In today’s tech-savvy world, managers know what it takes to whip up a schedule using those nifty schedule creators. Who would not want to nail the perfect work schedule, whether you are running a restaurant, call centre, or any industry with shift work?

Today, we are exploring the art of crafting a work schedule that fits each employee’s unique needs and life circumstances. When we talk about top-notch schedule planning, we also talk about slick automated scheduling, killer reporting tools, seamless payroll integration, flexibility, and the ability to tweak things around the clock. Sounds interesting? Keep reading for all the details.

What Is a Schedule Creator?

A work schedule creator is a digital tool you can find online or in an app. It is a lifesaver for managers to schedule employee shifts and progress, making their jobs more manageable. Back then, managers had to manually do all the scheduling, which was wasting time. They had to deal with messy schedules, last-minute holiday requests, absenteeism, and conflicts. But now, with automated scheduling software — an employee’s schedule creator, the problem is solved! Just use these ready-made templates to keep things simple and avoid disputes.

How to Create a Schedule for Employees Easily?

Managers can create schedules online with automated tools easily. Here is a laid-back guide to creating a scheduling spreadsheet:

1. Fire up your spreadsheet programme and start a fresh sheet.
2. Toss in some column headings to keep things organised.
3. Stick “Employee Name” in column A.
4. If you are into employee IDs, pop those in column B.
5. Label the following columns with the days of the week, starting with Monday or whatever works for your week.
6. Drop in your employee names and IDs under the correct headings.
7. Fill in the blanks with shift times, using “am” and “pm” for clarity, or go full military time if you are into that.

Once you have sorted it out, share the schedule with your team however works best — whether it is up on the bulletin board, through email, or on your internal chat. Ensure everyone can see freshly made schedules to know when to clock in. Easy, right?

Meet Shifton Daily Planner Online

Check out Shifton’s cloud service — it is like your go-to buddy for quickly planning work schedules! With a few clicks, you can tweak shifts, jot down notes, confirm who is in or out, handle time-off requests, and more!

Here is what you get:

• A weekly schedule planner that keeps things legal.
• Instant updates to keep everyone in the loop.
• An open shifts auction to fill those gaps effortlessly.
• Easy-to-use shift patterns for stress-free scheduling.
• A timesheet tracker to tally up those hours and wages.

With Shifton, creating schedules is as easy as pie. It has cool automation features that speed things up, and you can save and reuse templates quickly. The result? A neat table that is a breeze to navigate.

Why You Should Use a Daily Planner Online for Staff Scheduling

So picture this: you are a manager and have to juggle employee schedules, right? Well, that is where scheduling software comes in handy. It’s like having your very own assistant, but digital!

Here is why a daily planner is a game-changer:

• Easy Templates: There is no need to start creating schedules from scratch every time. With a daily planner, you have got a bunch of schedule templates to choose from. Pick one that suits your business, and you are ready. It saves time and keeps things looking professional.
• Get Your Team Involved: Give your employees access to the system, and they can check their shifts themselves. Less schedule hassle for you, less back-and-forth. Plus, you get to approve any shift swaps, so it is all fair and square.
• Handy Notifications: Turn on push notifications, and your team gets a heads-up when the latest schedule is up. No more excuses for missing shifts!
• Smooth Conflict Resolution: Holidays? Planned time off? No problem. Employees can request time off directly, and you can approve or deny as needed. The scheduling app adjusts the schedule automatically.
• Schedule Anywhere, Anytime: Forget being stuck in the office. With a Shifton daily planner, you can whip up schedules from anywhere with Wi-Fi. Whether at home or grabbing a coffee, you have the flexibility to get things done when it suits you best.

By using the Shifton Schedule Planner, managers can save a ton of time making work schedules, giving them more space to handle other vital parts of running any business. This handy online tool is like having an extra pair of hands, making daily tasks smoother and keeping the restaurant running like clockwork. But let’s go more specific!

Get Ahead with Restaurant Management Software!

Have you ever heard of the Shifton schedule app? It is like a magic wand for restaurant owners, helping them increase staff efficiency and productivity. With restaurant management software, you can quickly sort out employee shift schedules, ensuring everyone gets their fair share of time off to stay sharp. And the best part? Your staff can swap shifts hassle-free, giving them more freedom and boosting their motivation at work.

Here is why it is a game-changer:

• It cooks up optimal staff rotation schedules in a snap, especially for those busy Friday nights or holiday rushes.
• It is super easy to use. Everything’s neatly organised in one place.
• You can check schedules and make changes anytime, anywhere — no more headaches.

With the Shifton app, managers can breeze through scheduling tasks and focus on running a smooth ship in the restaurant biz.

Discover How Workforce Management Call Centre Software Can Help!

Managing a call centre can be challenging. It requires extensive knowledge, including planning work shifts. Moreover, you are dealing with tight schedules, many customer calls, and high expectations from higher-ups. It is a tough job, no doubt. You must ensure customer satisfaction while protecting your team and the company’s bottom line.

The Shifton schedule planning service is like your trusty sidekick, making the whole process a breeze. It is all covered under one roof, from sorting out shifts to tracking tasks and leave requests.

Check out these perks:

• The visual schedule builder whips up shift assignments like a pro.
• It takes the pain out of creating schedules for any number of call centre projects and staff.
• Keeps schedule tabs on everything from staff availability to hours worked, so you are always in the loop.
• When it comes to payroll, it is a lifesaver — it calculates salaries according to the given schedules, overtime, and all the details.

Plus, the Shifton app is super user-friendly, so everyone in the call centre can get on board. With Shifton, managing schedules and tasks has never been easier!

Wrap-Up

So there you have it! Shifton’s schedule creator is the real deal when crafting the perfect work schedule for your crew. It is not just about nailing shifts; it is also about effortlessly managing schedule tasks, keeping up with social media, handling payroll, and ensuring employee comfort and well-being, among other things. Running a restaurant, or a call centre, scheduling hotel shifts, or maintaining order in a salon or fitness centre can be challenging. However, with Shifton, scheduling becomes a walk in the park.

Automated scheduling reduces time spent juggling schedules and ensures everyone’s in the right place at the right time. So why wait? Sign up now and try our online employee schedule app for free during the trial period!

With the release of our newest modules «Activities» and «Demand & Forecasting» it became clear, Shifton grew up to be something more than just a simple shift planning solution. As a fact, we have too many modules, and we want to simplify their understanding. We decided to merge some modules, providing more value at one click, effectively changing pricing for some modules, to reflect their increased value.

Base module will now include 3 additional reports: «Budget reports », «Company employees» and «Minimum weekly work time report ». Base price module will change to $1 to reflect those additions and tons of other features we added as base functionality over the years.

«Time off requests» will get beautiful insights, previously part of «Vacation Management» and the price will be $1. Now it includes «Time Off Reports» without any additional cost.

«Attendance» module price changing to $1 and following modules price aligned to $0.5: «Employee working hours», «Bonuses/Retentions» & «Pay rate reports». Latter is also renamed to «Payroll» to reflect recent additions to its functionality and our future plans to add even more.

Those changes will take immediate effect for all new customers. Existing customers will enjoy new extended modules at the old price until 1 September 2024, after which their pricing will be updated too.

We value our customers and believe those changes will help them to manage features they need with more ease.

Want to know more? Contact us at support@shifton.com

Most workers have the usual Monday to Friday work week with a typical 9-10 AM to 6-7 PM workday. However, this way of scheduling employees doesn’t fit organisations and companies that have to work round-the-clock: hospitals, call-centres, and fire departments, to mention a few.

For instance, many fire departments implement a 48/96 hour work schedule. This means firemen often have to work for two days on end and are then given four days off. While they do need to be alert for two days with little time for sleep or rest, recent studies have shown that this type of shift work gives them enough time for leisure, sleep, and preparing for the next rotation.

Each hospital must always have nurses available to provide 24/7 patient care. They can work 8/12-hour shifts on 3 workdays/3 days off or 2 workdays/2 days off roster. Generally, nurses work fixed shifts (day or night). For example, day-time nurses start working at 7 AM and finish at 7 PM, while night-time caregivers start at 7 PM, work late-night shift hours, and finish at 7 AM.

Call centres may have their own rules of shift work, however, there are several common ways of maintaining a steady 24/7 work cycle. Managers typically divide a day into 2 or 3 shifts. In the first scenario, a day is divided into two 12-hour shifts for morning and evening workers. The second option allows for three 8-hour shifts. For example: 6 AM – 2 PM (1st), 2 PM – 10 PM (2nd), and 10 PM — 6 AM (3rd).

In some cases, employees are required to alternate between shifts: work morning shifts for a few days and then switch to a night shift for the same duration. According to the latest research, a change in working hours negatively affects sleep and eating patterns. Working a night shift schedule can cause insomnia, high blood pressure, weight and appetite disorders. This article will detail the proper ways of adapting to a night-time schedule.

12-hour night shift sleep schedule example

The human body’s circadian rhythm determines waking and resting hours. People who work in organisations with a 24/7 work cycle, including policemen, firemen, nurses, call centre operators, and petrol station workers, have their circadian clocks disrupted. Generally, managers have to plan shift work so that workers will get enough time for work and rest.

