Catchy title, don't you think? Maybe I should write a book... Anyway, I just finished adding a new page to the website with this same title. I don't want to repeat the article here, but I'll give you a little teaser from the article itself: "If your group needs a new shift schedule, you naturally want to find the best possible schedule. But how do you know what's best? And how do you come with options for the group to consider? Let's start by exploring three things a good schedule must do: (1) optimize the coverage, (2) minimize the labor costs, and (3) maximize employee satisfaction." Here's a link to the article:  http://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Shift_Schedule_Design_for_Dummies. The article also lists a process for designing schedules, but it's the 3 things a good schedule must do that is most important. So many people think a good schedule merely has the shift length they want or an on-off work pattern they heard about (e.g., Panama, DuPont, or Southern Swing). They end up with schedules that produce ineffective or inconsistent coverage, cost more than necessary, and don't maximize weekends off for the employees.        

Search for information about 24/7 schedules and you'll find multiple websites showing examples of popular work patterns, e.g., Continental, Pitman, DuPont, 6-on-3-off, 4-on-2-off, etc. You get the impression that these schedule templates are good for any group that works around-the-clock. All you need to do is choose the option you like best.   This is highly misleading. There are three reasons why: Coverage. Smaller organizations rarely need the same number of people working at all times. Yet the free templates found on the Internet produce constant coverage on a 24/7 basis. The primary reason you have a schedule is to match the coverage with the workload, so why would you want a schedule that doesn't do that? It would be a huge waste of your resources.   Staffing. Each template works best with a specific number of crews (usually 4). If your staff size isn't a multiple of this number, the crews will not be the same size which will result in uneven coverage. Another staffing issue has to do with schedule attractiveness. Some templates look great, but require way more employees than other, more efficient patterns. Don't get seduced by a schedule's attractiveness.   Pay Week. Each template works best for a certain overtime / pay week, e.g., Sunday to Saturday. Some schedules can be modified, but some can't. This can result unbalanced work week hours and in the loss of weekends off for employees.  So, if looking through popular work patterns is not a good way to find a new 24/7 shift schedule, what's the best approach?   You should always start with the workload distribution and the associated coverage requirements. How many people do you need at work on each shift? Does this stay the same all week?   When we design schedules, we compare the coverage requirements with your staff size and the average hours worked each week to determine what is feasible. Sometimes, overtime may need to be built into the schedule to avoid gaps in coverage. Occasionally there may be more staff than necessary, so we'll show you different ways to utilize these "extra" resources. We then evaluate your schedule preferences to see if this creates any problems. If the resources are adequate for the coverage and scheduling preferences, we start the actual shift schedule design. Often, we can apply common scheduling patterns as a starting point, and modify them to fit your unique circumstances. We create several different shift schedule options to show you the range of possibilities, such as the number of consecutive days worked, different shift lengths, relief coverage, and so on. The goal is to satisfy your specifications and explore possibilities you may not have considered.  

Most people think a shift schedule is effective if it does a good job with one of these 3 goals: Better staff utilization – coverage that is consistent and matched with the workload Reduced labor costs – lower wages and/or overtime Greater employee satisfaction – more days off and/or more weekends off Unfortunately, doing well with one goal often means compromising the other two. Here's an example. Suppose the employees want a 10-hour shift schedule to get one more day off each week and possibly more weekends off. This would certainly help the third goal: greater employee satisfaction. But what would it do to the other two goals? Since the 10-hour shifts would overlap for 6 hours a day, this would exceed the physical capacity of the work area. Employees from one of the overlapping shifts would be sitting around with nothing to do for 6 hours – every day of the week. This is definitely not a good way to use the staff. What about labor costs? Well, since the 10-hour shifts would require the organization to work 30 hours a day (three 10-hour shifts), the additional hours of coverage would necessitate an increase in the staff size by 25%. This certainly would not save money. So how do you find a schedule that satisfies all 3 goals? Simple. Instead of starting the search for a new schedule with a focus on Goal #3: Greater Employee Satisfaction, you start with #1: Better Staff Utilization. You then move to the second goal, and finally to the third goal. Here are the steps we follow when designing a new employee shift schedule: Feasibility. We start by comparing your coverage requirements and scheduling preferences with your staff size to determine the feasibility. Sometimes the resources are inadequate, so different approaches may have to be considered. Possibilities. Sometimes, overtime may need to be built into the schedule to avoid gaps in coverage. Occasionally there may be more staff than necessary, so we'll show you different ways to utilize these "extra" resources. Work patterns. In this third step, we start the actual shift schedule design. Often we can apply common scheduling patterns as a starting point, and modify them to fit your unique circumstances. Options. We create several different shift schedule options to show you the range of possibilities, such as the number of consecutive days worked, different shift lengths, relief coverage, alternative patterns, and so on. This process ensures that the schedules we create are effective with all three goals, not just one of them.

