Support and FAQCategory: Scheduling
Add a Shift – With Employee
To create a shift and assign an employee at the same time, simply navigate to the scheduling page. TIP: A shift has a start-time, an end-time, and a position. You can assign shifts to employees after the shift has been created, or you can create the shift and assign an employee at the same time. TIP: You […]
Add First Shifts
Here is how you add shifts quickly. This is for when you want to quickly create a schedule for a day, or make a new template of shifts that don’t have employees in them yet. *Option: Drawing your schedule (no typing) Watch the 1 minute video here: Step by Step instructions Click the “Quick Add” button […]
Add Shifts (quick add)
Here is how you add shifts quickly. This is for when you want to quickly create a schedule for a day, or make a new template of shifts that don’t have employees in them yet. Watch the 1 minute video here: Step by Step instructions Click the “Quick Add” button on the upper left corner […]
Adding Employees
There are two main ways to add employees to the system. The main way to add them is by going to the Employees Menu Area, and clicking the + Add Employees button in the upper right. This will bring up a little window where you can add several employees at one time. You will need […]
Adjust Templates to Match Benchmark Hours
Templates and Projections: When you apply a template, you can see how many man-hours the template adds to the day. You can also adjust the template to match your projections exactly, right before you use Smart Scheduling to fill in the shifts. Adjusting the Template: You can click any shift and tabs appear, making the […]
Allocation of Employee Hours
Shift Agent is built from the ground up to help you allocate hours to the each employee the way you want to. With the Allocation of Hours button in the footer on the Scheduling Page, we help you answer the question, “Is everyone getting their target hours?” The process of both Smart Scheduling and adding one […]
Assign Later or Dismiss this Shift
In the Smart Scheduling window, when you are assigning employees to shifts, you will find two options next to the Position/Time of the Shift: 1. Skip, Assign Later. 2. Dismiss this Shift Assign Later means that you will create the shift and place it on the calendar without selecting an employee for now. Dismiss this […]
Budget and Man-hours Data
When you are building the schedule, the Guide Bar can be very helpful in providing real-time projections for labor cost. Every shift that you add to the schedule, will automatically calculate the cost of the shift and aggregate into total cost for the day. Our philosophy is to let you seamlessly view this data, while you […]
Clear Shifts – Bulk Delete Shifts
When you are on the scheduling page, you have the option to delete groups of shifts (or delete all shifts) quickly. You can clear published, or unpublished shifts or both. Click and hold the Add Shifts button in the upper left corner to reveal a Clear Shifts option. Click the Clear Day button, and the window […]
Company Profile
The Company Profile is the place where global settings are held. Access these settings by clicking on the name of your company in the uppermost-left corner of the app. Settings: OVERTIME Overtime threshold is the global setting Shift Agent uses to determine what overtime means as you are scheduling. Default is 40 hours. Overtime Priority defaults to […]
Connecting Shift
Shift Agent supports assigning more than one shift to the same employee where the shifts don’t overlap and there is no gap of time between the shifts. The smart scheduler will indicate connecting shifts. Look for the ][ icon on the name of the person you assigned to the first shift. There is also an indicator in […]
Day Off Requests Without Stress
With Shift Agent, you can set a Days Off policy and have the system enforce that policy. Set your Days off policy (advance notice requirement, etc) Manage Soft Limits for how many requests you think you can allow on each day of the week The Basics: Shift Agent is designed to help you place the responsibility […]
Delete a Shift (published)
Deleting an published shift is fairly straight-forward. Deleting Published Shifts: Navigate to the day on the scheduling page that has the shift you want to delete. Click the “on the shift you want to get rid of. You will now see this: You have the option to REMOVE the shift from this menu.The Shift will be […]
Delete a Shift (unpublished)
Deleting an unpublished shift is fairly straight-forward. Deleting Unpublished Shifts: Navigate to the day on the scheduling page that has the shift you want to delete. Click the “on the shift you want to get rid of. You will now see this: You have the option to REMOVE the shift from this menu.The Shift will be […]
Deployment Sheets
You can print the deployment sheet for each day from the schedule view. This is separate from the week view. How to read the deployment sheet: Every position is grouped within it’s respective department, in order. Every shift under a position is listed in chronological order The employee who is working each shift is displayed. At the bottom, […]
Distribute Hours
Shift Agent works to distribute hours exactly how you want to. When you hit Smart Scheduling, it works to help you schedule employees to work as close to the target hours that you set for them as possible. As you go, you can refer to the allocation of hours table by clicking the button in the footer on […]
Draw Mode (add shifts by drawing)
Shift Agent allows you to interact with the schedule by drawing unassigned shifts onto the schedule for a day. Once you have drawn the shifts, all of them are unassigned until you use Smart Scheduling or assign them individually. Click the icon in the upper left corner of the scheduling page. Watch the video to […]
Edit a Shift (published)
Editing a published shift is the same process as editing an unpublished shift with one key difference. Once a shift has been published, it has been broadcasted to the person that their schedule is updated. Because of this, they can see the shift on their schedule, and it can be assumed that this is when they are […]
Edit a Shift (unpublished)
