Creating an efficient work schedule for employees is essential for maintaining productivity, ensuring fairness, and meeting business demands. A well-organized staff schedule helps businesses operate smoothly while balancing employee availability, preferences, and workload. However, scheduling employees can be challenging, especially when dealing with last-minute changes, shift swaps, and labor laws.

This guide outlines 16 steps to improve your staff scheduling process, covering essential employee scheduling techniques to schedule staff efficiently, reduce scheduling conflicts, and enhance business automation.

Things You Should Know and Implement in Work Scheduling

Work scheduling tools like Shifton enable managers to automate scheduling work and eliminate manual shift planning. HR professionals and team leads previously spent a significant portion of their time managing staff schedules, factoring in time-off requests and shift preferences. Now, business automation solutions streamline these tasks, allowing managers to focus on employee wellness, performance coaching, and workforce development.

Implementing work schedule technology effectively requires understanding the key elements of scheduling employees and shift management automation. Here are five crucial things to know when digitizing your staff scheduling process.

1. Better Time and Task Management

With workforce automation tools, managers can schedule employees efficiently while managing tasks and projects within the same system. This integration allows companies to improve time management, productivity, and team collaboration by ensuring employees know exactly what to do during their shifts.

A well-structured staff schedule should include shift assignments, task distribution, and project deadlines, ensuring that operations run smoothly. Shifton, a powerful scheduling solution, enables businesses to create schedules for employees while also assigning checklists and tasks to enhance service quality and operational efficiency.

2. Automation and Artificial Intelligence

A major advantage of an automatic employee scheduler is the use of AI-powered automation. With 62% of businesses either planning to implement or already using automation in the workplace, it’s clear that AI-driven scheduling solutions will become increasingly important for managers.

How to schedule employees effectively using automation:

• Input employee details, shift lengths, and availability into the system.
• Let the scheduling software optimized work schedules.
• The system automatically adjusts shifts based on time-off requests and workforce demand.
• Minimize scheduling conflicts with real-time updates and automated recommendations.

Using automation for businesses simplifies scheduling and staffing, reducing the need for manual adjustments and last-minute shift changes.

3. Cloud-Based Time Tracking

Around 44% of talent managers now rely on cloud-based workforce automation tools to track employee schedules and attendance. Modern employee scheduling techniques include cloud-based log-ins, allowing staff to clock in and out from anywhere. This feature is crucial for hybrid work models, remote teams, and businesses operating in multiple locations.

For companies requiring on-site check-ins, many scheduling tools offer GPS verification and IP-based clock-ins, ensuring accurate tracking of working schedules for employees. These digital time-tracking features enhance accountability and reduce payroll discrepancies while offering greater flexibility for employees.

4. Data Analytics for Scheduling Optimization

An effective work schedule should be data-driven. Digital scheduling solutions provide real-time analytics dashboards, offering insights into:

• Employee attendance and shift adherence.
• Total hours worked per period.
• Late arrivals, overtime, and productivity trends.
• Task completion rates per shift.

By leveraging data analytics in scheduling employees, businesses can identify inefficiencies, improve staffing decisions, and enhance performance tracking. These insights allow managers to refine their staff schedules, ensuring that labor costs align with operational needs while maintaining workforce productivity.

5. Automated Salary Calculation

One of the biggest advantages of business automation in scheduling and staffing is automated payroll processing. Instead of manually tracking hours and calculating wages, modern staff scheduling processes integrate payroll functions, simplifying salary calculations.

Key benefits of automation in salary processing:

• Tracks employee work hours and applies pre-set pay rates.
• Generates automated payroll reports based on actual time worked.
• Reduces payroll errors by eliminating manual data entry.
• Integrates with accounting and finance systems for seamless payroll processing.

With automated scheduling and payroll systems, HR teams can save significant time while ensuring accurate, timely salary disbursement.

16 Steps to Improve Your Staff Scheduling

Step 1: Establish What Your Team Needs to Do

Before you make a schedule for employees, identify the key responsibilities and tasks that need to be covered. Consider:

• What services or tasks must be completed daily?
• Which employees are best suited for specific roles?
• Are there peak hours requiring additional staff coverage?

Understanding workload distribution ensures that scheduling employees aligns with operational needs and ensures work is completed efficiently.

Step 2: Look at When You’re Busiest (and Slowest)

Analyze past performance data to determine your business’s busiest and slowest periods. Use insights from:

• Sales and customer traffic reports
• Call volume data (for customer support teams)
• Seasonal trends and demand fluctuations

By aligning staff schedules with actual demand, businesses optimize labor costs and ensure sufficient coverage during peak hours while avoiding overstaffing during slow periods.

Step 3: Predict Future Activity Levels

Predicting workload helps managers schedule employees fairly and effectively. Consider:

• Upcoming promotions or business events
• Holiday seasons or vacation requests
• Market trends that could impact customer demand

By anticipating future needs, managers can schedule staff proactively, preventing last-minute staffing shortages and ensuring an efficient working schedule for employees.

Step 4: Consider Your Staff Needs

A staff schedule should consider both business requirements and employee preferences. Employees who feel their needs are acknowledged are more likely to stay engaged and productive. When creating a schedule for employees, consider:

• Availability and requested time off
• Work-life balance considerations
• Skill levels and job roles

A fair and balanced schedule improves employee satisfaction, reduces burnout, and minimizes absenteeism.

Step 5: Select Your Shift Scheduling Method

Choosing the right approach to scheduling employees depends on your business model, workforce structure, and operational requirements. There are several employee scheduling techniques to consider:

• Fixed shifts – Employees work the same hours every day (e.g., 9 AM – 5 PM). Ideal for businesses with stable workloads.
• Rotating shifts – Employees alternate between different shifts (morning, evening, night). Common in healthcare, retail, and hospitality.
• Split shifts – Employees work two separate periods in a day (e.g., 8 AM – 12 PM, then 4 PM – 8 PM). Useful for businesses with fluctuating demand.
• On-call scheduling – Employees remain available for work if needed. Often used in healthcare and emergency services.
• Flexible scheduling – Employees choose their hours based on workload and business needs. Suitable for remote teams and creative industries.

