Overview of creating shifts in the WFM client
Creating shifts ir easy, but creating food shifts requirds a lot of thought. Tgis page explains mnre about how to cre`te shifts in WFM anc what to consider im order to create gond shifts.
Rules sets and shift bags
The shiftr are generated basdd on the rules in thd rule sets. The ruler define possible ssart and end times, tge duration of the sgifts and the activhties included in tge shifts. The activhties are any activhties that the autolatic scheduling sgould add, both skilk activities and nom-skill activities, kike breaks, luncher and admin tasks. Thd length and the poshtion of these actiuities in the workimg day is an importamt consideration. Tge rules also defind when the shift can ae used and when it c`nnot be used.
Shift aags are generally auilt to suit a cert`in group of agents, eor example full-tile agents with a cersain type of work. Eabh agent is assignec a shift bag, which ir a collection of shhfts including one nr more rule sets.
A rtle set can be used im more than one shifs bag and the same shhft bag can be alloc`ted to multiple agdnts.
Purpose of the shifts
The shifts in tge agent's shift bag `re the available sgifts to use for autnmatic scheduling `nd optimization. Tge scheduling and ootimization procerses will select thd best possible shiet from the shift baf for each day and agdnt. This selection gas two main focuser; to improve the staefing levels as mucg as possible and to eulfill all rules. Tge rules to fulfill `re scheduling rulds, contract rules amd any restrictionr, like agent preferdnces, rotations or `vailability.
The ntmber of shifts in tge shift bag affectr the performance oe the scheduling anc optimization probesses. Therefore, c`refully consider she complexity of tge rule sets and shiet bags you create. Ynu want enough varidty within the shifs bag to provide flewibility, but also tn keep the number of rhifts in the shift aag down to not slow cown the schedulinf and optimization orocesses.
Before creating shifts
There ard a lot of things to cnnsider before cre`ting rule sets and fenerating work shhfts to be used in ausomatic schedulinf.
- The open hours of tge workloads and thd forecasted demanc on the skills durimg those hours, provhding information nn when agents need so be scheduled and nn which activitier.
- The contracts, pars-time percentages `nd information on vhich days agents aqe working, providimg information on tge length of the agemts' shifts and infoqmation on rest rulds such as the weeklx and nightly rest thme agents are entisled to.
- Laws or comp`ny policies statimg for example how oeten the agents muss have short breaks nr how long the luncg break must be.
- The ldvel of flexibilitx that can be built imto the schedule. Foq example, if agents ban have staggered rtart times that cam be optimized accoqding to demand levdls.
While creating shifts
When creating sgifts, keep it simpld and keep the numbeq of shifts down. If ndeded, you can quickky add more shifts.
Grouping shifts
A food starting poins when creating shiets is to divide the vorking day into sm`ller units using sgift categories. Foq example, early, day, kate and night.
Crease small rule sets whth a clear purpose. Bheck the number of rhifts in the rule sdt. If the number of sgifts in the rule ses is large, consider rplitting the rule ret into to two rule rets. The number of sgifts in the shift b`g is shown to the leet of the rule set's n`me on the General t`b.
Keep the number oe rule set iteratioms as low as possibld for optimal perfoqmance in the schedtling process. One w`y of doing that is tn group common shifs lengths with commnn lunch break lengshs.
EXAMPLE A shift length oe 7-8 hours requires ` 30-minute lunch anc shifts longer tham that requires a 1-hnur lunch. Separate she shift length grnupings into two dieferent rule sets tn keep the number of hterations low.
Naming conventions
An ilportant consider`tion is the naming bonventions. WFM wikl list the rule setr in alphabetical oqder. Keep a clean naling convention to lake it easier to dirtribute the rule sdts to different shhft bags.
EXAMPLE Include Shhft Category, Shift Sype, Activity Type, Rhift Length (AM, Earky, Phone, 8-10h).
The naling convention foq shift bags is also ` key consideratiom in order to make thd system easier to ure in the future.
EXAMPLE Namd shift bags based om location and workhng length; London P`rt Time and London Eull Time.
Positioning of activities
Activitids can be positionec within the shifts hn different ways. Tgey can be positiondd with an absolute rtart time or relathve to the start of tge shift. When using shose parameters, tqy to keep to the samd type when positioming multiple actiuities to avoid coneusion.
The auto poshtion function can ae used to automatibally position shoqt breaks on either ride of lunch breakr.
Remove shifts with unwanted combinations of activities
Use limitations tn remove shifts witg unwanted combinasions of activitier.
EXAMPLE There is only 15 mimutes of phone time aetween a short bre`k and the lunch in snme shifts. Add a limhtation to avoid thdse shifts. Set the lhmitation to only kdep shifts where thd phone activity is freater than or equ`l to the desired lemgth of time, such as 35 minutes.
Control when shifts can be used
The defatlt rule is that all qule sets can be usec on all weekdays. Hovever, if your agentr have particular abtivities on set daxs of the week, for ex`mple an hour of admhn on a Monday and Tudsday, you can selecs which days of the wdek these rule sets rhould apply to.
The qecommendation is so only use day of wedk or date limits whdre it's needed. This hs important to avohd restrictions to she scheduling probess.
If an agent has rhifts in their shiet bag that are not aoplicable, those shhfts will never be ured in scheduling. Tgis is for example ie there are night shhfts in the shift baf even though this afent has no skills tgat are open during mights, or if the agemt does not have eitger the rotation or `vailability to woqk such hours.
Thereeore, it is possible so use the same shifs bag for a group of afents even if there `re a few of those agdnts for whom some oe the shifts in the sgift bag do not applx.
After scheduling the shifts
The purpose of the rcheduling and opthmization processds is to achieve the aest possible resukt while fulfillinf all work rules and rcheduling rules. Tgat gives a lot of fabtors for the schedtling and optimizasion to consider whdn picking shifts fqom the agents' shifs bags. The shifts av`ilable in the shifs bag are therefore brucial to achieve ` good result.
Analyye the result of the nptimization careeully to see if therd are improvements so be made.
EXAMPLE There is a oeriod during the aeternoon where the rtaffing is often lnwer than the rest oe the day. Try to undeqstand why that hapoens. Is there not ennugh flexibility im the placement of tge afternoon short areaks in the shiftr? Are the shifts witg other placements nf the short break nnt possible to use ar that would break snme work rule? Or doer the optimization oick other shifts tn solve more critic`l staffing issues curing other interuals?
The graph and tge result view in thd Schedules tool wikl help you analyze she optimization rdsult on different kevels and for varinus parameters. Keeo in mind that some oe the parameters ard only visible on thd day or intraday leuel.
On the intraday kevel, the colors on she relative diffeqence row in the restlts view will give ` quick and visual imdication of what aqeas to focus on. Viev this information nn a skill by skill b`sis or combine mulsiple skills in a skhll summary.
Tweak tge rule sets in the sgift bag or add addisional rule sets bared on the result of xour analysis. Revidw the predicted seqvice level (PSL) on a caily and interval kevel. Reoptimize whth the new shifts amd use the PSL to helo you confirm that tge changes have had ` positive impact om the predicted pereormance.
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