Compared to an 8-hour day shift, night shift (11 PM to 6 AM) work time is decreased from 8 to 7 hours. A worker can also agree to a 12 AM — 5 AM schedule, if necessary. Despite missing five work hours a week compared to their daytime colleagues, night-shift employees receive the same 40-hour-week salary. Night shift staff can be called in for extra hours of work, but not more than 8 hours in 24 hours.

16-17-year-old staff members are forbidden from working between 12 and 4 AM. However, such workers are allowed to work from 10 PM to 6 AM if they are hired by hotels, retail shops, or hospitals. There are no limitations to night shift schedule hours for hospitals, emergency services, TV, and radio stations.

Many workers who have to shift from a morning to an evening shift experience exhaustion, insomnia, changes in weight and appetite. It takes them too much time to get used to new daily waking and sleeping hours, however, there are tricks that make this process less painful for inexperienced workers.

How to get a good night sleep when working late evening shift hours

To painlessly transition between shifts, the body has to be prepared for the coming changes. If an employee switches between morning and evening shifts, the time of waking up and going to bed has to be either extended or shortened. When an employee switches from a morning to a night shift schedule, he has to wake up and go to bed an hour later for a few days. To painlessly transition from night to morning working hours, employees have to wake up and go to bed an hour earlier for a few days.

Whenever your work begins, a good night sleep is a guarantee of a productive day at the job. In general, workers have to sleep at least 6 hours a day to feel well-rested. Those working the night shift have a hard time achieving this goal because our bodies are designed to be active during the daytime. The solution to this problem is adapting the environment to that of the night-time.

Firstly, one should block out all of the noises. Switching off your smartphone, doorbell, and TV is essential. If you are used to sleeping with white noise on, you may purchase good noise cancelling headphones under R3700 to eliminate surrounding sounds interfering with your sleep. It will also work better if the bedroom is located in the quietest place of the house. Having soundproof windows with good insulation will make it easier to block out any outdoor noise. It is also beneficial to tell friends and neighbours about your new sleeping schedule so that they don’t call you accidentally during those hours.

It is also important to make the room as dark as possible even when the sun is shining brightly outside. Covering windows with pitch black curtains is a good solution. Avoid eating or drinking before going to bed. Make it a habit not to take alcohol or caffeine a couple of hours before going to bed. A good read, a hot shower/bath will make it easier for your body to relax and fall asleep.

How shift work changes appetite

The changes in circadian rhythm affect the body’s sleeping as well as eating patterns. Irregular or excessive food consumption, especially at night, makes workers feel tired and restless. Both their productivity and health suffer as a result.

There are several tips for surviving the night shift with minimum risk of developing gastrointestinal diseases or gaining excess weight. Before going to work, it is important to have the biggest meal of the day. That way, you will be energised and ready to take on the day. 6 PM is the best time to have that meal for those working late at night.

What to eat during night shift work

Suffering from drowsiness and fatigue appears to be one of the most common side effects of working the night shift. These feelings can be managed by sticking to a healthy diet. During night shifts, it is better for workers to focus on high-protein food, such as tuna, chicken, tofu, eggs, low-fat cheese. These products will keep employees alert and focused.

They can be combined into nutritious snacks that an employee can bring to work. For example, you can pack some brown rice salad with chicken breast and tofu or a dietary vegetable and beans soup. You can also keep hunger at bay with hazelnuts, apples, Greek yogurt, almonds, carrots, and hummus, which are all perfectly good and healthy choices.

It is also necessary to drink enough water during the night shifts. An adequate amount of liquid will make you less dependent on coffee or sweets as sources of alertness and energy. Sugar-free black and herbal tea, fresh vegetable juices and cold water are all excellent choices for hydration.

What to avoid during night shift work

Eating high-carbohydrate foods shortly before or during the night shift is a guaranteed way to make yourself drowsy and unproductive. Items like potatoes, bread, or cereals sedate and relax workers, making it harder for them to get through the night shift.

Sweetened beverages and food that is high in sugar content can be just as harmful. Soda or a candy bar may initially seem like good sources of energy, but these types of snacks will make you sleepy a couple of hours later. Not to mention, during the nighttime, the human body cannot process sugar effectively.

Too much caffeine is another health threat for night shift workers. It’s okay to drink several cups of coffee at the beginning of a night shift, but consuming it throughout can cause insomnia and other sleeping disorders. Your daily dose shouldn’t exceed 400 mg of caffeine (four small cups).

We hope that night shift workers will find the listed advice helpful.

Technologies are intended to make our lives easier, and in terms of business operation, WFM software fully complies with this statement. Do you know what this exceptional type of software is? Probably, you want to launch WFM scheduling software to guarantee the smooth operation of your staff and business as a whole, but you still have no idea how to do that. Then, our article may be helpful for you.

What is Contact Centre Workforce Management?

Contact centre workforce management (WFM) is a strategic approach to optimising staffing, scheduling, and overall workforce efficiency in call centres. It ensures that the right number of agents with the necessary skills are available at the right time to handle customer interactions. Effective workforce management call centre solutions use AI-driven analytics, forecasting, and automation to enhance both employee performance and customer satisfaction.

The core elements of contact centre workforce management include:

• Forecasting – Predicting call volume trends to plan staffing needs.
• Managing – Monitoring agent performance and workload distribution.
• Scheduling – Creating optimised shift schedules to maintain service levels.

By implementing a structured call centre workforce management solution, businesses can reduce costs, improve agent engagement, and enhance customer experiences.

Forecasting

Accurate call centre workforce management forecasting is the foundation of effective WFM call centre operations. It involves analysing historical data, seasonal trends, and real-time demand to predict customer interactions. Key forecasting methods include:

• Time-Series Analysis – Using past call volume patterns to predict future demand.
• Workload Forecasting – Determining staffing requires based on anticipated customer interactions across multiple channels (calls, emails, live chat, etc.).
• AI-Powered Forecasting – Leveraging machine learning algorithms to refine workforce predictions dynamically.

A well-structured workforce management call centre scheduling process prevents overstaffing (which increases costs) and understaffing (which leads to long wait times and poor customer experiences).

Managing

Managing workforce management in call centre operations involves:

• Tracking Real-Time Agent Performance – Monitoring call resolution rates, handle times, and productivity metrics.
• Optimising Agent Utilisation – Ensuring fair work distribution to prevent burnout and improve job satisfaction.
• Ensuring Compliance – Adhering to labour laws, break schedules, and overtime regulations.

With a workforce management contact centre system, managers can proactively identify bottlenecks, staffing inefficiencies, and training needs, ensuring smooth call centre operations.

Scheduling

Proper workforce management and call centre scheduling ensures that agents are assigned shifts that align with call volume patterns while maintaining work-life balance. Best practices include:

• Automated Scheduling Software – Using AI to create optimised shift plans based on agent skills, availability, and demand.
• Flexible Shift Models – Offering split shifts, hybrid work models, and self-scheduling options to improve employee satisfaction.
• Dynamic Scheduling Adjustments – Adapting schedules in real-time to handle unexpected spikes in call volume.

A well-executed call centre workforce planning strategy boosts productivity, reduces absenteeism, and improves agent retention.

How Does Workforce Management Work?

The main idea of workforce management software is to boost your staff’s operation and ensure that your human resources are applied tip-top according to their job roles, skills, and a certain schedule which should be maintained to streamline the whole workflow.

Typically, the WFM tool varies according to the requirements of the industry and the niche it is applied. Yet in general, the main duties you can handle with this type of software are as follows:

• Development of successful and effective schedules for your employees in an automated mode.
• Time management – namely, tracking your staff’s clock-ins and clock-outs, work hours, days off, sick leave, etc.
• Regulatory compliance – that’s what typical WFM software helps to regulate and implement in the company’s regiment.

That’s the core, and it can be accompanied by additional features and tasks a particular business needs. For instance, you can get a WFM application that can be used on multiple devices, apply labour forecasting tools integrated into it, or add some analytics tools and reports to the product to get clear and accurate analytics for further development of a company.

All these features depend on the idea of software developers mostly, and there are multiple products in the market from basic free WFM software to more sophisticated and complex products offered on a paid basis.

Why Is Workforce Management So Important for Call Centres?

Effective workforce management in a call centre ensures that customer service teams operate efficiently, cost-effectively, and with high employee engagement. Without a structured contact centre WFM strategy, call centres face inconsistent service levels, high turnover rates, and unnecessary labour costs.

Key reasons why workforce management in call centres is essential:

• Maintains Service Levels – Ensures customers receive timely responses with minimal wait times.
• Optimises Employee Performance – Helps agents stay productive without experiencing burnout.
• Improves Customer Experience – Satisfied agents provide better service.
• Controls Labour Costs – Prevents overstaffing and unnecessary expenses.
• Boosts Agent Morale – Fair scheduling leads to happier employees.

A contact centre workforce management strategy aligns business goals with employee well-being, resulting in smoother operations and improved customer satisfaction.

WFM’s Role in a Contact Centre

Call centre WFM plays a crucial role in maintaining operational efficiency by addressing:

• Staffing Needs – Ensuring the right number of agents are available per shift.
• Call Routing Optimisation – Assigning the best-suited agents to specific customer interactions.
• Performance Monitoring – Tracking agent activity to identify improvement areas.
• Schedule Compliance – Ensuring adherence to assigned shifts and break times.

By leveraging call centre workforce management systems, businesses can streamline operations and improve service levels.

Why Use Call Centre WFM Tools?