Selecting the right staff scheduling process helps businesses optimize labor costs while ensuring efficient employee scheduling.

Step 6: Optimize Shift Schedules Based on Busy Hours

To maximize productivity, schedule staff based on peak and slow hours. Businesses should:

• Assign more employees during peak hours to improve service quality.
• Reduce staffing during slow hours to avoid unnecessary labor costs.
• Use historical data to predict demand fluctuations and adjust shifts accordingly.

A data-driven approach to scheduling employees so that work is completed ensures optimal resource allocation, helping businesses operate efficiently.

Step 7: Minimize Last-Minute Schedule Changes

Unexpected schedule changes disrupt workflow and frustrate employees. To prevent last-minute changes:

• Encourage employees to submit time-off requests in advance.
• Set a deadline for shift swaps and require management approval.
• Have backup employees available for urgent staffing needs.
• Use scheduling software to automate last-minute adjustments.

By minimizing scheduling conflicts, businesses maintain staff scheduling stability and improve employee satisfaction.

Step 8: Ensure Schedules Are Readily Available

A work schedule for employees should be easy to access, reducing confusion and miscommunication. To improve accessibility:

• Share schedules digitally via an online portal or mobile app.
• Post printed schedules in break rooms or common areas.
• Notify employees of schedule updates in real time to avoid misunderstandings.

Clear communication ensures employees stay informed about their work schedules, reducing absenteeism and scheduling errors.

Step 9: Balancing the Needs of the Business and Employees

Effective staff schedule management requires a balance between business demands and employee well-being. While businesses must maintain productivity and profitability, they should also consider employee preferences to boost engagement and retention.

Strategies for balancing business and employee needs:

• Offer flexible scheduling when possible to accommodate personal commitments.
• Rotate shifts fairly to prevent overburdening certain employees.
• Implement clear policies for requesting time off or swapping shifts.
• Encourage open communication between managers and staff about scheduling concerns.

A well-balanced schedule for employees improves morale, reduces turnover, and creates a more motivated workforce.

Step 10: Be Aware of Events and Factors That Influence a Schedule

Certain external factors impact employee scheduling best practices, requiring businesses to remain adaptable.

Common factors affecting schedules:

• Public holidays and seasonal demand – Businesses must prepare for increased workloads or reduced staff availability.
• Weather conditions – Outdoor jobs may be delayed due to weather disruptions.
• Industry trends – Economic shifts or customer preferences can impact staffing needs.
• Unexpected emergencies – Employee absences due to illness or family emergencies require contingency plans.

Monitoring these factors helps businesses adjust work schedules for employees proactively, preventing staffing shortages or inefficiencies.

Step 11: Distribute the Schedule to Employees

Once the staff schedule is finalized, businesses must ensure that every employee receives it on time.

Best practices for distributing schedules:

• Send schedules in advance to give employees time to plan.
• Use an online scheduling platform for easy updates and access.
• Post physical copies in common areas for reference.
• Allow employees to acknowledge receipt to confirm they’ve seen their shifts.

Making schedules easily accessible helps manage employee schedules effectively while reducing confusion and miscommunication.

Step 12: Establish a Team Communication Strategy

A strong communication strategy ensures employees stay informed and engaged with scheduling updates.

Ways to improve team communication:

• Use scheduling apps to send automatic shift reminders.
• Create a dedicated chat group for discussing shift swaps or updates.
• Encourage feedback to identify scheduling concerns early.
• Hold regular meetings to discuss staffing challenges and solutions.

Clear communication enhances staff scheduling efficiency, preventing last-minute confusion and conflicts.

Step 13: Periodically Evaluate Your Schedule and Process

The staff scheduling process should be reviewed regularly to ensure it remains effective. Businesses should analyze key performance metrics to determine whether their scheduling strategy meets operational and employee needs.

How to evaluate your scheduling process:

• Track attendance and punctuality – Identify patterns of absenteeism or lateness.
• Monitor workload distribution – Ensure shifts are fairly balanced among employees.
• Collect employee feedback – Ask staff about scheduling challenges and improvements.
• Assess customer satisfaction – Ensure staffing levels align with customer service quality.

By periodically reviewing and refining the schedule, businesses can improve efficiency and employee satisfaction, making scheduling more adaptable to changing demands.

Step 14: Monitor and Adjust as Necessary

Even a well-planned work schedule for employees requires adjustments over time. Businesses should remain flexible and responsive to changing circumstances.

Best practices for monitoring and adjusting schedules:

• Use scheduling software to track employee hours and shift coverage in real time.
• Address understaffing issues quickly by assigning additional workers when necessary.
• Adjust shifts based on employee performance and workload needs.
• Be proactive about conflicts, resolving them before they escalate.

Regular monitoring ensures efficient employee scheduling while allowing managers to make data-driven decisions to optimize staff schedules.

Step 15: Comply with Legal Requirements

Businesses must follow labor laws and regulations when creating employee schedules to avoid legal risks.

Key compliance considerations:

• Minimum rest periods – Ensure employees get adequate breaks between shifts.
• Overtime regulations – Track overtime hours and compensate employees accordingly.
• Fair scheduling laws – Some regions require advance notice for shift changes.
• Work-hour restrictions – Certain industries have limits on maximum work hours.

Understanding and complying with employee scheduling best practices protects businesses from penalties and legal disputes while ensuring fair working conditions.

Step 16: Use Scheduling Software

Using automation for businesses simplifies the staff scheduling process, reducing administrative workload and improving accuracy. A scheduling app helps businesses:

• Automate shift assignments to match employee availability and workload.
• Provide real-time schedule updates to employees.
• Allow staff to request time off and swap shifts digitally.
• Generate reports on labor costs, attendance, and performance.

By implementing workforce automation, businesses can save time, reduce scheduling conflicts, and ensure employees receive fair and efficient work schedules.

What Are the Benefits of Using Scheduling Software for Employees?

Investing in scheduling software provides businesses with a structured and efficient way to schedule employees, reduce errors, and improve workforce management. Below are the key benefits of using automation in the workplace for scheduling.

