This tends to be something that timetablers do at the end of the process once they know who is teaching which groups and when all the lessons have been added to the schedule. So what options are there to complete this?
Auto-allocate rooms;
You could use the planning tools in NOVA that allow you to set up teachers with rooms as well as which subjects should have which room. This allows you to say a teacher is in a particular room for every lesson, or if they are teaching a certain subject they should be in a particular room. Once all that has been planned out you then simply run automatic room requirements (tools | allocate rooms) and the rooms are auto-allocated.
This gives you the ability to ‘mix and match’ how you room staff timetables. You may have some staff who only teach in one room. I would then use the auto allocate rooming option here. They are never going to teach in another room so let the programme do it for you. However where you have teachers using different rooms i would use a different method.
Manual allocation
The way i used to room the timetable was manually because i was a bit of a control freak! I would literally go to timetable | new | teacher then right click the lesson and allocate a room. If i wanted to use the room again on that timetable i would right click copy, then right click paste on the lesson it was needed, and if it was needed again the keyboard shortcut (ctrl + v) would work. It took some time to do, but i knew what was happening!
The other way which is very helpful is to right click on the lesson and then select X- rooming. This bring up a grid where you can see all the lessons for that class and the rooms that are available. I would then select the room for each lesson, trying to keep a consistent room if i could. This was a great way to room the timetable and became my ‘go to’ method.
Rooming seems so simple on a timetable, and in terms of how to do it, it is. But rooming can cause the most frustration and concern for staff. Some hate moving around and if they have to get really anxious, other it doesn’t bother them. That is why it is important to speak to staff and ask.
Bonus tip- if you need to remove rooms altogether then the auto allocate rooms function gives you that option.