Adopting workforce management software call centre solutions provides better scheduling, real-time monitoring, and workforce analytics. These tools are designed to:

Maintaining Service Levels

• Ensures the right number of agents are scheduled based on call volume predictions.
• Reduces abandoned calls, long wait times, and agent fatigue.
• Helps maintain customer service KPIs, such as first-call resolution (FCR) and response times.

Optimising Employee Performance

• Provides data-driven insights into agent workload, call handling efficiency, and peak productivity hours.
• Identifies training needs to improve call quality and response accuracy.
• Prevents overworking employees by balancing workloads effectively.

Better Customer Experience

• Improves call routing by assigning the right agent to the right task.
• Reduces customer wait times, increasing satisfaction and loyalty.
• Ensures consistent service quality across all shifts and time zones.

Optimising Labour Costs

• Prevents overstaffing during low-demand periods, saving payroll costs.
• Reduces overtime expenses by ensuring proper shift planning.
• Maximises workforce utilisation for higher ROI on labour investment.

Boosting Agent Morale

• Provides predictable schedules that align with employee preferences.
• Reduces burnout by ensuring reasonable workloads and rest breaks.
• Increases retention by creating a positive work environment.

Implementing contact centre workforce management software ensures better control over staffing, compliance, and service quality, leading to higher productivity and reduced operational costs.

Key Features of Call Centre Workforce Management

A well-structured workforce management call centre strategy depends on advanced tools and features that ensure accurate scheduling, real-time monitoring, and operational efficiency. Modern contact centre workforce management software includes functionalities designed to optimise agent performance, control labour costs, and enhance customer service levels.

Here are the key features that make call centre workforce management systems effective:

Staff Forecasting and Scheduling

One of the most critical aspects of workforce management in call centre operations is accurate forecasting. By analysing historical data, seasonal trends, and real-time demand, businesses can:

• Predict call volume fluctuations and adjust staffing levels accordingly.
• Schedule agents efficiently to prevent overstaffing or understaffing.
• Improve service levels by aligning the right number of employees with expected workloads.

With AI-powered workforce management call centre scheduling, managers can automate

Consistent Customer Experiences

A structured call centre workforce planning approach ensures that:

• Customers receive fast and efficient support, regardless of the time of day.
• Service levels remain consistent across all shifts and channels (phone, email, chat, social media).
• Agents are properly allocated to handle high-demand periods.

By integrating call centre workforce optimisation tools, businesses enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Agent Job Satisfaction and Engagement

A workforce call centre strategy isn’t just about productivity — it also focuses on agent well-being. The best workforce management contact centre tools provide:

• Flexible scheduling options that give employees control over their shifts.
• Fair workload distribution, preventing stress and burnout.
• Employee feedback mechanisms to keep agents engaged and motivated.

High agent engagement leads to lower turnover rates and a more efficient call centre workforce.

AI-Optimised Schedules

Artificial intelligence plays a significant role in call centre workforce management by:

• Predicting peak and slow periods with high accuracy.
• Adjusting schedules dynamically based on real-time call volume.
• Optimising break times to ensure continuous coverage without disrupting service.

With AI-driven call centre workforce management solutions, businesses reduce manual scheduling efforts and improve overall efficiency.

Shift Bidding

Letting agents bid for shifts based on their availability and preferences boosts:

• Work-life balance, making schedules more flexible.
• Employee satisfaction, leading to better retention.
• Fair shift distribution, ensuring all employees get a chance for desirable shifts.

Shift bidding is a crucial feature in modern workforce management software for call centre solutions.

Time and Attendance Tracking

Tracking work schedule adherence is vital for:

• Making sure employees clock in and out on time.
• Managing absenteeism and spotting patterns.
• Preventing excessive overtime and breaching labour laws.

By integrating time-tracking features, managers keep full visibility into workforce efficiency.

Real-Time Team Management

A workforce management call centre solution must let supervisors:

• Monitor agent activity in real-time.
• Identify and sort out workload imbalances before they impact service levels.
• Make live schedule changes to handle unexpected demand surges.

This feature ensures that managers can respond immediately to any scheduling or staffing issues.

Operational Efficiency

Using workforce management in a call centre improves operational workflows by:

• Reducing manual scheduling efforts, saving time and resources.
• Optimising shift coverage to maintain consistent service levels.
• Boosting workforce productivity, ensuring better customer interactions.

With the right call centre WFM tools, businesses run more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Budget Savings

A well-managed workforce management call centre strategy leads to:

• Lower labour costs by preventing overstaffing and unnecessary overtime.
• More efficient resource allocation, cutting wasted payroll expenses.
• Better financial planning, ensuring labour budgets align with revenue goals.

Companies using contact centre workforce management software reduce costs while enhancing service delivery.

Reporting and Analytics

Data-driven insights are essential for ongoing improvements. A strong workforce management call centre system provides:

• Performance tracking for individual agents and teams.
• Detailed workforce reports to optimise shift planning.
• AI-driven analytics to improve forecasting and staffing decisions.

With robust reporting tools, businesses make informed scheduling decisions driving better results.

Benefits of Workforce Management Software

Investing in workforce management software call centre solutions significantly boosts operational efficiency, employee satisfaction, and customer service quality. These systems automate complex tasks, improve accuracy, and offer data-driven insights for better decision-making.

Here are the top benefits of contact centre workforce management software:

1. Increased Accuracy in Scheduling and Forecasting

Using AI-driven workforce management call centre forecasting, businesses can:

• Predict call volume fluctuations with precision.
• Reduce scheduling errors causing overstaffing or understaffing.
• Ensure optimal workforce distribution based on demand trends.

Accurate scheduling improves productivity, making sure agents are available when they are needed most.

2. Reduce the Amount of Time Spent Scheduling

Manual scheduling is time-consuming and prone to human error. A call centre workforce management solution automates:

• Shift assignments, ensuring fair and balanced work distribution.
• Break and lunch scheduling, optimising agent availability.
• Last-minute schedule changes, handling unforeseen absences smoothly.

By eliminating manual scheduling tasks, managers save time and can focus on improving customer service strategies.

3. Ensure Schedule Adherence

A contact centre workforce management system ensures:

• Agents follow their assigned work schedules.
• Breaks and lunch periods comply with company policies and labour laws.
• Real-time alerts notify managers of schedule deviations.

Sticking to schedules and policies leads to higher service consistency and regulatory compliance.

4. Understand Where Agents Need Extra Support

A strong workforce management call centre system tracks:

• Performance gaps, pinpointing agents who may need extra training.
• Workload distribution, ensuring no staff member is overworked or underutilised.
• Real-time agent productivity, allowing for quick adjustments.

By analysing workforce data, businesses can implement targeted training and coaching programmes.

5. Create a Better Agent Experience

Happy agents provide better customer service. Workforce management solutions help:

• Provide fair and flexible scheduling that aligns with agent preferences.
• Reduce stress and burnout by balancing workloads.
• Offer self-scheduling features, giving employees more control over their shifts.

A better work-life balance leads to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates.

6. Promote Regulatory Compliance

Labour laws and compliance requirements differ across industries and regions. Workforce management in a call centre ensures:

• Adherence to work-hour limits and overtime regulations.
• Automated break and lunch scheduling to comply with labour laws.
• Accurate tracking of hours worked, preventing payroll discrepancies.

By maintaining compliance with legal requirements, businesses avoid penalties and improve workforce transparency.

Call Centre Workforce Management Best Practices

Implementing call centre workforce management best practices ensures that call centres operate efficiently, cost-effectively, and with high employee engagement. By optimising scheduling, leveraging technology, and maintaining agent satisfaction, businesses can enhance service levels while reducing operational expenses.

Below are the most effective best practices for workforce management call centre operations:

1. Choose the Right WFM Software

Selecting the right workforce management software for call centres is critical for accurate forecasting, real-time scheduling, and performance tracking. Key factors to consider:

• AI-driven scheduling capabilities to automate and optimise workforce allocation.
• Real-time monitoring to track agent adherence and workload balance.
• Self-service options that allow employees to swap or request shifts.
• Analytics and reporting features to improve decision-making.

With contact centre workforce management software, businesses can enhance productivity and optimise resource allocation.

2. Schedule the Right Agents at the Right Time

Proper scheduling prevents staffing shortages and excessive overtime costs. To optimise workforce management in a call centre, companies should:

• Leverage In-Depth Analytics. Use historical data and AI-based forecasting to predict call volumes, peak hours, and seasonal trends.
• Empower Your Employees. Allow agents to request preferred shifts while ensuring coverage for critical time slots.
• Build a Knowledge Base. Provide training and resources to enhance agent skills and improve scheduling efficiency.
• Empower Employees with Self-Service. Enable shift swaps and availability updates through a workforce call centre management system.
• Continuous Learning. Offer ongoing training programmes to enhance agent efficiency and adaptability.
• Don’t Forget About Shrinkage. Factor in absenteeism, breaks, and meeting times to ensure full shift coverage.
• Be Adaptable. Use real-time scheduling tools to adjust shifts dynamically based on demand fluctuations.

By applying these scheduling strategies, businesses maximise workforce efficiency and agent productivity.

3. Help Keep Agent Morale High and Prevent Burnout

Agent well-being and engagement directly impact customer service quality. To maintain high morale, managers should:

Provide Schedule Predictability or Autonomy

• Give employees advance notice of shift schedules to improve work-life balance.
• Offer flexible scheduling options, such as hybrid work models or shift bidding.