1. Streamline Scheduling

Manual scheduling is time-consuming and prone to human error. Scheduling software helps businesses make a schedule for employees efficiently by:

• Automating shift creation and adjustments.
• Reducing the risk of double-booking employees.
• Allowing managers to easily update schedules in real time.
• Providing templates for repetitive scheduling patterns.

With automation for businesses, managers can schedule employees quickly and accurately, ensuring smooth operations.

2. Improve Communication

An employee schedule should be easily accessible to all staff members. Scheduling software enhances communication by:

• Sending automatic notifications about shift assignments and changes.
• Providing a centralized platform where employees can view schedules.
• Enabling direct communication between managers and staff for shift swaps.

With better communication, employees stay informed and engaged, reducing confusion about their work schedules.

3. Reduce Scheduling Conflicts

Conflicts arise when multiple employees request the same time off or shifts are assigned unfairly. Scheduling software prevents these issues by:

• Highlighting potential scheduling conflicts before they occur.
• Allow employees to submit availability and time-off requests digitally.
• Offering automated conflict resolution to adjust shifts as needed.

This ensures fair scheduling and balanced workload distribution, leading to higher employee satisfaction.

4. Boost Efficiency

A well-organized staff schedule improves efficiency by ensuring that the right employees are assigned at the right times. Scheduling software helps by:

• Aligning shifts with business demand and peak hours.
• Tracking employee performance and attendance trends.
• Eliminating manual scheduling errors that cause operational slowdowns.

By scheduling employees effectively, businesses can increase productivity and reduce labor costs.

5. Scale Business Growth

As businesses expand, managing staff schedules manually becomes unsustainable. Workforce automation helps scale operations by:

• Handling larger teams and multiple locations efficiently.
• Integrating with payroll and HR software to streamline workforce management.
• Allowing flexible shift structures to accommodate business growth.

With the best way to schedule employee shifts, businesses can scale while maintaining effective employee scheduling.

Optimizing Scheduling with Shifton

Shifton is a powerful employee scheduling solution designed to help businesses manage employee schedules, optimize shift planning, and streamline workforce automation. Whether you need to schedule employees effectively, reduce conflicts, or improve shift visibility, Shifton provides the right tools for business automation and staff schedule management.

Key Features of Shifton for Staff Scheduling

• Automated Shift Scheduling – Create efficient work schedules for employees in just a few clicks.
• Employee Availability Tracking – Prevent scheduling conflicts by matching shifts with employee availability.
• Real-Time Schedule Updates – Instantly notify employees of any shift changes or updates.
• Shift Swaps & Time-Off Management – Allow employees to swap shifts and request time off digitally.
• Payroll & Time Tracking Integration – Sync work hours with payroll systems for accurate salary processing.
• Multi-Location Scheduling – Manage staff schedules across multiple branches or locations.

How Shifton Helps Businesses Schedule Employees Effectively

Shifton is designed to simplify the staff scheduling process, ensuring that businesses can:

• Make a schedule for employees quickly and accurately.
• Reduce last-minute changes and ensure reliable shift coverage.
• Improve employee engagement by offering fair and transparent scheduling.
• Save time on manual scheduling and focus on business growth.
• Ensure compliance with labor laws through automated scheduling rules.

Why Choose Shifton for Workforce Automation?

Shifton’s intuitive interface and automation tools make it one of the best ways to schedule employee shifts for businesses of all sizes. By implementing Shifton, companies can:

• Reduce scheduling errors by automating shift assignments.
• Increase efficiency by aligning work schedules with business demand.
• Enhance flexibility for employees while ensuring operational consistency.

With Shifton’s staff scheduling software, businesses can effectively manage employee schedules, reduce conflicts, and optimize shift planning for long-term success.

Final Thoughts on Employee Scheduling

Effective staff scheduling is essential for maintaining productivity, ensuring fair work distribution, and optimizing business operations. By following these 16 steps, businesses can schedule employees effectively, minimize conflicts, and improve workforce satisfaction.

Key Takeaways:

• Plan ahead by analyzing business needs, peak hours, and employee availability.
• Use data-driven scheduling to match staffing levels with demand.
• Ensure fairness by considering employee preferences and legal requirements.
• Improve communication by making schedules easily accessible.
• Leverage scheduling software like Shifton to automate shift planning, reduce errors, and improve efficiency.

A well-structured work schedule for employees not only benefits the business but also enhances employee engagement and retention. By investing in workforce automation, companies can streamline operations and focus on growth rather than administrative tasks.

With the right employee scheduling techniques and tools, businesses can save time, reduce costs, and create a more efficient work environment.

Start optimizing your staff scheduling today and build a stronger, more productive workforce!

All companies seek affordable and straightforward tools that enhance employee performance and audience numbers, without consuming excessive time from the management department. We’ve developed a set of tools that are easy to learn and will save your company a lot of time.

Social Media Marketing solutions for business visibility

1. Buffer

   Buffer has a straightforward approach to Social Media Marketing (SMM). It enables the scheduling of post publishing on various platforms, automatically making them public without direct involvement. Buffer supports all major social media platforms and provides analytics that will help enhance post reach and user engagement.

2. CoSchedule

   CoSchedule combines a marketing calendar and a social media calendar into one platform. The service directly integrates with Evernote and Headline Analyzer, as well as most social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Tumblr, Google+, etc.). It is designed to manage all posts, including blog posts, from a single dashboard.

3. Hootsuite

   Hootsuite is one of the oldest Social Media Marketing platforms as it has been operating since 2008. It allows scheduling posts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, and YouTube. With Hootsuite, you can gain insights into how your company or brand is perceived online. Additionally, the platform offers post analytics.

4. Schedugram

   Schedugram is one of the most frequently used Instagram schedulers. Businesses focusing on this platform will find the service has a simple interface, permits uploading and editing images, which can then be posted later. For instance, you can prepare 10 photos and choose a time and date when each one will be published for subscribers.

Surveys

1. GetFeedback

   GetFeedback is an online survey service that allows companies to measure customer satisfaction and enhance their experience. The platform offers survey personalization, including the addition of brand logos, fonts, and colours.

2. QuestionPro

   QuestionPro enables users to create various types of polls and surveys. They can be uploaded from a Microsoft Word document, created manually, or copied from existing professionally designed templates. Surveys can be sent by email, embedded on a website, or displayed in a pop-up window.