When people discuss shift schedules, they tend to focus on the key schedule features like the frequency of weekends off, the number of consecutive days off, how quickly you change shifts, and how many shifts in-a-row you have to work. These features may be important for the people working the schedule, but they overlook the reason for having a schedule in the first place. So much attention has been devoted to all these schedule features that the schedule's purpose has almost been forgotten.   Why do you need a schedule for your employees anyway? Is it to attract and retain good workers? Is it to keep the current workforce happy and motivated? Is it to minimize overtime? Although all of these things are important, they are not the fundamental reason for having a schedule.  The basic purpose of a schedule is to ensure that you have the right number of the right people at work at the right time, in other words, to match the coverage with the workload. This is sometimes called effective employee utilization. A secondary goal is to minimize costs for the organization, which is often called efficient resource utilization. In short, the schedule enables the organization to effectively and efficiently carry out its responsibilities. A schedule pattern may be very appealing to employees, but if it doesn't fulfill the essential goals of optimizing coverage and doing it efficiently, it's not good for the organization and should not be considered. If you don't have enough people at work, the organization's mission will be compromised. If you have too many people at work, you're wasting its precious resources. Once the schedule's purpose is achieved, only then can you search for options that maxmize employee satisfaction. You can read more about this here: https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Shift_Schedule_Design_for_Dummies. 

When managers need a new shift schedule for their group, they usually start by searching the Internet for: Free examples of popular schedule patterns (e.g., 2-3-2, DuPont, or 4-on-4-off) Information about certain shift lengths (e.g., 10-hour or 12-hour shifts) In larger organizations (50+ employees), this is not the best approach because: They are not involving the employees. The best way to gain support for a new schedule is to involve employees in the selection process. They are not considering multiple options. Employees will view the schedule as something forced on them by management. They often fail to revise the organization's pay-related policies to match the new schedule. This can be a costly mistake. In smaller organizations (<50 employees), this is not the best approach because: The schedule may not be a good fit with their staff size. Most schedules rely on 4 crews. When organizations have a staff that's not a multiple of 4, the four crews won't be the same size which means the coverage will be inconsistent. The schedule may not match their workload distribution. Most popular schedules assume constant coverage around-the-clock. If the workload is lighter on the night shift or on the weekends, the shifts will be overstaffed. Scheduling people to work when they aren't needed is an expensive way to use personnel. The schedule may not make the most efficient use of their resources (staff and overtime). They are not considering different approaches or options. The schedule may be intended for a different overtime/pay week. So why do they do this? I believe there are four reasons: They forget that the true purpose of a schedule is to deploy the staff effectively and efficiently, not to force the organization to adapt to a popular work pattern. They don't realize the value of a schedule that is matched to their specific resources and requirements. They aren't aware of the importance of involving employees in the selection process. They don't understand the value in paying for scheduling help. Custom-designed schedules from Shift Schedule Design are matched to the organization's staff size, business requirements, and schedule preferences. This means you get: Benefits. Make optimal use of your resources: Match the coverage with the workload during all your hours of operation. Consistently achieve or exceed the minimum coverage requirements. Make the most efficient use of your staff and overtime. Increase employee satisfaction by maximizing weekends off. Quick turnaround. Get multiple options in 2 days or less. Money-back guarantee. If you can find a better schedule in the following year, we'll refund your money ("better" is defined as meeting all four of the above criteria). What you avoid. Hours or days spent searching for free schedules. Forced to choose from only one or two options. Schedules that don't deploy your employees effectively. Schedules that increase operating costs by not using your resources efficiently. Schedules that don't maximize weekends off.      