Keep Agents Engaged

• Implement gamification to make daily tasks more interactive and rewarding.
• Foster a positive work environment with recognition programmes.

Show Appreciation for Great Work

• Provide incentives and bonuses for top-performing agents.
• Recognise hard work and achievements to boost motivation.

A positive workplace culture leads to lower turnover rates and higher service quality.

4. Let AI Take the Grunt Work

AI-powered workforce management call centre scheduling tools eliminate manual errors and streamline operations by:

• Automating demand-based scheduling to prevent overstaffing and understaffing.
• Optimising agent assignments based on performance, skills, and customer needs.
• Improving workforce flexibility with real-time shift adjustments.

With AI-driven workforce management contact centre solutions, businesses enhance efficiency and reduce administrative workload.

5. Incorporate Employee (and Customer) Feedback

Listening to both employees and customers helps fine-tune workforce management strategies. Best practices include:

• Conducting regular employee surveys to identify scheduling challenges.
• Using customer feedback to assess service levels and adjust staffing accordingly.
• Implementing workforce management call centre job reviews to boost agent performance and satisfaction.

Integrating feedback into call centre workforce management solutions leads to better agent experiences and higher customer satisfaction rates.

How Software Can Support Your Call Centre Workforce Management

Adopting workforce management software call centre solutions simplifies staff scheduling, real-time monitoring, and performance tracking. Advanced contact centre workforce management software automates forecasting, shift planning, and compliance tracking, ensuring businesses optimise resources while maintaining high service levels.

Here’s how call centre workforce management systems support efficient operations:

Track KPIs and Metrics

Measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) allows businesses to improve workforce management call centre strategies. Essential KPIs include:

• Call Volume Trends – Tracks fluctuations in incoming customer requests to refine forecasting.
• First-Call Resolution (FCR) – Measures how effectively agents resolve issues in a single interaction.
• Schedule Adherence – Ensures employees follow assigned shifts and break schedules.
• Occupancy Rate – Determines agent productivity levels to prevent overwork or underutilisation.
• Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT) – Evaluates service quality and agent performance.

By analysing real-time data, businesses can continuously optimise workforce operations.

Automate Schedule Adherence and Approvals

Automating workforce management in a call centre ensures schedule consistency by:

• Enforcing work-hour limits to prevent excessive overtime.
• Managing shift swaps while maintaining adequate coverage.
• Automating break scheduling to comply with labour laws.
• Providing real-time adherence alerts to help managers address issues proactively.

With workforce management call centre scheduling tools, managers can reduce scheduling conflicts and improve compliance.

Enable Skills-Based Routing

Effective workforce management contact centre strategies include skill-based call routing, which:

• Matches customers with the most qualified agents, improving first-contact resolution.
• Enhances operational efficiency by directing specialised inquiries to expert teams.
• Reduces call transfer rates, leading to faster response times and improved customer satisfaction.

With AI-powered workforce call centre solutions, businesses increase efficiency while optimising agent workload distribution.

Use Predictive Forecasting

Call centre workforce forecasting tools analyse historical trends, real-time demand, and seasonal fluctuations to:

• Adjust staffing levels dynamically based on predicted workload.
• Prevent overstaffing during low-demand periods, reducing labour costs.
• Ensure peak demand is met with adequate agent coverage.

By leveraging predictive analytics, businesses improve workforce allocation and service consistency.

Thank you for clarifying! I am making amendments in the last section, removing mentions of AI and productivity.

How Shifton Can Help with Workforce Management Call Centre Solutions

Shifton is a cloud-based service designed for employee shift planning and scheduling. It helps businesses efficiently manage workforce schedules, reduce administrative workload, and improve shift coordination. Key benefits include:

• Automated Shift Planning – Quickly creates optimised work schedules, ensuring fair shift distribution.
• Real-Time Adjustments – Allows managers to modify schedules instantly to accommodate staffing needs.
• Self-Scheduling Features – Enables employees to bid for shifts, request swaps, and set availability preferences.
• Flexible Scheduling Options – Supports fixed, rotating, and part-time shifts, making workforce management more adaptable.
• Compliance Support – Helps businesses structure shifts according to labour laws and company policies.

With Shifton’s intuitive scheduling platform, businesses can streamline workforce planning, improve team coordination, and maintain seamless shift operations.

Automation can be applied in almost everything, even in the niche of security services. Besides special security monitoring tools, you can use security guard scheduling software to enhance your company’s efficiency and boost it to top levels.

At Shifton, we have multiple successful case studies of implementing security guard management software, and we’re happy to share some of the secrets and highlights of such a tech solution with our blog readers.

What is Security Guard Scheduling Software?

The main idea of security scheduling software is to optimise your human resources for maximum efficiency. In the context of a security department or a company offering security and bodyguard services, this product addresses the following issues:

• Correct scheduling to provide fair and transparent shifts for everyone working in your company. You can create schedules and share them with your staff instantly in a single environment to inform them, or even allow them to select when to work and which shifts to pick up.
• Preventing overwork. This tool helps management avoid overloading some workers, while others may be idle and earn less.
• Control the time of your staff. Particularly, in Shifton, we use GPS in our security staff scheduling software, allowing a business owner or a manager to oversee each worker’s clock-ins and clock-outs, their absence from the workplace, or issues of being late.
• Accurate accounting processes. In the security service business, you have several factors to consider when calculating payroll. With the aid of an adjusted security guard schedule template, you can calculate salaries automatically, add bonuses or penalties for each employee, and easily send ready-made tables with payroll calculations to your accounting department.

How Does Security Guard Scheduling Software Work?

Of course, each security scheduling software may have its unique features in terms of its functions, but typically, it operates similarly.

• You have an environment your employees can access where you create schedules using pre-set templates or by developing your own template.
• You can easily fill in the form and distribute work shifts and hours among your workers.
• When it’s time to calculate payroll, the platform automatically counts work hours for each employee and generates a table or a report you can use for payroll.
• If your software is also security guard tracking software, it provides special tools to mark work hours and allow your workers to signal when they start and end their shifts.

That’s a brief overview of any security guard scheduling software. However, if you want it to be the most effective and provide advanced functionality, you can get all those benefits from Shifton.

Shifton Best Security Guard Scheduling Software of 2024

Why do we claim Shifton is the best security guard management software? There are numerous reasons for that. Generally, the core features making our product the #1 in the market for security service agencies and security departments are as follows:

• Built-in scenarios and templates for efficiently scheduling workflow in the agency. We offer customers numerous templates fitting various business and hiring models, which you can adjust to your specific workflow.
• A special task module offering extensive possibilities to assign tasks beyond creating schedules and shifts. This multifactor assignment module helps monitor who is in charge and when, as well as assign tasks to be completed during the shift.
• Easy and flexible shift changes. In case of an emergency or other situation, you can change shifts, provide replacements, and simultaneously receive instant information about each worker’s total work hours to prevent overwork.
• Instant communication with your staff. Shifton offers straightforward communication with the entire staff using the app’s built-in tools. You can promptly inform workers about changes, get their feedback, and contact them through the app when your personnel is in the field.
• Alert tools help deliver your messages to staff instantly, with seamless receipt control.
• Advanced payroll tools offer comprehensive salary calculation, including special bonus and penalty accounting scenarios.
• Tracking tools aid in monitoring performance of tasks, shift attendance, and timely arrivals.

That’s the basic kit we offer, and in addition, you can use this tool for forecasting, analytics, and planning. You gain access to multiple integrated report forms and analytic tools.

Understanding the Value of Security Guard Scheduling Software

But what makes security scheduling software so essential for niche businesses? Let’s explore the most impactful benefits.

Optimised Coverage for Security Goals

Nothing is worse than understaffing in the security industry. Failing to provide enough guards to ensure the highest security levels means losing more than just a client; it also affects your reputation. With special security scheduling software, you can plan your security coverage and engage as many people as needed for impeccable performance.

Improved Visibility and Accountability

Shifton, as an example of security management software, offers the highest level of visibility and accountability. You no longer need to write plans and check them in the office. Instead, you instantly see schedules and current tasks for each employee, know who is in the field right now and who is on their day off. There’s no need to spend time on calls and clarifying the current situation. Simply launch the app and receive instant information about everything relating to your personnel.

Lower Scheduling Overhead

Save your time on scheduling and managing multiple details. This can be automatically done by your security scheduling software. Even the most complex rules and calculations are error-free with the help of the software.

Real-Time Monitoring

Real-time workflow monitoring is invaluable. This way, you can respond promptly to new circumstances, plan future routines in advance, and receive instant information about emergencies, delays, or any additional situations. You can then promptly address them to maintain smooth operations.

Improved Communication

The key in every business is clear and fast communication between team members and managers. That’s why using security guard management software helps maintain fast and convenient communication. You can receive instant feedback from your guards on task completion, get schedule change requests from employees unable to pick up shifts, or notify your staff about anything, with guaranteed delivery to all.

These features, implemented using state-of-the-art technology by Shifton, assist businesses engaged in security services in achieving their goals and providing clients with exceptional levels of service. Additionally, such software reduces costs and time expenses for CEOs, allowing them to focus on more important tasks instead of constantly monitoring, informing, and scheduling their staff.

Being a hotelier or a CEO in the hospitality industry comes with numerous responsibilities, challenges, and emergencies that can be managed with employee management software for hotels. It’s widely known that a large portion of processes in any hotel revolves around mutual communication with your staff. In hotels, it’s common to have many employees. Even if it’s a family-run business, you can’t manage it on your own.