3. SurveyGizmo

   SurveyGizmo offers over 40 types of questions and survey themes that are adapted for both desktop and mobile devices. The service provides many pre-built themes to choose from, as well as a theme builder. As the platform is multilingual, identical surveys and polls can be distributed in different countries. There are no limits on the number of questions and responses a survey can contain.

4. SurveyMonkey

   SurveyMonkey allows companies to better understand their client base and receive feedback from employees. It can also be used for market research to maintain a competitive edge. The platform offers free surveys with various settings. They can be sent via email, posted on social media, websites, and other platforms.

Staff management

1. 15Five

   The 15Five platform helps monitor employee performance. Employers can learn about the team’s achievements, deal with issues before they become problematic, and receive insights on ideas the employees may have. The service resembles a social network for workforce management.

2. Aventr

   Aventr was designed to boost employee performance by enhancing team engagement and collaboration. Employers can send gifts and positive feedback to workers. Aventr enables idea sharing and measures how much employee performance has improved.

3. Basecamp

   Basecamp is a premium, easy-to-use employee scheduling service. Managers can group employees based on their roles in the company and assign them projects. The platform includes built-in notifications, a chat room, an assignment board, and automatic check-ins. All these features help track what’s going on throughout the company.

4. Shifton

   Shifton offers a comprehensive suite of tools for company, project, and work schedule management. It allows the creation of various types of work schedules for a staff of any size. Employees can specify their preferred working hours, request breaks, or exchange shifts with each other.

We hope these tools will assist you in saving time on team management and building brand recognition.

Time is one of the most valuable resources at the disposal of a small company owner. There are a few things that help save time.

Efficient time management tip #1 — Describe your average day

Take a piece of paper and describe your average day from morning till night. Your lunchtime, phone calls, commute, etc have to be broken down by the minute. You should also calculate the total amount of time spent during the day.

The list has to describe your average day. Don’t try to change your plans for things to look better on paper. You will quickly determine the time-wasters. Pay attention to the time you spend on phone calls, breaks, errands, and other non-work-related activities.

Don’t let new opportunities change your course

Small business owners are sometimes impulsive when it comes to new ideas or business offers. This distracts them from their plan and can lead to a pile of projects that will never be finished You must pay attention to only the most worthy ideas and offers.

Don’t delegate your work without proper training

In order to run a successful business, it is crucial to give a part of your responsibilities to other people. A business owner has to make sure that the one who will carry part of the weight will be properly instructed. A person has to be fully aware of their responsibilities.

For example, if you own a small bakery and find someone who will replace you as the chief baker, you have to educate him about baking techniques at your business, make sure that he is qualified and passes probation.

Follow the 80/20 rule

The 80/20 rule or the Pareto principle states that 80% of success stem from 20% of the effort. For example, only 20% of clients bring in 80% of the income of most companies. This rule can be applied to time management.

Count all of your daily accomplishments that had a positive impact on your business. The numbers may vary but only a small percent of them will benefit your company. The trick is to stay focused on them.

How Shifton Can Improve Call Center Performance

Call center managers need to monitor the workflow and control the execution of the plan by the operators daily. One of their most important tasks is to create and maintain the call center schedules.

Since customers can be located all over the world, there should always be operators in the call center who work according to the subscribers’ local time. Call center managers should consider the work schedules and the number of operators on each shift when creating their monthly schedules. Otherwise, mistakes with working hours, shifts, and distribution of employees are inevitable.

How Shifton Enhances Call Center Performance

1. Shifton Supports All Schedule Types

• Operators can work in two shifts, 8 hours a day, with a fixed lunch break four hours after the start of the shift.
• This schedule format also assumes an 8-hour workday with a fixed start time for a call center employee.
• Operators can take a lunch break and request breaks at any time during their working day.
• Operators can work in 4/8 hour shifts, determining the start of their working day and taking breaks during shifts.

This type of work schedule not only cuts the cost of call center staff by almost 25% but also significantly improves productivity. Shifton can handle all these types of work schedules, supporting flexible start times, break requests, and time off. With Shifton, call center managers can create schedules for any number of departments and employees.

2. Shifton Helps Maintain the Working Schedule

A call center schedule must be composed so that breaks, lunches, meetings, and other events do not disrupt the workflow. After the primary setup, Shifton will automatically build your schedules so that operator breaks do not overlap. While several operators take a break, others continue to work. Thus, using the Shifton app helps eliminate downtime and maintain the schedule structure.

3. Shifton Allows Instant Schedule Updates

If call center employees do not feel at least a little freedom, they may lose interest in work over time. With Shifton, managers can distribute shifts so that operators work fewer days a week but with full hours. Additionally, if necessary (e.g., during lockdowns), employees can have flexible start and end times for shifts and even work from home on certain days or full-time.

4. Shifton Tracks and Evaluates Call Center Performance

Analyzing statistics in CRM is essential for proper scheduling in a call center. Shifton offers powerful reporting tools that display statistics on call center performance from various perspectives. Customizable modules not only display data in reports but also allow forecasts on costs, hours, and more, helping optimize company processes.

5. Shifton Supports Integration with Other Programs

No matter what software you use for employee management, accounting, and work tracking, Shifton simplifies your life. The Shifton app offers integration capabilities with many popular programs to improve workflows, exchange data, and provide API access for various integrations. Since Shifton integrates with other programs (e.g., Quickbooks), management gains access to all necessary reports—on working hours, shifts, salaries, fines, and bonuses.

Looking for new integrations or features? Tell us about your needs, and Shifton will suggest a suitable solution.

With Shifton, a call center manager can effectively create schedules for any number of departments and employees with just a few clicks. Shifton’s available features and integrations allow you to use this application as a single program for completing and tracking daily tasks in the call center.

*All original photographs courtesy of DialogMarket call center. The review of Shifton by DialogMarket executive manager can be found here.

Running a business requires wearing multiple hats, but trying to do everything alone leads to burnout and inefficiency. Learning how to delegate tasks effectively is a game-changer for business owners, allowing them to focus on strategy and growth rather than getting lost in day-to-day operations. Effective delegation increases productivity, boosts employee engagement, and ensures that tasks are completed by the right people. In this guide, we’ll cover what delegation is, why it’s crucial, and how to delegate work to employees efficiently. Plus, we’ll outline 18 essential tasks you should start outsourcing today.

