How do you manage shifts?

17 of February, 2021

In the modern professional world, the usual 9-to-5 shifts are becoming less and less common. Flexible schedules are necessary to accommodate the workers’ needs, but also the industry’s requirements. However, managing shifts can be very bothersome if you don’t tackle this task in an organised manner. Here is how to manage shifts in an efficient way that will ensure your employees’ satisfaction as well as your business’s profitability.

How to manage shift work?

Know the work requirements

In order to manage shifts properly, you first need to know what the workforce requirements are for your business. This means understanding when your workers are most needed, and exactly how many of them are required for each operation. Only then will you be able to conduct efficient workforce management.

Use the right tools to create and manage shifts

Once you know when and where your workforce is needed, you can start planning the shifts. Nowadays, there are many shift management software, which are specifically designed to make this part of your job easier. Sesame’s shift planning tool, for instance, allows you to create shift templates and easily adapt them to each project. It also lets you know which employee is available at any time and what their workload is.

Create the schedules in advance

Make sure to make your workers’ time schedules well in advance. Indeed, you will most probably have to make changes to them to accommodate your workers’ preferences when possible. If you use Sesame, you can easily introduce those changes to the schedules through its user-friendly interface. But it’s still better to have the schedules ready a few days in advance in order to make sure that you have the most efficient solutions.

Communicate properly

Good communication with your staff is extremely important if you work by shifts. If don’t communicate well and in due time, then you take the risk of a part of your workforce not being available when they are supposed to work. So make sure that you know how to contact your employees and that you share all the necessary information with them. Sesame’s automatic email and notification system is a great way to facilitate communication between the manager and their team.

Automate the shift management process

As a manager, you have many jobs and responsibilities. Therefore, you shouldn’t have to dedicate all of your time to shift management. That’s why automating the shift management process is crucial for you to remain productive and for your business to continue growing. This is why we advise you to use a time management software like Sesame.

Track your employees’ time

Now that your employees have their schedule, you need to know that they are following it. Sesame enables to configure notifications, so you can be immediately warned if one of your workers clocks out outside of assigned hours. Also be sure to check out the most important rules of employee time tracking.

Analyse the reports

We can always find room for improvement. That’s why you should take the time to analyse the data provided by your shift management software. You can then point out which aspects of your management you can improve and make the required modifications.