5 Methods of Preventing Work Scheduling Catastrophes

scheduling January 11, 2023

Michelle Jaco

Writer

Why Workplace Catastrophes Occur

Scheduling catastrophes occur when an unplanned factor takes place, disrupting your preset schedule. Such factors can include an employee calling out of work last minute due to emergency, or an employee mistakingly being scheduled for a shift that does not consider with availability, or employees showing up to work the same shift because there was an oversight when the schedule was created.

There's an abundance of scenarios that could also lead to a scheduling catastrophe. In any situation, you're left with lite coverage and a frustrating dilemma.

Every business has experienced this at some point and will be affected by it one way or another. The obvious solution is to prevent or at least heavily reduce these mishaps from happening. The good news is you can. Here are the 5 best methods for preventing work scheduling catastrophes.

There is no way to make sure these catastrophes never happen but there are quite a few things you can do to make sure they happen as rarely as possible.

One - Confirm the Scheudle

Even though this might sound like a solution too simple to be effective, scheduling catastrophes usually start with the manger or whoever is creating the schedule.

As managers, it's not uncommon to overlook time off requests or even remember that time off has been previously approved. Without double-checking and confirming your schedule, your problems will only worsen.

Moving forward, try experimenting with a free online schedule maker to create your next schedule. This application will allow you to log time off requests and even make additional notes in the application pertinent to your employees and schedule.

Double-check it to confirm it's not going to cause a scheduling mess. It only takes a few minutes, and it could even prevent you from losing customers.

Two - Delegate Responsibility to Your Employees

You shouldn't employ anyone who doesn't have a sense of responsibility and accountability. With responsible employees, you can delegate schedule responsibility to your employees. In short this means that they'll have to look over the schedule in advance and inform you of any mistakes that might've occurred before they become catastrophes.

If they're working for you and your business, it is their responsibility to show up on time but also their responsibility to find a replacement if they can't come to work. If an emergency arises, it should be fine to not come to work. But if an employee wants time off to see some friends, they should find a replacement themselves. It isn't hard for the employee to find a replacement, especially with a free online schedule maker.

If simply talking won't do, do not be afraid to introduce some disciplinary measures if your employees are repeatedly being irresponsible.

In order to avoid these situations, restaurants usually have a list of employees that they can call to come and take a shift.

Three - Plan Ahead

It's shocking, the number of restaurants that plan a schedule only for the next week. Nothing in life should be planned with so little regard for future mishaps.

By doing this, you're basically asking your employees to organize their life on a weekly basis, which might be easier for whoever creates the schedule but is disastrous for your employees. On top of the fact that it will make your employees' life much harder and cause frustrations, this scheduling period only allows for a few days to resolve any conflicts.

To better plan for the future, start creating schedules for at least two weeks, or even a month. A lot of restaurants have started scheduling on a monthly basis. This would require more effort from the manager, but a free online schedule maker should help ease the problem.

The advantage of doing it this way is that you'll have much more time to solve conflicts and other misunderstandings without causing a scheduling catastrophe.

Four - Avoid Shift Splitting

The schedule is a fragile thing so you shouldn't try anything unconventional because things could get messy real quick. Accounting for multiple locations and split shifts means that there's a lot more to think about but also a lot more to go wrong.

There are some businesses that are more prone to shift splitting, but try to avoid doing it. It puts extra stress and frustration on your employees and it makes the scheduling process that much harder.

You might have to hire extra employees and change the scheduling process, but a free online schedule maker will help you do all that and more.

Five - Utilize the Latest Resources

As opposed to pen and paper, software scheduling options give you much more flexibility that you could never have with pen and paper. Software dedicated to schedule creation will allow you to scale your scheduling process as your business grows.

You can prevent many of the mistakes you'd make with pen and paper, just by using a free online schedule maker. There's no more double-scheduling, time-off mistakes and similar, the application will notify you if you make such a mistake.

You can fully eliminate the paper schedule by giving your employees an application where they can see the schedule 24/7, no matter where they are. On top of that, they can easily release their shift and find a replacement so you don't have to tear your hair out.

Conclusion

One of the most influential things in keeping your employees happy is great scheduling. If your schedule is great, they won't have to restructure their life on a weekly basis to account for scheduling mishaps.

By creating a great schedule, you allow your employees to structure their life the way they want to and ensure they have the proper life-work balance, which will help in them performing better than usual.

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Management