What Is Delegation, And Why Is It Important?

Delegation is the process of assigning tasks to others while maintaining responsibility for the outcome. It allows business owners and managers to distribute workloads efficiently, ensuring that time and skills are used optimally. Without delegation, leaders risk micromanagement, which stifles employee growth and limits business scalability.

When you delegate tasks effectively, you create an environment where employees take ownership of their work, improving productivity and morale. The right delegation strategy leads to smoother operations and allows leaders to focus on high-level decision-making.

Delegate The Right Task To The Right Person

Delegation isn’t just about offloading work — it’s about assigning the right task to the right person. Consider each employee’s strengths, experience, and workload before delegating. If a task requires creativity, assign it to a team member with strong problem-solving skills. For detail-oriented work, choose someone meticulous. Matching tasks with the right people ensures efficiency and quality.

Why Some People Are “Unable” To Delegate

Many business owners struggle with delegation due to common misconceptions and fears, such as:

• Believing that “doing it myself is faster”
• Fear of losing control over quality
• Lack of trust in employees’ abilities
• Unclear instructions leading to poor results

However, these issues can be overcome by refining delegation skills, setting clear expectations, and using task management software to streamline workflows.

Why Delegation Is Crucial

Failing to delegate leads to stress, missed opportunities, and inefficiencies. Delegation allows leaders to:

• Focus on strategic growth rather than routine tasks
• Empower employees by giving them responsibility
• Improve time management and productivity
• Scale operations effectively without burnout

By embracing delegation, businesses can run smoother, become more agile, and achieve sustainable growth.

How to Delegate: Honing Your Skills With 9 Tips For Managers

By applying these strategies, managers can delegate tasks effectively, leading to a more productive and engaged workforce.

How to Delegate Effectively On A Budget

Small businesses or startups often hesitate to delegate due to cost concerns. However, outsourcing to freelancers, using task management applications, or leveraging automation can be cost-effective ways to delegate without breaking the bank.

18 Tasks You Should Delegate

Delegating tasks isn’t just about freeing up time — it’s about optimizing efficiency, ensuring high-quality work, and allowing your team to grow. Below are 18 critical tasks every business owner should consider delegating.

1. Daily Time Management

Your time is one of your most valuable assets. However, managing your daily schedule — checking appointments, setting reminders, and prioritizing tasks — can be time-consuming. A virtual assistant (VA) or personal assistant can take over this responsibility, ensuring you stay on track with meetings, deadlines, and commitments.

Why Delegate It?

• Eliminates time wasted on scheduling and rescheduling.
• Ensures you focus on high-impact activities.
• Reduces stress and decision fatigue.

2. Email Organization And Triaging

The average professional spends 28% of their workweek reading and responding to emails. A VA can filter important emails, respond to routine inquiries, and organize your inbox to ensure urgent matters get addressed first.

Why Delegate It?

• Prevents inbox overload.
• Saves hours each week.
• Improves response time for critical communications.

3. Scheduling Requests

Coordinating meetings, setting up appointments, and aligning schedules across multiple stakeholders can be overwhelming. A scheduling assistant or an automated booking system can handle these tasks for you.

Why Delegate It?

• Avoids double bookings and scheduling conflicts.
• Saves time spent on back-and-forth emails.
• Ensures optimized scheduling based on priorities.

4. Expense Management

Tracking business expenses, receipts, reimbursements, and monthly budgets can be complex and time-consuming. Outsourcing this to an assistant or using task management applications that automate financial tracking can make the process seamless.

Why Delegate It?

• Keeps finances organized and audit-ready.
• Reduces errors in expense reporting.
• Saves valuable time spent tracking and reconciling transactions.

5. CRM Management

Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are crucial for tracking leads, interactions, and follow-ups. However, manually updating records and analyzing customer interactions is tedious. A CRM specialist or an assistant can handle this for you.

Why Delegate It?

• Ensures better customer engagement and retention.
• Automates follow-ups and lead tracking.
• Keeps client records accurate and updated.

6. Social Media Management

A strong social media presence is essential for brand awareness, but consistently posting, engaging with followers, and tracking analytics can be overwhelming. A social media manager can handle content creation, scheduling, and engagement.

Why Delegate It?

• Maintains consistent posting and audience engagement.
• Increases brand awareness and reach.
• Allows business owners to focus on strategy rather than execution.

7. Supply Ordering

Restocking office supplies, managing vendor relationships, and ensuring materials arrive on time are all critical operational tasks that can be easily outsourced to an office manager or an administrative assistant.

Why Delegate It?

• Prevents stock shortages.
• Saves time spent coordinating orders.
• Ensures cost-effective purchasing.

8. General Research

From market trends to competitor analysis, research plays a crucial role in decision-making. However, digging through endless reports and data can be tedious. A research assistant can provide you with summarized insights.

Why Delegate It?

• Helps make informed business decisions.
• Saves hours of data collection and analysis.
• Provides actionable insights without manual effort.

9. Travel Management

Planning business trips, booking flights, arranging accommodations, and managing itineraries take up valuable time. A travel assistant can handle all these logistics for you.

Why Delegate It?

• Saves hours of research and booking.
• Ensures hassle-free travel arrangements.
• Prevents last-minute issues with flights and hotels.

10. Gift Purchasing

Corporate gifts for clients, employee appreciation presents, or holiday giveaways require thought and time. Delegating this task to an assistant ensures thoughtful gift-giving without added stress.

Why Delegate It?

• Saves time searching for appropriate gifts.
• Ensures timely delivery.
• Strengthens client and employee relationships.

11. Paying Bills

Handling vendor payments, utility bills, and subscription renewals manually is a tedious and error-prone task. Outsourcing to an assistant or using task management apps for automated bill payments can streamline the process.

Why Delegate It?

• Prevents late fees and missed payments.
• Saves time tracking and managing invoices.
• Ensures financial organization.

12. Bookkeeping And Invoicing

Accurate financial records are essential for business success, but bookkeeping and invoicing can be complex and time-consuming. A professional bookkeeper can ensure all transactions are recorded correctly.

