Effective Scheduling Tips: How to Manage Your Work Schedule

Are you struggling to make a proper schedule for your employees? 

Many schedule managers have a hard time when it comes to building a schedule because it requires a lot of attention to detail. Every employee has a different set of hours that they can work, and many of them don’t like coming in when they don’t have to.  

In cases where an employee calls off or isn’t scheduled, there’s a chance that you’ll have to ask someone to fill in. With proper calendar management, you can create a schedule that will prevent you from being short on manpower. 

Read on to learn about several effective scheduling tips to make your business more professional.  

Understand Your Team 

Understanding your team is one of the most important things to do when you start making schedule plans. You’ll want to know the names of your employees, their personalities, and how they work with other people. 

If you’ve noticed that someone tends to goof around when they work with a particular employee, you can avoid scheduling them to work together. You should also be aware of whether an employee is part-time or full-time so you don’t mess up their hours. 

Revolve Shifts Around Your Best Employees 

Building shifts around your best employees will ensure that you’re getting as much done as possible. If you can arrange your shifts to have one of your best employees working at all times, you’ll have someone that’s guaranteed to be productive. 

Having one of your best employees working alongside others will encourage them to work harder. Your employees will be less likely to waste time conversing or sitting around. If they see that your best employees are liked, they’ll try to more so that they’re treated the same.  

Use Team-wide Communication 

Communication is essential for the success of a business. While you have to communicate well with customers, your employees also need to communicate. In cases where you have too few or too many staff on the floor, communication will let you alter the schedule as needed. 

Many businesses, especially large ones, use communication platforms to allow all employees to interact with one another. One popular tool is Slack, which allows businesses to create several chat rooms that are designated for certain areas of the business. 

Try to Respect Time-Off Requests and Availability 

One of the problems that many employees have with their superiors is that they often don’t respect their availability and time-off requests. Generally, employees will be asked for their availability hours when they’re applying for the job. If a company doesn’t honor this, their employees are less likely to come to work! 

In cases where you need to fill in a shift, your employees will be inclined to come in because they know you value their time. Should an employee request time off, look into their history to see how much time they’ve taken off. 

Try to set up a system that prevents several employees from calling off or requesting vacation time at once. You can provide incentives that encourage employees to continue working, such as extra pay or more vacation time in the future. 

Create an Availability Chart 

Depending on whether your employees have various shifts will affect how you can schedule. If you run something like a restaurant, your employees will typically work different hours each day. 

All of the shifts that your employees have should fall within their availability hours. You can create a chart that lists who each employee is and when they can work. From there, you can avoid making unnecessary calls and can use the chart as a “plan B.” 

Quickly Release the Schedule 

Calendar management is all about making schedules ahead of time so that you can make changes later. Calendar printing will let you make a physical copy, giving employees time to see what the plan is and speak to you if they need to. 

You can also create something like a tips calendar to give employees daily advice about how they can manage their time effectively. With team-wide communication, you can share the calendar so that everyone sees it immediately. 

Let Employees Find Substitutes 

Your employees should be able to find substitutes to take their shift if they have to miss work. If you allow your employees to choose someone to fill in, you’ll save yourself from the hassle of trying to find someone. 

Whenever someone calls off, it can be difficult to call each employee until you find someone that will come in. Instead, your employees can look for someone themselves, and this can promote a healthy work environment. 

Doing this will make employees feel as though they’re making a positive impact on the company. They’ll be more likely to build healthy relationships with one another, and they’ll try to avoid disputes from arising. 

Use These Effective Scheduling Tips Today 

If you’re a schedule manager or business owner that’s trying to maximize productivity, use these effective scheduling tips to ensure that you have the right employees working. Without a strong approach to scheduling, you’ll run the risk of having lazy workers and losing money. 

Doing simple things like honoring availability and letting employees find people to fill in will make them feel empowered and save you time. You should also be using a platform to allow everyone to communicate with one another. 

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