Tips for Entering Permanent Availability Information

Getting the computer to create schedules similar to those you have been using  can be a bit tricky. Using an old schedule as a guideline can help you resolve this problem.

Chances are that you already have a few old schedules laying around the office that you created before you got the Scheduler application. Those old schedules will help you enter your employee availability information.

Let us say, for example, that the following is an excerpt from an older schedule:

Employee Monday 14 Tuesday 15 Wednesday 16 Thursday 17 Friday 18 Saturday 19 Sunday 20
Ally

Available 3:50 PM -10:00 PM/5 10:00 AM-2:00 PM /6 X Available X 11:20 AM-2:00 PM /7 X 10:00 AM-2:00 PM /6 Available Available Available 10:15 AM-2:30 PM /8 Available
Amber

Available 3:50 PM -9:00 PM /8 Available Available Available Available 11:20 AM-2:30 PM /5 Available Available 5:20 PM -12:00 AM/4 Available 3:50 PM -11:00 PM/6 Available X
Bareket

Available 6:30 PM -9:00 PM /Brk Available 6:30 PM -9:00 PM /Brk Available 6:30 PM -9:00 PM /Brk Available 6:30 PM -9:00 PM /Brk Available Available Available Available Available 6:30 PM -9:00 PM /Brk

 

You will note from the old schedule that Ally is assigned 5 shifts during the week, Amber 4, and Bareket 5. This information can be carried over to the Permanent Availability window.

From the drop down list box for each employee, indicate the maximum number of shifts per week.

You will also notice from the old schedule which days your employees already tend to work. This information can also be carried over to allow your employees to get roughly the same schedule every week.

Shown above is a rendering of Ally's availability information. You can see from the old schedule that she usually work the following shifts:
  • Monday Night
  • Tuesday Day
  • Thursday Day
  • Friday Day
  • Sunday Day

By telling the computer to "Always Schedule" ally on these days (as shown by the blue boxes above), you can ensure that Ally will get roughly the same schedule every week. This is very nice from your employees point of view because it will help them plan their lives outside of work more efficiently.

Continuing to enter employee availability information based on an old schedule for all of the employees in your company is the best way to enter the data. Simply using the green "Available" indicators for every employee will force the computer to assign employees as they are available. Because the computer is very efficient, it may only schedule half of your employees for any given week, meaning that the other half won't receive any shifts at all.