness of such checks be reviewed? If so, whose job is it to review it?

[End]

• Emails consume too much of our lives
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