Editing an unpublished shift is fairly straight-forward. See a different post for information on editing a published shift. For more information on deleting shifts, go to delete unpublished or delete published shifts. Depending on the state of the shift, (published, unpublished, or assign) the process is a little different. Editing Unpublished Shifts: Navigate to the day […]
Employee Analytics – Shift Density
As you are building the schedule, you are able to glance at information about each employee with regards to Shift Density. Shift Density is simply the frequency that an employee works during a given time. To view the data while you are in Smart Scheduling, click the icon next to their name: View the number of […]
Employee Card (smart scheduling)
So you are loading a SERVER shift from 10:00am – 4:00pm from Smart Scheduling. The top right of the view shows an employee card that displays lots of relevant information with respect to the shift you are filling. Current Hours = # of hours they have this week Target Hours = # of hours you want […]
Employee Desired Hours
Employees are able to use their availability update request to set a desired number of hours that they wish to work. Target Hours vs. Employee Desired Hours Employee Desired Hours is DIFFERENT from Target Hours. Shift Agent uses the Target hours set by the manager and ONLY VISIBLE to the manager to help you schedule the […]
Extended Time Off (days off vs. inactive)
When to use Days Off vs. Availability Days Off is a function that is used primarily for time limited periods of time when the employee isn’t working. (vacation, out of town, emergency, family reunion, etc.) Availability settings also effect when a person is scheduled. For example, you probably don’t want to make a habit […]
Guide Bar for Weekly Scheduling
The Guide Bar is designed to give you the week at a glance while you are scheduling. When you are on the scheduling page, you will notice the Guide Bar at the top of the page. You can use this guide to help you achieve lean labor by using the productivity guide. The Guide Bar is […]
How to Adjust Shift Recommendations
Shift Agent uses a number of factors to give managers appropriate recommendations to fill each shift in the ideal way. The goal is to have the right person scheduled for each shift in your operations blueprint. There are a couple of settings in the employee profile that affect the order in which Shift Agent displays […]
Lean Labor
Shift Agent defines Lean Labor in the following way: Lean Labor: (n) Maintaining your desired level of customer service with the most efficient investment in labor at every quarter hour. Achieving Lean Labor is an ongoing challenge. Shift Agent provides several tools that can make the process possible. Timeline View (use this to review […]
Manage Days Off
Shift Agent is provides powerful Days Off management tools that empower you to control the flow of communication. View all requests in the Days Off Calendar by Pending, Report (history) and the Calendar List view. You can also set limits for days of the week for the number of requests you can approve on […]
Much Faster Scheduling
Now that you have built your first day or even your first week, let’s help you streamline your scheduling process. You can begin to take full advantage of what Shift Agent does to make your scheduling experience quick and efficient. Fastest Way to Build One Day: The draw shifts feature is the fastest way to build […]
Overview of Scheduling
Here you can learn the steps to build a schedule. Follow step by step and use the articles posted here to learn anything that you need. It is not required to set projections to make a schedule. Start with adding shifts if you want to just quickly run through the process. List of First Time […]
Person is Not in the List
Problem: The list of employees does not include someone that you expect to be in the Smart Scheduling window as you are filling the shift. The Issue: Shift Agent only populates the list with employees who have the position associated with the shift. In other words, in order for Bobby to work the Busser […]
Print View (week view)
Description: Print View (Week view) is a second way of seeing the schedule that gives you access to a lot of helpful information. See an alphabetical list of employees with their schedule shown across a particular week. Keep the view open as you build the schedule and watch the shifts appear in the spreadsheet as you […]
Print View – Taking advantage of two views at once
Using the Print View while you are building the schedule can provide extra context and confidence that you are building the right schedule for the week. As you add shifts to the schedule with the scheduler, they will automatically show up on the Print View. Suggestions for how to use the Print View to your […]
Print View Settings
The Print View has a number of settings that you can use to optimize your use of the print view for different things. If you are having issues, try this troubleshooting information and FAQ post. To access the settings, open up Print View and click the Settings button in the header (upper right corner). Description […]
Printing FAQs and troubleshooting (print view)
I want to print just one department’s schedule (print the Back of House but not the Front of House) Use the print view setting to select the department that you wish to view/print. When you hit the print button, it will only print the department that you see. Saves paper! The print view WAS showing […]
Prioritize Target Hours above Overtime threshold
Summary: You can adjust the Shift Agent scheduling filter to accommodate for your need to have certain employees work overtime with regularity. (For example, you have an employee that you want to work 52 hours, even though your overtime threshold is 40 hours.) Monitor the allocation of hours to track your distribution to employees. Access this feature […]
Productivity Calculation
One of the most helpful metrics for gaining insight into the effect of scheduling on your business is the measurement of productivity. Productivity is Sales/Hours Scheduled. Shift Agent provides a productivity calculation within the Projections area. How to See Productivity In order to see the projection data, you need to: Input the Sales Projection for […]
