How we start a new shift pattern
C-Desk Technology
{Copyright (C) 2011 CDT. All Rights Reserved}
The Basics Behind Efficient Staff Rostering
Introduction
I am often asked the question, how do I start a brand new staff schedule? It can be daunting to have the task of creating a brand new manning operation, budgeting for it, and presenting it to management. I have prepared this page to illustrate how to start. It isn't hard to do, and the example given is based on an actual request.
Specification
I created a staff schedule for a call centre manned by 2 shifts Morning(7am-3pm) & Afternoon(1pm-9pm). Both are 8 hour shifts. Staffing 7 days a week. There is a 2 hour overlap in the afternoon when all staff are on duty. This could be a problem with equipment, etc., where we would need 8 desks, 8 phone lines, 8 computers, twice as much room space at a rental of $£XX etc.,
We will have 4 staff on each shift.
Maths Part
Example 1 We need to have some idea of how many staff we need to schedule, so we do some calculations. At this time, we ignore staff holidays, sickness, training and requests.
For 2 shifts/day x 4 staff = 8 shifts/day = 56 shifts/week. 56 shifts/week = 11 staff working 5 shifts & 1 shift left over.
Specification
I created a staff schedule for a call centre manned by 2 shifts Morning(7am-3pm) & Afternoon(1pm-9pm). Both are 8 hour shifts. Staffing 7 days a week. There is a 2 hour overlap in the afternoon when all staff are on duty. This could be a problem with equipment, etc., where we would need 8 desks, 8 phone lines, 8 computers, twice as much room space at a rental of $£XX etc.,
We will have 4 staff on each shift.
Maths Part
Example 1 We need to have some idea of how many staff we need to schedule, so we do some calculations. At this time, we ignore staff holidays, sickness, training and requests.
For 2 shifts/day x 4 staff = 8 shifts/day = 56 shifts/week. 56 shifts/week = 11 staff working 5 shifts & 1 shift left over.
C-DESK
A few more examples of this type of problem are;
Example 2 For 7 day 24 hr cover using 8 hr shifts which have 6 staff on early, 3 on evenings & 2 on nights, we have,
early shift = 6 staff x 7 days = 42 shifts, evening shift = 3 staff x 7 days = 21 shifts, night shift = 2 staff x 7 days = 14 shifts.
Total number of shifts/week = 42 + 21 + 14 = 77 shifts. 77 shifts/week = 15 staff working 5 shifts/week & 2 shifts left over.
Example 2 For 7 day 24 hr cover using 8 hr shifts which have 6 staff on early, 3 on evenings & 2 on nights, we have,
early shift = 6 staff x 7 days = 42 shifts, evening shift = 3 staff x 7 days = 21 shifts, night shift = 2 staff x 7 days = 14 shifts.
Total number of shifts/week = 42 + 21 + 14 = 77 shifts. 77 shifts/week = 15 staff working 5 shifts/week & 2 shifts left over.
Example 3
For 7 day cover, where 6 am Monday-6am Saturday is covered 24hrs/day by 3 x 8 hr shifts, Saturday has 2 x 8 hr shifts 6am-10pm, and Sunday has one shift 9am-5pm. Shifts(earlies, evenings & nights) are variously manned depending on past experience, Monday to Friday Earlies, have 8 staff(=8x5=40 shifts), Monday evening has 4 staff=4 shifts, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday evening have 6 staff=18 shifts, Friday evening has 4 staff=4 shifts, Saturday early has 9 staff=9 shifts, Saturday evening has 4 staff=4 shifts, Sunday has 3 staff=3 shifts. For nights, Monday-Thursday have 3 staff=12 shifts, Friday has 2 staff=2 shifts
A table of this staffing levels would look like this
For 7 day cover, where 6 am Monday-6am Saturday is covered 24hrs/day by 3 x 8 hr shifts, Saturday has 2 x 8 hr shifts 6am-10pm, and Sunday has one shift 9am-5pm. Shifts(earlies, evenings & nights) are variously manned depending on past experience, Monday to Friday Earlies, have 8 staff(=8x5=40 shifts), Monday evening has 4 staff=4 shifts, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday evening have 6 staff=18 shifts, Friday evening has 4 staff=4 shifts, Saturday early has 9 staff=9 shifts, Saturday evening has 4 staff=4 shifts, Sunday has 3 staff=3 shifts. For nights, Monday-Thursday have 3 staff=12 shifts, Friday has 2 staff=2 shifts
A table of this staffing levels would look like this
| Mon | Tues | Wed | Thur | Fri | Sat | Sun | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 52 |
| Evening | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 30 |
| Night | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Total | 15 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 3 | 96 |
The total number of shifts is 96/week which is 96/5 = 19 staff working 5 shifts/week and 1 shift left over.