Why Delegate It?

• Ensures compliance and accuracy.
• Reduces errors in financial reporting.
• Saves time spent balancing accounts.

13. Content Creation

From blog posts to newsletters, content marketing is vital for business growth. A freelance writer or marketing team can create high-quality content that aligns with your brand’s voice.

Why Delegate It?

• Ensures professional, engaging content.
• Saves time spent writing and editing.
• Boosts SEO and online visibility.

14. Design Work

Graphic design is crucial for branding, social media, and marketing materials. Instead of spending hours creating visuals, outsource this to a professional designer.

Why Delegate It?

• Ensures high-quality, visually appealing designs.
• Saves time spent on editing and revisions.
• Strengthens brand identity.

15. Managing The Website

A website needs regular updates, maintenance, and optimization. Hiring a web developer or IT specialist ensures your website remains functional and secure.

Why Delegate It?

• Prevents downtime and technical issues.
• Ensures fast-loading, user-friendly web pages.
• Saves time troubleshooting website errors.

16. Calendar Management

Keeping track of deadlines, meetings, and events can be overwhelming. A VA can manage your calendar, set reminders, and reschedule appointments when necessary.

Why Delegate It?

• Ensures optimized scheduling.
• Saves time managing appointments.
• Reduces stress from overlapping meetings.

17. Data Entry & Filing

Inputting data, updating records, and organizing files are repetitive but essential tasks. A dedicated assistant can handle these tasks efficiently.

Why Delegate It?

• Prevents errors in data management.
• Saves hours of manual work.
• Keeps records structured and accessible.

18. Internal Documentation

From process manuals to onboarding guides, internal documentation is crucial for efficiency. A documentation specialist can create and maintain these resources for you.

Why Delegate It?

• Streamlines employee training and operations.
• Ensures consistency in workflows.
• Saves time spent explaining processes repeatedly.

By delegating these tasks, business owners can focus on strategic growth while ensuring essential operations run smoothly. Whether outsourcing to professionals or using task management software, handing off these responsibilities will increase efficiency, productivity, and business success.

How Shifton Can Help In Delegation and Task Management

Shifton is a powerful task management software designed to simplify delegation and optimize workflows. With features like automated scheduling, employee task tracking, and seamless communication tools, Shifton ensures that businesses can delegate tasks effectively while maintaining full visibility. Whether you need a task management application to streamline operations or task management apps to improve team productivity, Shifton provides a flexible solution.

By using Shifton, business owners can delegate tasks effectively without worrying about missed deadlines or communication gaps. Simplify your workflow and enhance productivity with Shifton’s software task management features today!

Mastering how to delegate tasks effectively is essential for business growth. By outsourcing the right tasks and leveraging the right task management software, you can focus on scaling your business while ensuring efficiency.

Start delegating today and watch your business thrive!

We bring to your attention another real review from one of our first clients – DialogMarket call center.

Shifton: Hello! Please tell us about the specifics of your company.

Alyona: Hello! My name is Alyona Peshekhonova, and I am the head of the outsourcing call center DialogMarket, based in Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine. Our call center focuses on providing hotline and customer support services. A unique feature of DialogMarket is our ability to quickly launch startups and increase the number of operators on shift with just one day’s notice.

Shifton: What are your daily responsibilities?

Alyona: My main tasks as a manager include providing instant support to customers and responding to their requests and orders. I also control the number of people on each shift and am responsible for the smart distribution of shifts between operators, depending on peak load periods in each project. Operating 24/7, 365 days a year, requires properly and wisely designed schedules, especially as the project size increases.

Shifton: What are the most common challenges you face in running a call center?

Alyona: When managing a project with 40-50 people, we encountered challenges in creating schedules that suit both our customers and staff. Now, imagine developing an effective weekly or monthly schedule for 300 people! If someone gets sick, leaves, or can only work certain hours or days, it disrupts everything. It’s like a house of cards—if one employee falls out, everything has to be rebuilt from scratch!

Shifton: How did you get started with Shifton?

Alyona: We chose Shifton after evaluating dozens of scheduling options. You’ve made our lives much easier.

Shifton: What features of Shifton do you consider most useful for daily operations?

Alyona: Employees really appreciate the shift-swapping feature, and most importantly, schedules are now compiled in just a few clicks! We also have no issues tracking sick leaves and vacations.

Shifton: How did the workflow in DialogMarket change after starting with Shifton?

Alyona: I always aim to create a comprehensible salary calculation system for employees. Shifton makes this even easier. The Payroll Reports module allows me to maintain transparency in payroll accounting at DialogMarket. Each call center employee can always know how much they’ve earned in a given month and can plan their expenses in advance.

Shifton: Would you recommend Shifton to other call centers?

Alyona: Definitely yes! This application is equally useful for both large and small outsourcing call centers and other businesses.

Modern people are always busy. We constantly have to complete working assignments, pay the bills, buy food and visit the doctor’s office from time to time. Because of this, we often have to switch between tasks. For example, send out emails to business partners, talk on the phone with new clients or plan a vacation. This kind of stress is not a problem for people who know how to have the ability to multitask.

Mixing offline and online hinders your ability to multitask

First, you have to create two lists. Write down all the things that can be done offline in the first one. The second catalog is meant solely for tasks that require an Internet connection. Go online only when it’s necessary. For example, you can write an e-mail text without connecting, while Internet access is required for business negotiations via Skype. This way, you get less distracted and more effective at multitasking.

Keep track of everything

Missed assignments keep you up at night? Create a list of unfinished business and keep it nearby. Try to state your tasks properly. Otherwise, you will have a hard time seeing them through. It doesn’t matter how many items will be on the list: 100 or 1000.

Update it at the end of a workday. We also urge you to create catalogs for different types of assignments. For example, for tasks related to marketing or groceries.

Next, pick assignments with the highest priority levels. Pick 5 critically important things, tasks that can be delegated and things you can discard. Leave low-priority assignments for tomorrow.

View the list in the morning and check if it has all of the important daily tasks. Next, add all of them to your calendar. Check the list during the weekend to make sure that you didn’t forget anything.

