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Guessing How Many People You Need
Every rota rests on a number nobody examines. Six ways the staffing figure gets produced, which direction yours errs in, and why only one kind of forecast
HROps Dispatch
Employee Scheduling
Employee Scheduling
Explore a more focused slice of the newsroom, with each story designed to be useful in real teams and real decisions.
How Far Ahead People Know
Publishing late does not remove uncertainty, it transfers it onto the people being scheduled. Six ways notice gets decided, what late notice costs
The Constraints Your System Does Not Know
The constraints that make a rota good are mostly not in the software. Six kinds of constraint, which can be recorded and which cannot, and how to read your
The Gap Between the Rota and the Week
The published rota and the week that happened are two different objects, and nobody puts them together. Six ways the week departs from the plan, and what
The Rota the Software Generated
A generated rota answers a question somebody configured once, usually at setup, frequently by somebody who has left.
What Scheduling Software Actually Does
A scheduling system does two jobs sold as one: it helps you produce a plan, and it publishes a commitment. Six jobs reviewed, where planning ends and time
Who Gets the Good Shifts
Every rota distributes desirable and undesirable time, whether or not anybody decided to. Six allocation methods reviewed, what counts as a good shift
Changing a Schedule After You Published It
A change to a published shift is not an edit to a document, it is a change to a week somebody already built around it.
Coverage and What It Costs
Coverage and cost are the same dial read from two ends. Six points where cost becomes visible, why only the first one changes anything, and what happens when
Getting the Schedule to People
A schedule that has not reached somebody has not been published. Six delivery methods reviewed, what each assumes about the person, and why knowing they have