This leads to another point: most of the challenges and mistakes you might encounter while trying to establish your hotel business arise from a lack of timely and effective communication between you and your staff. At Shifton, we clearly understand this and are ready to assist you in handling such situations by sharing our expertise and our hotel scheduling software.

How to manage hotel staff: keys to success

Your team should work seamlessly because your hotel’s reputation and your customers’ loyalty greatly depend on their performance. This means you should anticipate all possible challenges that may hinder the efforts you put into creating a flawless hotel. Consider these very carefully:

• Lack of communication between your employees and teams.
• Difficulties with shift scheduling and resulting customer service issues.
• Low flexibility in managing staff, which leads to shortages over time.
• Poorly developed task management.
• Lack of motivation and an ineffective system of rewards and penalties.

Besides your efforts to address these issues, employee management software for hotels can be beneficial in reviewing and adjusting your staff operations. Save time, consider communication channels to contact your staff promptly, but first, analyse which issues commonly occur in your operations in order to address them.

Communication issues in the hospitality industry

The most crucial aspect to ensure in the hotel industry is communication. You need your managers to book rooms on time for clients and inform housekeeping about which rooms need cleaning. You require timely information about who starts the shift today and who will be on shift tomorrow. Your bartenders need to communicate their supply needs for the bar, and the security service must provide timely reports. That’s just the surface of the matter, and communication is the foundation of success. What happens in its absence?

• The entire operation may descend into chaos.
• Customers may be dissatisfied and leave negative reviews about your work.
• Staff shortages become unavoidable.
• You lose money, and instead of motivating good employees, you may lose them.

Sounds bleak, doesn’t it? Yet, besides your time, you need just one more thing to keep hotels running smoothly. That’s staff scheduling software for hotels, which helps manage multiple issues simultaneously.

Automation of staff management and planning

When you acquire Shifton’s employee management software for hotels, you gain an all-in-one tool.

1. Your staff won’t miss their shifts or overwork because a GPS-powered time clock helps clock in and out directly from their mobile devices.
2. You create schedules for all teams as easily as possible using integrated hotel employee schedule templates.
3. You receive instant insights into your establishment’s operations through automated reporting within the software.
4. You streamline daily tasks and operations, enhancing time management effectiveness.
5. Automated HR tasks assist in a more efficient and personalised hiring and onboarding process.
6. You establish a framework for communication and information where employees can access vital details on the go, as Shifton functions as employee mobile apps for hotels.
7. Receiving feedback from your staff is crucial, and you gain a digital social feed that boosts employee engagement and collaboration.
8. Seamless payroll and accounting integration with QuickBooks Online helps you calculate salaries fairly and swiftly, thus automatically motivating good employees.

How to improve the management of a work team?

Efficient team management in the hospitality industry can significantly impact customer satisfaction and overall business success. With Shifton, you can implement the following tips and see immediate results.

• Utilise specific scheduling templates like 2/2, 3/3, 1/3, 5/2 to create effective shifts and allocate your staff logically and efficiently.
• Use the Tasks tool to assign tasks to employees, track their completion, create checklists for cleaning staff and kitchen staff, for example, and instantly check task statuses to ensure everything is proceeding smoothly. This facilitates operations and makes task management work to your advantage.
• Notify your staff via their mobile apps. By operating within a common framework, your employees will receive automatic push notifications and reminders, ensuring they don’t miss them.
• Provide greater flexibility by allowing online shift, weekend, and sick day exchanges. Your staff will appreciate prompt responses to their urgent needs for replacements or sick days. Your business stands to gain as well.
• Motivate your employees with overtime bonuses. They can be calculated automatically, as Shifton calculates each employee’s working hours and provides clear reports on who overworks today.
• Manage breaks so that they don’t negatively impact your business. Create pre-planned breaks or set caps on the number and length of breaks.
• Monitor attendance and receive timely information about when a person actually starts and finishes their shift, who was late or missed a shift.

These tips can help you in efficiently managing a hotel even if your team has over 100 employees.

Employee management software for hospitality

With reliable employee management software for hotels, you can schedule employees more efficiently and flexibly replace them in emergencies.

• Assign staff shifts according to job roles and availability.
• Use drag and drop, assign shifts in bulk, set recurring shifts, create customisable templates, and even allow employees to claim open shifts available.
• Easily resolve scheduling issues with alerts for overtime, limitations, or conflicts.
• Send push notifications to employees, enabling them to immediately accept or decline shifts directly from their mobile devices.
• Include shift tasks, notes, and files within the schedule so employees know exactly what to do when they arrive at work.
• Complete oversight over collaborative staff scheduling in real-time, even while on the go.

Communication is the cornerstone of efficient hotel management. However, ensuring it can be challenging. Thanks to modern automated tools, you can delegate a portion of communication and interaction processes in your staff to these solutions. Today, Shifton offers hotel businesses an all-purpose automation tool that aids in staff management, shift management, handling emergent situations, recruiting, and motivating your team. Simply choose it and use it to succeed with this employee mobile app for hotels.

The team at Shifton keeps improving a tool for selecting and deploying medical staff for shifts, introducing the nurse schedule template. No one doubts anymore that efficient planning plays an essential role in healthcare, ensuring that hospitals and clinics run smoothly. Let’s talk about how a chosen nurse scheduling app or template assists with online schedule planning.

Nurse Schedule Templates: What Is It?

Nurse schedule templates are like the backbone of the hospital nurse shift management system. They’re ready-made documents that help managers plan when their nursing teams work. These schedules cover all types of shifts, from day to night. Plus, they consider each staff member’s preferences, like when they can and can’t work, to keep everyone satisfied and the schedule running smoothly.

How do Nurse Schedule Templates Boost Hospital and Clinic Management?

Nurse schedule templates are super important for running hospitals and clinics smoothly. Lots of healthcare facilities are using them to simplify nurse staffing schedules, and here’s why:

No Mess: These templates help reduce mistakes in scheduling so you don’t end up short-staffed and scrambling to cover shifts. Managers can easily spot gaps or overlaps and sort them out to ensure there’s always someone on duty.

Time Saver: Using healthcare staff scheduling templates or apps saves a lot of time compared to making schedules from scratch every week. Adjust a pre-made template or update an app instead.

Happy Nurses: Nursing is challenging, so keeping nurses satisfied is essential. Using these templates means nurses get clear, fair schedules they can plan around. That results in a happier, more productive team.

Transparency: Managing nurse scheduler apps and templates also makes schedules more transparent. Everyone can see who’s working when, so there’s no perception of any special treatment. It’s all about teamwork and ensuring patients get top-notch care.

How to Create a Nurse Schedule Template

While countless templates are available online for staff scheduling, creating your own is straightforward — simpler than you’d expect. It’s a one-time task that will save you time in the long run. Here are 5 easy steps for you to follow:

1. Pick a platform. Use Excel, Google Sheets, or online nurse scheduling software.
2. Personalise the template with your organisation’s details and staff names.
3. If necessary, include hourly rates for staff.
4. Populate the schedule based on staff availability, ensuring everyone’s workload is balanced.
5. Share the schedule with your team, controlling who can edit it as needed.

Enhancing Nurse Shift Schedules: 6 Helpful Tips

Healthcare organisations need to up their game when it comes to nurse scheduling to boost clinical and business results. Crafting a nurse shift schedule is just the beginning; to make it work for everyone, check out these six tips:

Use Nurse Scheduling Software

Nurse scheduling software is great because it keeps everything clear and transparent, so your team always knows when and where they work. Say goodbye to old-school Excel sheets and try shift scheduling software like Shifton. It makes scheduling easy, even with the medical staff’s hectic and constantly changing schedules. Plus, it handles time-off requests and tracks attendance and payroll — all in one handy spot.

Consider What Your Staff Want

When sorting out schedules, consider what your nursing crew prefers. It’s an easy way to keep them happy, boost their spirits, and retain them. Some folks prefer specific shifts, while others might want to avoid working on particular days. Working around these preferences will make your team happier and less likely to leave.

Have Backup Plans

Life’s unpredictable, so be ready for emergencies. While it’s unfortunate, these things happen, and they can disrupt the shift schedule, especially during those major hospital shift changes. It’s great if you have an on-call nurse who can always step in when needed, just like many clinics do.

Keep Your Schedule Updated

Don’t let your schedule gather dust. Make sure you keep an eye on the nurse’s schedule and refresh it every now and then. That way, it stays current with any changes in staff availability, hospital needs, etc. The last thing you want is for your team to check an outdated schedule and miss shifts or show up late, throwing off the whole nurse shift change routine.

Give Your Nurses Some Rest

Make sure your nurses get adequate downtime between shifts to recharge. When nurses don’t get enough rest, they’re more likely to suffer needlestick injuries and face health issues like hypertension, obesity, diabetes, depression, and heart problems. Plus, working long hours can lead to compassion fatigue. That’s why it’s vital to automate shift planning. Smart shift scheduling software can handle scheduling smoothly, unlike humans, who can easily make mistakes.

Good Communication Is Key

Keeping your team informed about their schedules is crucial to keeping everyone content and avoiding mix-ups. Want to keep the good vibes flowing in your crew? Always keep them in the loop about what’s happening and any upcoming changes. Using a nurse scheduling app where everyone can quickly check in? That’s a brilliant idea!