Publishing
Intro to Publishing: Publishing the schedule is when the shifts you built on the calendar are now visible to employees. When they login, they will see their schedule. Before you publish, the shifts on your calendar are just a rough draft. They will stay saved in whatever state you leave them, even if you log […]
Recommendations: Select the Right Employee for Each Shift
Shift Agent is not an auto-scheduler. It’s one better. Smart Scheduling is a recommendation system that calculates the operational decision so that you can focus on people while you select the right person for each shift. This post describes most of what Smart Scheduler is doing to make recommendations on your behalf as you fill […]
Request Management
As a manager, you have a Requests area in your menu, both on the mobile view as well as on the computer/tablet view. Your response to these requests and affect changes to the schedule by inputting your decisions about trades and days off. Every trade has a status, and every day off has a status. […]
Review Week
Review Week is a feature that allows you to check your work and find potential conflicts in the schedule. To access this feature, you press the Review Week button on the footer bar after you have put people into shifts. Shift Agent reviews a few categories so that when you are about to Publish, you […]
Schedule a Day
To schedule one day is essentially the process of adding shifts, assigning employees, and publishing the day. Typical Method for Adding Shifts and Building the schedule: Put Shifts on the day: Use the Draw Shifts feature, or use the Add Shifts feature. Fill each shift with the right employee: Press Smart Scheduling button on the top […]
Scheduling Page Updated
We are pleased to announce a new look for the Scheduling Page that has some powerful and time saving new features. Take a few moments to watch this short video to get up to speed on the new changes… Enjoy!
See the Calendar as a Whole Week
Being able to see a week as you build a schedule can be very helpful. But, worrying about too many things at once can make the process overwhelming. Shift Agent provides a Print View that enables you to use the scheduler while you have a bird-eye view of a whole week. While you are using […]
Set Projections
Each week, Shift Agent provides you with the ability to set your labor level according to your sales projections. These projections act as a helpful guide for you as you make the schedule for the week. The projections are reflected in the Guide Bar for the week, so that you can see your spending in […]
Smart Scheduling: How to use it.
Smart Scheduling allows you to fill out your schedule for a day quickly, using templates that you have created. Once you apply a template (or if there are any unassigned shifts on the page) press the green button that says “Smart Scheduling” in the upper left of the Manage Schedule page. Here is a breakdown of the Smart […]
Split a Shift
You can split a shift into two shifts. You can do it even if the shift is already published. You access this feature in the same dropdown list where you would find the ability to Edit a Shift. This action will allow you to select a time at which to create two separate shifts out of […]
Status of Days Off
On an employee profile, you can see the status of each Days Off request. The following are the various statuses that a Day Off request may have: Pending: The request has been submitted, but a manager has not yet responded. (the employee cannot assume the request has been granted or denied, and should be prepared […]
Store Blueprint
Design Your Store, then Make Schedules Shift Agent has a powerful set of tools that are based on the way you design your store’s operational blueprint. You have the opportunity to make the app represent your store in a few key areas that will allow you (and those to whom you delegate) to be able to […]
Templates: How do I apply one?
Once you have built a template, you can apply it to any day that you want. You can even add more than one template to a day. (This might be useful if you have multiple departments and multiple people who publish the schedule.) Once you have built at least one template, use the following steps […]
Templates: How do I build one?
This post is about how to build a template. You can also edit an existing template and make changes. Access the Template Editing Area Templates are a way to take advantage of reoccurring patterns in your scheduling. For example, if you have a “typical schedule” for a particular day of the week, you can build […]
The Scheduling Calendar
Introduction to the Calendar – This is a detailed overview of the scheduling page and how to use it. Building One Day at a Time – The Shift Agent™ calendar gives you the ability to build the schedule one day at a time with confidence. You can start building right away, and we help you to distribute hours, […]
Timeline Views
On the Timeline View, there are some view options that provide perspective on your schedule to help you make informed decisions. There are three (3) major views available on the timeline. Menu of Timeline Views Default Scheduling View If you click the Expand Button (left button) the view will open up to show you all of the shifts […]
Trim Labor
Trimming your labor can mean the difference of a huge amount to your bottom line. Trimming is the main way that you can get to lean labor. We encourage you to have a rhythm of scheduling that enables you to review how your days are going and to find and create ways of trimming your labor […]
What happens when I publish a schedule?
When a manager publishes the employee schedule, the schedule goes LIVE and becomes available for people to see it. Only days that are published are actually available. All of the employees with a shift on the published schedule get a message within the app that their schedule has been published. Employees are responsible for the scheduled […]
What happens when my trade is declined?
When your trade is declined by a co-worker , it means that you still have to work that shift. You can try and trade with another one of your co-workers, but if it was declined by your manager, they have a reason and you are welcome to ask them. Feel free to attempt another trade […]