When organizations need a new shift schedule, their managers often begin by searching for either: A specific work pattern, e.g., Pitman, DuPont, 6-on-3-off, or 4-on-2-off A desired schedule format, e.g., 10 or 12-hour fixed shifts This approach often will produce inferior results for three reasons:  (1) workload variations, (2) crew requirements, and (3) overlapping shifts. Let's take a look at each of these reasons in more detail. Workload Variations Most smaller organizations don't have a steady volume of work. Some have a workload that varies by time of day. For example, police and communications centers are often busier during the evening hours. Customer service centers may have more calls during the daylight hours, such as 4-person coverage from 0800 to 1700 and 2-person coverage from 1700 to 0800. Some organizations don't have a steady work volume throughout the week. For example, they may have lighter workloads on the weekends, such as 4-person coverage Monday to Friday and only 2-person coverage on Saturday and Sunday. Most 24/7 schedule patterns are designed to provide the same coverage around-the-clock, e.g., 3-person coverage on a 24/7 basis. This are inappropriate for organizations whose workload varies by shift or day of the week. It's important to keep in mind that the primary reason for having a schedule is to match the coverage with the workload. Managers tend to forget this key point when they search for a schedule pattern they hope will improve morale or reduce turnover. Crew Requirements Work patterns are designed for a specific number of employees or crews. For example, the Pittman 12- hour shift pattern (also known as an Every Other Weekend Off schedule) is designed for 2 crews per shift. The 6-on-3-off pattern using 8-hour shifts is designed for 9 crews (or employees) on each shift.  Yet organizations use these patterns with the wrong number of crews all the time. I just finished a job for a client that was using the 6-on-3-off pattern with only 5 employees on each shift. As a result, their coverage varied from day to day in a haphazard fashion. Employees liked the schedule pattern, but it was not an effective solution for the organization. Starting the search for a new schedule with a specific pattern in mind will rarely result in the most effective choice for the organization. Overlapping Shifts When organizations choose a desired shift length in an attempt to satisfy employees, they fail to consider the impact on coverage. This usually occurs with 10-hour shifts. Employees want to get an extra day off each week and they dread the idea of 12-hour shifts. So 10-hour shifts seem to be an ideal choice. The problem is that they come at a high price for the organization. Since the organization is now working 30 hours a day (three 10-hour shifts), this requires 25% more personnel or 25% less coverage. For example, a group of 16 employees on 8-hour shifts had 4-person coverage around-the-clock. After changing to 10s, the coverage dropped to 3 people. In addition, there are six hours every day in which the shifts overlapped. They now had 6 people working for this six-hour period every day when they only needed 4 people.   Summary and Recommendations Have you ever reflected on why you have a schedule? Yes, satisfying the employees is important. But that's not the reason for the schedule. The schedule is there to ensure the organization deploys its resources as effectively as possible. Many managers seem to forget this critical point. They hear about a popular pattern or they think 10-hour shifts will make everyone happy. They don't think about the impact on the organization. I'm not saying that we ignore employee preferences. I'm simply saying that they're not the starting point in the search for a better schedule. Here is the approach I recommend: Determine the hours of operation. Does the organization operate 24/7 or something less than that? If the hours are less than 24/7, make sure they are based on business requirements, not on shift length preferences. For example, a recent client was looking for 20/7 schedule. He didn't have enough staff to achieve the desired coverage levels, so I questioned him about the hours. He said he chose them in order to justify using two 10-hour shifts. He forgot that working an extra 4 hours a day would require 25% more personnel. Determine whether the workload is constant or variable. If it's variable, two general approaches can be followed. One way is to establish base coverage using either 8-hour or 12-hour shifts and then add an overlay shift (sometimes called a Power shift) to boost coverage during the busy period. The other way is to combine different shift lengths or use 10-hour shifts and match the overlapping shifts with the busy period(s).  Identify the coverage requirements (i.e. the number of employees you need to show up for work - by hour of the day and day of the week). Many managers mistakenly specify the coverage requirements using the current shift length. This simplifies the task, but it may not be the best match for the workload. If you can identify the work volumes and coverage requirements by hour of the day, that is ideal. Decide which shift lengths are the best fit with the coverage requirements. If the workload is constant, 8-hour or 12-hour shifts would be best. If the workload varies, which shift length(s) are the best fit? If more than one shift length would work, which is preferred? Notice that shift length selection is the 4th step in the process, not the first.  Calculate whether the staff size is adequate to produce this coverage. If not, overtime may have to be built into the schedule or more employees hired. The free staffing calculator on my website can help with this step. Go to:  http://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Staffing_Calculator. If there is more staff than necessary, can these "extra" resources be used to build relief time into the schedule to cover absences? If the resources are adequate, it's time to start the actual shift schedule design. Often you can apply common schedule patterns as a starting point, and modify them to fit your unique circumstances. Suppose you have 5 employees on a 12-hour day shift. This will require a 5-week schedule. You could start with a common 2-week pattern, double it to 4 weeks, and add a new pattern for the 5th week. An important consideration is to use a pattern that matches your organization's pay week. If the original pattern was intended for a different pay week, you could end up with unnecessary overtime and you could lose some of the weekends off. Again, please note that pattern selection is the 6th step in the process - not the first step. We always try to create several different shift schedule options to show a range of possibilities, such as the number of consecutive days worked, different shift lengths, different work patterns, with or without relief coverage, and so on. The goal is to both satisfy client specifications and explore possibilities the client may not have considered. The bottom line is that the search for a new schedule begins with the business requirements, not with employee preferences. If you reverse this by searching for a schedule that you think employees will be happier with, the organization will suffer the consequences. My recommended approach does not ignore employee preferences; it just doesn't start with them.