Final Thoughts

Using nurse staffing software makes managing your workload simpler and boosts productivity. When this critical task isn’t done well, it can cause problems for nurses, nurse leaders, hospitals, and patients. Poor scheduling can also make nurses unhappy and cost hospitals a lot in overtime pay. That’s where Shifton helps out! As a nurse manager, ensuring your nursing staff is well-organised is key to facilitating seamless patient care.

With Shifton, you can:

• Easily organise and oversee your nursing team to ensure sufficient coverage.
• Monitor patient care tasks, such as medication administration and procedures.
• Coordinate and communicate with your team effortlessly.

Bid farewell to the headaches of manual scheduling. Everyone’s heard about it — in 2024, nurse scheduling apps will be rolling out. They’re all about making shift planning easier, reducing paperwork, and helping nurses balance work and life.

Give Shifton software a try today for smoother nursing management.

Following the schedule is one of the most important things in any company’s working process. Professionals need to value their time and use it properly during working hours. Workers can make use of the following advice to make their job less hectic.

Knowing your limits is one of the simplest time management tips

Don’t be afraid to speak to your management if you encounter difficulties. It’s better to clear things up from the beginning than to wait until the situation gets out of hand. For example, if you need to book a hotel for a business trip, ensure you reserve the correct number of rooms, and the hotel is in the right part of town. You should also inquire about any financial limits.

You can’t always handle things alone. There’s no shame in asking for help from your co-workers. If you were given a task you can’t manage, you can distribute work among some of your colleagues. This can be done if, for example, you are tasked with front-end work on an entire website. You can delegate the work on a couple of pages to fellow programmers. This way, you will save yourself from unnecessary fatigue and have a higher chance of finishing the assignment on time.

Don’t waste your time loitering

Whatever happens, you should stay focused on your responsibilities. Don’t jump off your chair the second you see your boss leave the office. Focus on your work instead of aimlessly walking around the office and chatting with co-workers. We advise that you make a detailed work plan to keep yourself on track.

Try to keep away from distractions. There’s nothing wrong with calling our friends and loved ones from time to time. This practice, however, can turn into a bad habit if the phone calls and texting get out of control.

Organise your work space

Treating your work desk with respect has to be one of the top time management tips. Pay particular attention to where your documents are stored. That way, you won’t waste precious time looking for them. Write down all of your assignments in a work journal or a digital document. Otherwise, you risk forgetting about them. You also shouldn’t eat where you work. This lowers concentration and makes you sleepy.

Be punctual

Try to arrive at work and leave on time. Taking too many days off without a strong reason or without notifying your superiors is a bad idea. If you want to leave work earlier, let your manager know about it.

Don’t make colleagues wait for your part of the job to be done. Especially if you work on a big project and people rely on you. Your inaction or lazy work will affect their progress as well.

It seems that many of us are capable of sorting our time and our staff’s time properly and sensibly. If that’s the case, then why do we often face a shortage of this prominent, valuable and unfortunately limited resource? At first, it seems we’re doing everything right: jotting down plans in our notebooks, cutting down distractions, and sticking to our goals. Perhaps the root cause of our losses and time deficit lies in not following effective time management rules? Let’s try to figure out what causes this and learn how to manage our time effectively and logically.

To do this, we need to discuss the four-frame model of time management. To comprehend its principles, we must first define what time management actually means. Effective time management is a science, a tool or teaching about properly managing, distributing, organising, recording, and using time.

Why do we need the time management process?

• It’s a tool that allows us to complete the biggest number of set tasks in the shortest time possible;

• The time management process helps us set our work priorities straight;

• It gives us a chance to focus on the most important tasks first and only tackle less critical responsibilities after handling high-priority assignments;

• By following proper time management models, you’ll make time for leisure, family, and a lively life outside work.

Of course, bear in mind that effective time management will lead you to master new important skills and methods used to achieve specific goals and complete significant projects. Time management is a big mechanism that includes a wide range of actions, skills, and abilities like any other discipline. These include proper goal planning, delegating responsibility, making lists and plans, monitoring, analysing time costs, evaluating the value of various actions, setting priorities, etc.

What exactly is a four-frame model?

Classic time management emerged a while ago when there was a solitary approach to management. The world is constantly evolving, and the same goes for the study of effective time distribution. After the 2012 release of the book “Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership” by Lee Bolman and Terry Deal, the time management process was seen as a complex, layered apparatus. That’s when the concept of the “four-frame model” first appeared. It’s a system for managing your time, as well as the system, process, yourself, and other people.

The main difference between monostatic and four-frame management is that traditional time management is more oriented towards controlling time based on a single component — its priority. More specifically, it was about doing your tasks depending on their importance. The four-frame model is a more detailed, accurate, and multifaceted tool that uncovers patterns and different time management models.

In simpler terms, to make your work and your employee’s work effective and successful, you have to stop viewing time management as a one-sided issue. When doing your job, you need to pay attention to all four factors mentioned below. Each will help you achieve goals and keep up with deadlines.

• You need to learn how to use each minute of your time properly and have complete control over it;

• A good company director must develop a system to carry out specific tasks, whether it concerns his duties or work done by employees;

• You need to be in complete control of how employees work on certain tasks and projects. This doesn’t mean you should constantly control every work process aspect. It should be noted that a company CEO has to inspect and oversee the most valuable or problematic work areas;

• The final but not least important four-frame time management factor: a good manager must have self-discipline, the ability to control subordinates, be self-possessed, and make rational and consistent decisions.

Of course, one should not forget about self-discipline as it’s important for employees of any rank: from top to bottom. When both you and your employees are orderly and courteous, planning effective time management is a breeze. If you lack self-organisation skills and aren’t good at setting priorities, you’ll struggle to systematise and structure your own time.

Using this model among all time management models, you’ll begin to control your time, your employees’ time, and the work process as a whole. It’s as if this tool was specially tailored for your perception of time, your attitude to life and work. It will consider the peculiarities of your system and your work process and will be oriented towards the people around you.

Being a real estate agent involves tasks that include multiple functions, large amounts of data, and constant communication with property sellers, buyers and developers, although most of these functions can be entrusted to specialised software for real estate management. Are you surprised? Then, let’s discuss in detail how real estate software for property management and scheduling assists businesses in maintaining the highest level of service and, therefore, high customer satisfaction.

If you want to succeed in the competitive real estate market, it’s crucial to stay ahead of other agents. This means you shouldn’t restrict yourself to one location and should acquire as many property offers as possible to sell. A real estate showing scheduler will be useful to help you streamline your business and team.

Real estate scheduling apps don’t just limit you to scheduling routines. They are extensive and also assist you with numerous tasks you may have:

• controlling your busy schedules;
• securing more listing appointments;
• planning cleaners’ visits and decorators’ work during the pre-showing stage;
• calculating payroll for your staff if you are a real estate agency owner;
• providing easy and effective communication within your team.

If you manage your schedule well, you will maximise the number of appointments and showings, which will directly impact your commission cheque.

The Features of the Best Property Management Software in 2024

Let’s explore how software for real estate management can simplify your daily routines, and which of its features are particularly beneficial for real estate agents:

Job scheduling option

When you have a team working for you, you need to schedule their work, spread the load, and check their assignments to ensure the smooth operation of the agency, which attracts clientele and thus, profit. An opportunity to build optimal schedules for your employees based on each employee’s submitted availability and job qualifications is something to appreciate in modern real estate scheduling software. In Shifton, for instance, you can add all relevant details, such as location and tasks, and share assignments with your employees online, so your staff has everything they need to perform at their best on their mobile phones. Everyone receives their share of the work, and you avoid drawbacks and overlaps due to the use of a well-conceived real estate scheduler.

Digital tasks, forms, and checklists for your best operations

Having a shared field for simultaneous work with your team can simplify the entire workflow. Moreover, this option can be used for both your employees’ tasks and your personal task management plans.

• You create tasks quickly and assign them to your employees,
• You maintain a clear overview of their progress in real-time right within the real estate scheduling software. This could be anything from one-off maintenance requests to routine inspections and cleaning jobs.
• You can add all the information your employees need to start work and complete tasks on time, such as notes and deadlines.
• In a real estate scheduler like Shifton, you can develop custom reports, forms, and checklists for your staff to fill out, use electronic signatures to confirm each employee’s identity, and submit them back for your review to remain in the loop and ensure compliance.

Manage your facilities with ease

When running a real estate agency, working as a freelance real estate agent, doing an inspection service, or facilities management business, you need full oversight of all your resources at a glance. That’s what real estate software for property management is used for. With it, you can list all the facilities and housing, manage them, and assign tasks related to these facilities to your staff. The main benefits you gain from such solutions are as follows:

• You can flexibly manage each facility or real estate object and input all the information about it using software for real estate management.
• You can assign housing for sale to your employees to distribute responsibilities.

Ensure the safety and performance of your field staff

Real estate shift scheduling software enables you to equip your brokers, agents, inspectors, and field staff with the necessary tools to do great work, including digital safety forms and secure site sign-in and out. Besides, when your staff is in the field, they don’t need to spend time after completing their tasks to draft reports. In the best app for realtors, Shifton, checklists and reports can be completed remotely, from a mobile phone, and even on the go, simplifying the working process.

