After recently watching several churches modify their process for children’s check-in to accommodate our check-in module, it occurred to me how much “queuing theory” comes into play. How a church establishes its check-in queue can make all the difference whether a family believes they are waiting a long time or not.
Consider this: if the queue is spread out across multiple check-in stations, when a family comes up to check-in, 1) the person has some ownership in the line they have chosen (think WalMart – side note: why do I always chose the slow moving line?); and, 2) if there are 5 check-in stations, with 10 families at the same time, the family perception is that the line is 2 deep; 15 families create lines 3 deep.
Conversely, if there is a single queue that is feed to multiple stations, 1) the person has no ownership in the line chosen, it’s the luck of the position; and 2) with 10 families, one family feels like they are in a line 5 deep; 15 families means someone is 10 back and perceives a very long line.
Using this approach, there is also the “wait” in queue time that comes from seeing that a spot is open at one of the check-in stations and the delay to fill that open spot.
If your church’s check-in lines seem too long, there are several things you can do: 1) consider adding more check-in stations, 2) speed up the overall process, or 3) increase the amount of time before check-in is available.
Or maybe it’s just a queuing issue? Look at how people are fed into the check-in stations. Consider how the “wait time” between check-ins be reduced or eliminated?
Grace to you,
jhook