Variations from one week to the next are very common.
The maths can be extended over longer period if the work is cyclical or periodic. A cyclic period could be monthly, as in producing a monthly magazine. A periodic period could be seasonal, such as heating repairs reaching a max. in Autumn, or fruit and vegetable picking. The shift totals can be calculated whenever you have repeatable periods which can be estimates, or they can be based on last years shift scheduling. But sometimes your best guess just has to do.
Example 4 We use the same shift patterns and staffing levels as example 3 above, but as a policy we decide to have half the staff as part-timers working 3 shifts/week, the reasons for this are numerous, but at the heart of it is the ability for the staff to have more weekends off. So, if half the staff work 5 shifts and half the staff work 3 shifts a week, how many staff is that in all? Let's call it X, and we still have 96 shifts to cover. Therefore, (0.5X x 5) + (0.5X x 3) = 96, and by using a bit of algebra, X = 24 exactly. So we have 12 part time staff.
This time when we put the employees names in, we separate the part timers out. We can call them PT1, PT2, etc., or we leave a few blank lines between the two groups. Then when we start allocating shifts, we do it just the same way, except that for the part timers we start by only giving them 3 shifts at first in each week.
The maths can be extended over longer period if the work is cyclical or periodic. A cyclic period could be monthly, as in producing a monthly magazine. A periodic period could be seasonal, such as heating repairs reaching a max. in Autumn, or fruit and vegetable picking. The shift totals can be calculated whenever you have repeatable periods which can be estimates, or they can be based on last years shift scheduling. But sometimes your best guess just has to do.
Example 4 We use the same shift patterns and staffing levels as example 3 above, but as a policy we decide to have half the staff as part-timers working 3 shifts/week, the reasons for this are numerous, but at the heart of it is the ability for the staff to have more weekends off. So, if half the staff work 5 shifts and half the staff work 3 shifts a week, how many staff is that in all? Let's call it X, and we still have 96 shifts to cover. Therefore, (0.5X x 5) + (0.5X x 3) = 96, and by using a bit of algebra, X = 24 exactly. So we have 12 part time staff.
This time when we put the employees names in, we separate the part timers out. We can call them PT1, PT2, etc., or we leave a few blank lines between the two groups. Then when we start allocating shifts, we do it just the same way, except that for the part timers we start by only giving them 3 shifts at first in each week.
Calculating part time staff
Holidays
Holidays and how they affect the roster is an extremely important aspect of Staff Rostering. In fact, most staff roster are centered around the staff holidays in one or another. Holidays should be neutral to the company, but they are never neutral to the staff. This important area covered in our training program and our book.
Holidays and how they affect the roster is an extremely important aspect of Staff Rostering. In fact, most staff roster are centered around the staff holidays in one or another. Holidays should be neutral to the company, but they are never neutral to the staff. This important area covered in our training program and our book.
Creating A Shift Pattern
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CLIENTS
Bord Gais
Bradford University
City of Glasgow
Bord Gais
Bradford University
City of Glasgow