Improve customer experience

Shifton, as an example of the best planner for real estate agents, offers all the capabilities needed to elevate customer experience due to advanced functionality, including the following built-in tools:

• An automated appointment confirmation and reminders that prevent you from missing appointments.
• Quick replacement scheduling when an agent can’t complete an appointment— enabling you to replace them with another employee to streamline operations and retain customer loyalty.
• Location pairing to get the closest frontline workers to customers promptly and save time and costs on appointments requiring long travel.
• Comment fields to share information from previous jobs and provide instant feedback while your employees are in the field.
• Virtual meeting options to enhance team-building efforts and provide immediate communication with the staff in a single online working space.
• An intelligent job matching and automated staff scheduling based on business priorities to consistently meet SLAs. For instance, enables property valuation companies to rapidly allocate available workers to new jobs to meet tight turnaround times for larger clients.

Consequently, when you shift numerous operations to the online field in real estate scheduling software, you reap multiple benefits from streamlining these processes to the quicker completion of deals, and enhanced customer service.

What Are the Benefits of Property Management Software for Real Estate Businesses?

The main benefits of using specialised software for real estate management relate to its helpful essence and the well-designed tools that are integrated into it.

• It enhances efficiency by automating complex and repetitive daily tasks and processes. This further enables you to save time so that you can focus on the bigger picture.
• It allows you to organise, manage, and track critical information and processes on a centralised platform. Moreover, you can share it instantly with your team using cloud technologies.
• It works in favour of your business’s security by offering a secure platform for managing sensitive information, such as tenant details, personal data of sellers, buyers, landlords, their payments, and other vulnerable information. Thanks to its high protection level, the real estate scheduling app and its cloud storage effectively shield against data leaks.
• It equips you with real-time insights, providing a clear overview of all data managed in the system and instant feedback from your workers. This enables you to maintain control of your operations and make informed decisions promptly and thoughtfully.

The days when a paper planner and a calculator were all you needed for successful operation in real estate are long gone. Today, to outpace competitors and secure more clients and profitable deals, you need to be quick, client-oriented, provide agile and informed decisions, and cultivate synergy within your team. All of this can be achieved through high technologies. In 2024, a real estate scheduler is indispensable for agents and agency owners. Furthermore, if this scheduler is as advanced as Shifton, you gain even more benefits and develop an ecosystem that enhances staff communication.

The retail niche is highly profitable and in-demand, yet there are various hidden challenges that can lead to low retail management efficiency. There’s no need to fear these as retail management tips by Shifton can help you tackle the challenges on your path to achieving the most efficient retail management workflow.

The first thing to bear in mind for an effective retail manager is that this business requires you to manage a wide range of things and processes daily. Consider it as a continual water flow you must handle. This flow involves overseeing all store employees, delegating numerous tasks to them, managing their completion, and simultaneously being part of a team to create synergy. Sounds a bit fantastic? It becomes real when you have informational support and know how to synergize your retail team’s work. Shifton offers the most effective retail staff management tips to assist you with this.

What is a retail manager and which tasks do they perform?

A retail manager is someone who manages a retail store, assists with management, or oversees a specific department. Since retail stores can vary in size from small businesses with a few hundred feet of storefronts to large warehouses, malls, and supermarkets owned by major corporations, the duties and tasks of a retail manager can range widely. Furthermore, they also vary daily depending on the current load at the selling point or department, customer flow, and even seasonality.

Yet, most commonly, being a retail manager involves the following retail staff management tasks:

• arranging the store environment to make it ergonomic and appealing for customers;
• managing store employees, their tasks, and results;
• maintaining and tracking goods available in stock;
• tracking, mitigating, and preventing shoplifting losses;
• providing customer service which relies on your support;
• tracking sales over specified periods and providing reports to higher management.

In short, a retail manager is an employee responsible for the overall functionality and effectiveness of a selling point.

How to be a good retail manager

We offer you a few tips which suit retail managers of any type and at any business size and provide effective retail staff management when applied.

Retail scheduling is essential!

Your selling point should operate with precision to generate profit. For this, you need your staff to start their work on time and work simultaneously. Thus, proper retail scheduling is necessary even for a small grocery store. Regular and logical shifts in supermarkets or malls are absolutely essential.

Although scheduling in the retail industry can be a nightmare, the solution is simple and embodied in modern retail scheduling software. With this, you don’t need to remember large data sets or write them in tables on paper to decide on time-off requests, vacations, emergencies, busy times, quiet times, sick leave, etc. Instead, you use an automated tool where you can input new variables and data on the go.

Using an appropriate retail scheduler, you can perform multiple tasks simultaneously.

• Deciding on the best combination of employees for each shift to make their work as efficient and customer-friendly as possible. You can select teams for shifts based on their skills, hard work, and the synergy they share.
• A retail scheduler like Shifton streamlines the scheduling process by providing alerts and suggestions to help you avoid double-bookings, conflicts, and scheduling someone when they can’t work. You optimise shift work schedules in a few moves, creating optimal shift schedules instantly.
• Distributing schedules and shifts is also managed via retail employee scheduling software. Your team can access the dashboard in the app and easily find out when their shifts are, or propose changes if they face obstacles. Everything can be organised in the cloud, accessible anywhere, anytime, and instantly alerting your retail team of any changes. Each employee can propose schedule changes, independently swap shifts, and receive alerts about work schedule changes.

The best thing about employee scheduling software for retail is that it automates everything that can be automated, from shift assignments to salary and work hours calculations for each employee and the team as a whole. You can automatically create an optimal rotation schedule for shop assistants, cashiers, guards, loaders, and sales floor staff with automatic coordination of shift changes and assignment of shifts to employees, including overtime.

Retail manager tasks

Task management is also a part of retail staff management routines. You need to outline daily tasks, decide on who will execute them, track their completion, and report on the outcomes. The good news is that you can use the same retail scheduler as retail task management software. It includes tasks you oversee for employees, and you can plan your days and create checklists for yourself to remember everything. You can prioritise, monitor the completion of each assignment, and provide notifications for crucial tasks and timelines for both you and your staff.

Apply effective time management

When we said your retail point should operate with precision, it also involves effective time management. If your shop assistants are constantly late, couriers can’t manage timely deliveries, or your warehouse staff forgets to supply stock, what happens then? A complete disaster! Yet this too can be automated to reduce the risks we mentioned. Time and attendance management software for retail is necessary. Shifton provides this function in its scheduling software for large retail businesses. The same applies to downtime when customer numbers are low, and most employees aren’t engaged in the workflow. Effective time management allows you to offer flexible solutions for your team: when to start work, when you need more staff in-store to handle intense customer flow, and when you can provide days off without losing store efficiency. Try time management with Shifton and you may be surprised by how easy it is when automated and streamlined.

Hire a skilled team

Your store’s or department’s effectiveness starts with your team. If you manage a large department, you can have assistant managers to delegate recruitment and headhunting tasks, and you can use retail scheduling software to control each worker’s efficiency and replace them if they don’t meet your requirements or work inadequately.

Employ retail scheduling software

As you can see, multiple retail management routines can be simplified with retail employee scheduling software. With this software, you achieve higher results in the following areas:

• managing employees’ schedules;
• analysing daily sales;
• tracking employee time off;
• offering effective task management for you and each employee.

From a broader perspective, it can help you build an effective management strategy and set goals for each selling point that are achievable and logical.

Focus on your store’s traffic

Traffic at a selling point indicates its profitability. Software can be used to count customers and export reports on busy times. By knowing your store’s traffic and when it is busiest, you can be better prepared and prevent emergencies during peak times, such as holidays, black Fridays, or sales events. It helps schedule sufficient staff for the expected number of customers and avoids executing major organisational tasks or restocking during times when the store will be crowded with customers.

Ensure instant data tracking

Retail management relies on numbers: sales, visitors, goods in stock, sold goods, income, and maintenance expenses form the complete workflow. All this data requires your attention and precise calculation. Manually, it’s a challenging task, but it still must be done. Using retail scheduling software allows you to keep all your data in one place, operate it, and produce reports that show your management results in numbers.

What data should be checked and processed?

• Customer numbers;
• Sales levels;
• Number of sold goods over specific periods;
• Working hours for each employee;
• Overtime work;
• Peak hours in your store.

Then you can utilise this data to analyse the overall work and improve it when necessary.

How to enhance retail team management?

Efficient team management in the retail industry is vital for customer satisfaction and overall business success. Here are some additional tips:

• Provide an optimal scheduling template (like 2/2, 3/3, 1/3, 5/2), based on your store’s specifics. Don’t be afraid to trial different templates to find the most effective one.
• Set clear tasks and notify your staff about them. You can create task assignments for employees in a cloud environment using the retail scheduler. Also, remember to track these tasks and provide checklists and task statuses. Shifton employee scheduling software offers all these functions.
• Send automatic push notifications and reminders to your staff to alert them and prevent missing shifts or deadlines.
• Don’t get stuck in your office. Exchange shifts, weekends, and sick days online to save time and remain mobile.
• Motivate your employees with overtime bonuses – easily calculated with employee scheduling software.
• Work with breaks to avoid simultaneous breaks in your team. Create pre-scheduled breaks or set limits on the number and duration of breaks to ensure that in-store environment will always have enough staff to provide customer service.
• Work with attendance to understand when a person actually starts and ends the shift. If you detect some of your personnel are constantly late, you can impose penalties for poor performance the same way you calculate bonuses.