Put that smartphone down

Make sure that you turn off your smartphone notifications. You can scroll through your Facebook and view new tweets when you get back home. All notifications that you need should be on your workplace computer. It is also better to respond to emails from friends outside the office.

Multitasking welcomes a change of pace

Try working on two different projects on the same day and switching between them from time to time. A change of activity allows to come up with unexpected solutions and free yourself from extraneous thoughts. It is always a good way to distract yourself from monotonous work.

Don’t forget about these rules and pretty soon multitasking work will become second nature to you.

Everybody is sometimes guilty of postponing important assignments. People often believe that they have unlimited time for work. The deadline draws near, while tasks remain unfinished. Chronic procrastination can lead to serious consequences: from scolding to losing the job. With that said, there a few advice on how to stop procrastinating.

Dealing with procrastination begins with finding the root of the problem

Anyone can be overwhelmed by the workload. First, you have to pick a top priority assignment. Before you begin, understand the causes of procrastination. Perhaps, you are afraid to get the task wrong or are confused about it. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from your colleagues.

Today is a good day to start

If you don’t know how to beat procrastination, the best solution is to start working immediately. If a task seems too complicated and you think that you won’t have time to do it, try the following. Think of an assignment that will take you 5 minutes to finish and do it. Then, get a timer running and try working on that complicated task for 5 minutes. If you start doing something, you are more likely to see it through, as you are inclined to remember unfinished tasks. That way your chance to beat procrastination increase.

Divide your working hours into blocks

Get rid of all distractions and concentrate on your work. We suggest that you divide a working hour into 20-minute periods and make short breaks between them. The brain works in cycles with high and low periods of activity. To reach the peak of productivity, one must be mindful of those swings, balance their work and rest time respectfully.

Make a bet

Another way to improve your productivity is by making a bet with a friend. Chose a time and date as a deadline for your assignment. Next, offer your friend a bit of money, coffee or lunch should you fail to finish the assignment on time. This will provide additional motivation.

Think positively about past instances of procrastination

Try not to be too hard on yourself for your previous cases of procrastination. This problem often occurs with perfectionists and people who are afraid to fail. Keep up the positivity and don’t let negative thoughts creep into your mind.

We hope that our article will free you from the procrastination trap.

Recurring changes in the work plan constantly disturb the list of priorities. This can lead to negative consequences in productivity and team progress, irrational time management and missed deadlines. Is there a way to stay on top of things and make time for everything?

The best way to prioritize tasks is to write them down

To begin with, you have to make plans for the nearest future by creating a detailed list of all of the assignments and their deadlines for a day, a week or a month. Instead of trying to memorize everything, you should start a work diary and write down all of your tasks. This psychological trick stresses the importance of your work.

Organize everything

Once you have compiled a list of assignments, you might notice similarities between them. This isn’t surprising as most tasks can be put into three categories: single, recurring and project.

1. Single
   If you are given a single task, better do it first thing tomorrow. Make a list of small assignments and cross out some of them every day. Before you decide on the most important tasks, consider how urgent they are and how much time you need to complete them. Your goal is to finish assignments during your shift. If you don’t have time, do the task tomorrow. Note that this method doesn’t work for immediate assignments.
2. Recurring
   You don’t have to write down every single thing that has to be done on a daily basis. For example, if you share articles on social media or are in charge of e-mail campaigns. With that said, a schedule should be made for tasks that are tied to specific hours and days. This will significantly simplify the sorting of work priorities.
3. Projects
   Projects are tasks that are more difficult to complete than simple assignments. Work on them as long as you can, but don’t try to take up several projects simultaneously. We recommend that you create a list of projects and choose the most urgent and important out of all of them. Don’t pick up a new project without finishing the previous one.

Important assignments come first

Creating an alphabetical or a numerical list won’t work. Your goal is not to blindly follow the items on the list, but to concentrate on high priority tasks. The remaining work can be done in whatever order you deem necessary.

In time you will learn how to choose work with the highest level of priority and not let it become a problem. If you will follow these rules, you won’t believe how fast the working process will become.

Difficulties in scheduling and solutions

If you are a manager in charge of a company’s work schedule and you are reading this article, then most likely you experience issues with scheduling shifts for employees.

Here you will find three most common problems that arise during work schedule compilation, and best solutions for them. Start implementing today!

Issue №1: Last-minute scheduling

Putting off shift scheduling until the last minute is not a good idea. Managers in charge should make sure that the shift schedule is available as soon as possible so that the employees can make their own plans during the month. Otherwise, many workers will have to choose between personal matters and work.

Solution:

Plan your schedules ahead of time to give all employees the opportunity to review the schedule and make changes if necessary. Numerous templates of the online service Shifton allow you to do this in just a few clicks!

Issue №2: Uneven shift distribution

By making changes to the schedule manually, any manager can overlook a miscalculation in the distribution of shifts. As a result, it may happen that some workers would not work the prescribed hours, while others, on the contrary, come to overwork, which can also result in an involuntary violation of the labor law.

Solution:

To avoid this scenario, use Shifton, an automated service for scheduling work and shift schedules. In this case, the employees will have no reason to reproach the manager for negligence and carelessness!

Issue №3: Lack of modern tools

Managers who still use pen and paper to create a company’s schedule not only make their lives harder, but they are more likely to make mistakes. In addition, the sheer volume of calls and messages on the personal phones of executives and employees is time-consuming, resulting in a lack of work-life differentiation.

Solution:

With easy-to-use software like Shifton, you can significantly simplify employee scheduling and communication within the company. Moreover, notifications arrive on the mobile version of the online application almost instantly, and employees can exchange shifts on their own, saving managers a lot of time.

By automating employee scheduling with the Shifton online service, you can get consistent results, make fewer mistakes, cut costs, and increase productivity and overall employee satisfaction.

If you are not using Shifton for your business yet, then it’s time to get started! Register and try all the features of the online application for free during the entire trial period!

How to Improve the Efficiency of Call Center Employees

Most call center managers use standard methods in order to motivate employees and achieve their goals (for example, bonuses, allowances and benefits). But if you’re really interested in growing your company, you should try new solutions to improve operators’ productivity.

Here are 5 interesting ideas that will help you increase the efficiency of your call center employees by at least 10%.