Simplify Scheduling

With a robust employee communication app, you can schedule employees more efficiently in the following ways:

• Assign staff shifts based on job role and availability.
• Use drag and drop, assign shifts in bulk, set recurring shifts, create customisable templates, and even allow employees to claim open shifts available.
• Automated push notifications so employees can immediately accept or reject shifts directly from their mobile devices.
• Include shift tasks, notes, and even files within the schedule so employees know exactly what to do when they arrive at work.
• Complete oversight over collaborative staff scheduling in real time, all while on the go.

Being an effective retail manager is not mission impossible, whether managing a small store or a full-fledged retail department. Just remember that your efficiency is based on three pillars, which are as follows:

• Thorough planning and time management.
• Effective recruiting to create the best team.
• Flawless employee scheduling software helps with most routine tasks daily.

If the first two are mostly your responsibility, Shifton can provide you with the third pillar to make your management workflow simplified, time-saving, and effective.

Have you ever encountered such a product as a restaurant scheduling app? If not, maybe it’s time to consider which processes, assignments, and routines can be handled using special software for personnel management in restaurants. Get the expertise from Shifton’s developers to implement the best features of such products in your workflow.

Being a restaurant manager is a non-stop job. You have to handle multiple tasks while simultaneously managing numerous staff from the chef and sous-chefs to couriers, suppliers, cleaners, and more. On top of that, numerous emergencies can disrupt the process, and it’s entirely your responsibility, although standard tasks also cannot be delayed. With all this, plus everyday tasks from scheduling to payroll to reporting, it can all catch up with you.

However, you are not alone in this endless routine, as Shifton assists restaurant managers in making their lives easier with one tool which can be a master key for you.

You probably won’t be surprised by automation in the restaurant industry. However, a special app for restaurant management can help you spend more time doing what you love and preserve your sanity.

Restaurant management tips for happy employee benefits

Whether you’re using sales forecasts and labour targets to create restaurant employee schedules or processing payroll, Shifton provides you with the tools you need every step of the way. With Shifton’s scheduling app for restaurants, you can automate and streamline the following processes:

• Accurately track working hours for each employee;
• Reduce time theft and buddy punching in your restaurant;
• Empower your team members to offer your customers the best service possible.

The best way to achieve a happy team is to communicate with them. Even in a single restaurant, it’s already complex as everyone is on the move. What about chain establishments, then? With Shifton’s restaurant management application, you provide your staff with a communication channel to connect with one another and with you as well. You may observe in real-time how communication in a shared environment helps reduce misunderstandings, and thus, numerous drawbacks, and how it increases staff loyalty and happiness even as their workload stays the same.

Improve your staff’s performance with work schedule tips

For a restaurant, having a clear and well-thought-out schedule is essential. You need your chefs and their assistants to be at work at the scheduled time. Imagine not scheduling your cleaners to prepare the restaurant’s hall to meet visitors in its entirety. You need waiters to be ready to start serving customers promptly. Your reputation is at risk if any part of this operation fails due to scheduling errors.

Using an automated restaurant staff scheduler is a magic key. It helps boost employees’ productivity and increase your revenue. Let’s explore how to choose the type of schedule for your establishment and which tips to use to make it work smoothly.

Scheduling software for restaurants

With personnel management software, you can create a basic set of scheduling policies and stick to them. This forms the foundation for the entire operation, helping you to manage how far in advance you will publish schedules and how far in advance employees need to submit time-off requests. You can also set minimum hours for each employee or designate certain shifts as high-traffic (and thus better for tips) using a scheduling app for restaurants.

As a result:

• You provide your team with a clear understanding of their future work and the number of shifts/working hours they are expected to work.
• You demonstrate your time management skills and thereby confirm your professionalism in the employees’ eyes.
• You motivate your staff to select high-traffic shifts to earn more tips.

Employee engagement

Here, we proceed to the next step. You need to maintain the highest engagement of your team to ensure your restaurant’s seamless operation. With an automated system for restaurant management, you can provide your team with real-time feedback on their performance, give timely advice, and receive their feedback. Software for restaurant management like Shifton offers managers and employees a convenient communication channel, which helps your team feel supported and engaged at work.

Employee retention

In the restaurant industry, employee turnover seems natural, but it is a major challenge since finding and hiring skilled professionals who won’t let you down is difficult. Running your restaurant effectively means showing your employees that you respect their time and value their talent so that they feel engaged and loyal to their jobs. An effective restaurant management system is a key part of building a positive environment. Therefore, do not overlook the staff you have, but evaluate their efficiency to decide whether to strengthen the team with new employees or motivate your current staff to perform better. With Shifton’s software for restaurant management, you can check and evaluate the efficiency of each worker using multiple parameters including working hours, overwork, customer satisfaction levels, and more.

Fast notifications and reminders

Do you want your staff to perform their duties excellently? Is it essential for them to manage the multiple tasks you set? Don’t leave even a small chance to miss something or forget about assignments. Automated shift reminders integrated into scheduling software for restaurants can significantly reduce no-shows or missed tasks. Just create notifying text messages or push notifications and set them up to be sent to employees’ mobile devices at a specific time. The same applies to alerting messages during emergencies, notifications about corporate events, or upcoming team-building meetings if you organise them.

Collect data and use it wisely

At the end of each day, take notes on how your staff handled daily routines, which issues were significant, and which work deserved reward. You can also analyse the efficiency of each shift to determine if you’re consistently understaffed or overstaffed during a specific shift. All that data is easily tracked in Shifton’s system for restaurant management. Simply collect it and use this data to adjust your schedule accordingly, build your management strategy, and report the results to a restaurant owner.

Enhance productivity with hi-tech solutions featured in the Shifton restaurant scheduling app

Restaurant management tools benefit your entire team, from hosts and waiters to chefs. When you maintain higher efficiency of operations and streamlined communication using software solutions, it creates a stress-free work environment for everyone.

Which types of technologies are pivotal for the restaurant industry? Let’s explore them.

Employee scheduling software

With the aid of automation, you can forget about the daunting task of managing spreadsheets, tables, paper schedules, and plans.

Instead, restaurant employee scheduling software based on cloud technologies provides you and your staff with the following features:

• Fast schedule development in just a few clicks, available in Shifton as convenient templates.
• Easy distribution of information about schedules and shifts among your employees.
• Flexible adjustments and changes in the schedule, which you can make online from anywhere in the world.
• Convenience in tracking working hours, overwork, missed shifts, or days off.

Task management software

Setting tasks using specialised staff management software? That’s truly the best way to keep your restaurant running smoothly. In Shifton, you can create checklists for every worker from the chef to the server, and monitor their completion. From cleaning flat tops to refilling sanitisers, it’s easy for tasks to get lost in the daily shuffle.

That’s where task management software comes in.

• It’s an excellent way to streamline your tasks, with separate checklists for each role and shift.
• It allows you to track your team’s productivity.
• It helps reduce bottlenecks and check missed or forgotten tasks. Task management software maintains historical data of tasks completed, allowing you to review it and obtain the information you need.

Employee communication tools

When it comes to employee communications, texting and phone calls are the most popular channels. However, they are not effective for restaurants where each worker is constantly on the move and has no time to check SMSs or answer calls. The best solution is to provide your employees with a shared environment to communicate with you and each other. In the context of a restaurant management system, it is beneficial for the following reasons:

• You can easily contact each employee.
• They can communicate with each other to avoid misunderstandings and buddy punches.
• You can track the entire working process just by checking the information your employees share with others. If something is amiss, you’ll be among the first to know.

Shifton provides a secure, business-focused communication tool that allows you to share schedules and announcements instantly. It also makes it easier for your employees to request time off and address payroll concerns like missing punches.

Timekeeping for restaurants

Timekeeping software for restaurants is an essential tool. With time-clocking software, employees clock in and out with the touch of a button. Plus, the software syncs directly with your payroll to automatically calculate hours worked.

Restaurant time clocking software can also help prevent early clock-ins, thereby reducing labour costs. It addresses problems with enforced break times and shift lengths. The software will quickly calculate overtime and keep secure records of your team’s hours.

Payroll automation

Using restaurant employee management software is a great alternative to hiring a payroll specialist or putting extra load on your accounts department to calculate salaries. Instead, you have all working hours tracked and payroll calculated instantly in Shifton. This automates wage calculations, overtime pay, and tax and benefit withholdings. There’s no relying on manual calculations, so you’ll have fewer payroll errors and spend less time at the computer.

As every type of software that we’ve indicated is useful, getting all of them in one tool is a godsend. That’s what Shifton offers to restaurant managers. Payroll software syncs directly with your time clock and scheduling software in Shifton, creating a single environment for most management tasks and operations.

What are the benefits of restaurant management software?

The most significant benefits of Shifton for the restaurant management goals are as follows:

• A shared environment for managers and employees to communicate and provide instant feedback.
• A one-fit-all tool that combines the features of time management software, task management tools, HR tools, shift scheduler, and a communication channel.
• It offers adjustable multi-level access to its functions, which can be used by managers and personnel on different levels.
• It automates most processes you previously had to keep in mind or manage manually.

Thus, by using restaurant management software, you enhance the entire restaurant business operation, minimise mistakes and drawbacks, and manage your team more easily. The results are beneficial for you as a manager, as you work efficiently and without hassle, and for your team, as its members can satisfy their customers and get reasonable rewards for their efforts.