1. 15-minute vouchers

Are there any operators who would refuse to finish work 15 minutes early without losing the payment?

Many call centers try to encourage their employees with various bonuses (like sweet gifts or tickets to a movie). Anyway in each and every company, there will always be employees who do not eat sweets and prefer the theater. But almost everyone wants to leave their workplace early!

15-minute vouchers for the most productive call center employees can be a great incentive to do better work. This solution allows you to motivate almost any operator.

2. Collecting acknowledgments

Many call center operators resent that while all customer complaints are registered, formalized and passed on to management, compliments and gratitude often go unrecorded.

Meanwhile, collecting and voicing feedback from grateful customers can significantly increase the motivation of call center employees. Try sending out last week’s recorded thank you messages once a week to the operators who maintained them.

This is a great opportunity for all other employees to understand how important their work is. And employees who receive gratitude will feel how valuable they are for the company.

3. Call of the month

The most difficult calls from the most “hard” clients shouldn’t go unnoticed, either.

It’s good if your call center practices call records analysis on a monthly basis. In this case, you can quickly and easily choose the call of the month by collecting feedback from managers and supervisors.

Once you’ve found a prime example of a particularly difficult or stressful situation that took place during a call, you can look for the most successful behavioral strategies for those situations. Such an analysis can become not only a recognition of the success of the operator-hero of the call, but also an additional incentive for employees who successfully manage such calls.

4. Daytime vigor

It is no secret that between the afternoon and the end of the working day, a significant decline in the productivity of workers takes place rather often. But we can offer you a quick and easy way to avoid this!

Try asking your call center employees to stand up, not sit down, for one hour after lunch! This method avoids activity drop and makes operator voices sound more energetic and engaging.

Of course, such an innovation should be implemented exclusively on a voluntary basis. In addition, workers with disabilities or back pain, etc., should be warned of possible health problems.

5. Schedule flexibility

A perennial challenge for call center managers is ensuring that enough employees work on a given project. After all, a shortage of operators significantly affects the working conditions of the entire team and of course, reduces productivity.

A competent manager always tries to be responsive to the requests of employees who need to make changes in the schedule. For example, many parents will want to take vacation during school holidays, and students will want to take time off during a session in college.

Only a well-designed scheduling tool allows you to create a call center schedule that will satisfy the needs of all employees. This will help management achieve its goals and bring financial benefits to the company in the long term.

How to take into account personal issues of each employee and at the same time comply with all the requirements of labor legislation? We have a solution!

Conclusion

The Shifton online service will help you quickly and efficiently create, edit the company’s work schedule and employee schedules using convenient templates, as well as confirm requests for leave or sick leave with one click. In addition, operators can independently swap shifts, which reduces the burden on call center managers.

If you are not using Shifton for your business yet, then it’s time to get started! Register and try all the features of the online application for free during the entire trial period!

Top 5 Cloud Call Center Software in 2021-2022

The key to effective customer support is not only well-trained operators, but also quality call center software. Modern technologies help automate operational and business processes in a call center, as well as increase employee productivity.

The main tasks of software for any call center are automation and increasing the efficiency of operational processes: call distribution, filling in customer information, routing, etc.

Optimization of business processes is also important: the ability to monitor the performance of operators in particular and departments in general, analyze key performance indicators and monitor the work of the call center in real time mode.

When choosing call center software, you can improve your customer service by using software that is cloud-based. These are the main advantages of such a solution:

• Better customer service management
• Improved reporting
• Increased efficiency
• Centralized data collection
• Reduced costs
• Increased sales and customer satisfaction
• Enhanced data security
• Multichannel support

5 Best Cloud Call Center Programs in 2021-2022

1. Shifton
   Manual scheduling shifts for operators takes too much time and effort for call center managers. The Shifton online app optimizes day-to-day scheduling operations, reduces turnover and increases employee engagement in order to deliver the best possible customer experience. The Shifton cloud service is ideal for scheduling shifts in a call center. The functionality of the application allows managers to create optimal work schedules, easily schedule shifts and distribute tasks between operators. In addition, employees can independently adjust their work schedule by swapping shifts (with the confirmation of the swap by the manager, if necessary).Shifton helps you create an optimal balanced schedule that ensures the best quality service to your call center customers.
2. CloudTalk
   This innovative cloud-based software provides several unique tools for call centers. The custom waiting in call queuing feature eliminates call forwarding, which helps the sales team close more deals by automating the dialing process. CloudTalk also maintains a high level of customer satisfaction through intelligent call routing, Click-to-Call and IVR options. CloudTalk allows you to set up an online call center with all available devices from anywhere in the world while maintaining local presence with local phone numbers. In addition, this call center software offers hundreds of integrations with CRM, e-commerce, tech support, shopping carts, Zapier and APIs.
3. Avaya
   Avaya Contact Center is a universal cloud or hybrid automation solution for inbound and outbound applications for voice, video, email, and group chats. A unified multi-channel communication system allows remote operator groups to handle calls from anywhere. Avaya Contact Center also provides the features of screen capture, training, and call quality management, as well as real-time reports and statistics for any selected period. In addition, this cloud-based call center software offers engagement recording, voice analytics, and automated scheduling features.
4. MyOperator
   MyOperator call center software allows you to manage multiple calls without spending too much time and effort. The benefit of using this call center software solution is that it has innovative features such as adding music on hold and the ability to take notes while in a conversation with a customer. MyOperator is an easy-to-use cloud service that offers API integration. Its main purpose is to record, forward, transfer and track calls. However, you can also export the call log data for performance analysis as needed.
5. Dialpad
   Dialpad is a web application which helps you take your business communication to the next level. It enables you to communicate with your clients, employees and other businesses with utmost ease making your business communication more efficient and effective. Whether it is voice-based communication or text messages, Dialpad has great solutions for them all. It takes your communication to a new level so that you also enjoy your time while speaking to your clients.

Conclusion

The right cloud-based call center software helps improve efficiency, productivity and customer service. We choose the Shifton online service since it is the perfect application for efficient call center management.

If you do not use Shifton for your business yet, then it’s time to get started! Register and try all the features of the online application for 2 months for free!