Your group needs a new work schedule for the employees. So where do you start? Most people go to the internet and search for free schedule examples. Why not? There must be tons of schedule templates to choose from, right? Let's take a look.   You search for "free schedule templates." You get page after page of websites that sell scheduling software or offer blank forms and formatted spreadsheets. Some feature common work patterns for 8, 10 or 12-hour shifts. The question is: will any of these schedules work for you?   The best work schedules must be designed around specific staff sizes and pay weeks. If you don't have the same parameters as the free template, you could end up with coverage that is inadequate or inconsistent from day-to-day, unnecessary overtime, and fewer weekends off.   Yes, you can make some of these schedule templates to work for you. It could be as simple as changing the days of the week to match your pay week. In some cases, you might have to tweak the work pattern to make it work properly. And sometimes, nothing will help. For example, how do you use a pattern intended for 4 crews when you have 11 employees or how do you use a 12-hour shift schedule when your coverage varies in 8-hour increments or you need different coverage on the weekends?    Wouldn't it be better to find schedules matched to your unique circumstances? We think so. That's why we custom-design schedules around your requirements and preferences. We also show you alternative approaches/options so you can compare them and let your employees debate the pros and cons of each one.   Don't pick a template just because some other company is using it or a few employees recommended it. It might be free, but it could cost you a bundle (though you'd never realize it). Get started today with schedules designed by an expert. Schedules that are matched to your situation. Schedules that make optimal use of your staff and offer maximum weekends off. Click on the link below:    CONTACT US          

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.      

Almost every week I'm contacted by police officers, sheriff's deputies, and patrolmen about 10-hour shifts. They believe that 10-hour shifts would benefit themselves and their fellow officers. I believe there are two reasons they think 10s would be an improvement over their current 8-hour schedule. I will take a closer look at each of these in an attempt to sort out the reality from the myth.      Time Off  In 24/7 operations, typical schedules using 8, 10 or 12-hour shifts provide the following number of days and weekends off:    Shift Length        Days Off Per Year             Max. Weekends Off    8-hour                           91                                       25%  10-hour                          146                                      40%         12-hour                          182                                      50% It is clear that 10-hour shifts offer more days off and more weekends off than 8s, but not as many as 12s. I believe that 10s are the most popular shift length because they offer more time off than 8s and they are seen as more tolerable than 12s. If the only objective was to maximize time off, 12-hour shifts would be the clear winner. The key point that is often overlooked is absence coverage. With 8-hour shifts, absences are covered either by holding someone over from the previous shift or by splitting the vacant shift into two 4-hour components that can be covered by the preceding and following shifts. With 10-hour and 12-hour shifts, absences must be covered by calling someone in from a scheduled day off. Many law enforcement agenices have built additional coverage into their schedules to compensate for their high absence rates. But what happens if that extra coverage isn't available? Since 10-hour shifts will reduce the available coverage by at least 25%, there won't be any extra capacity to cover absences. So, instead of getting the expected 3 days off every week, the officers might only get 1 or 2 days off.   On/Off Work Patterns The common perception of 10-hour work patterns is 4 days of work followed by 3 days off. In 24/7 operations, however, this pattern only works if you use 6 crews and fixed days of work. This requires a lot more staff, a backwards rotation, and fixed days of work. You can read more about this approach and its shortcomings here:  http://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=problems-with-free-schedule-examples    The best 10-hour schedule for 24/7 operations uses 7 crews per shift or 21 total crews. There is no built-in overtime with this schedule. It also has the most attractive work pattern (4 or 5 consecutive days of work followed by 3 or 4-day breaks). The pattern can easily be adapted for use with either fixed or rotating shifts. If you don't have 7 officers or a multiple of 7 (14, 21, 28, etc.) per shift, your 10-hour schedule will have shorter blocks of work (two to four days) and shorter breaks (one to three days). Many officers are disappointed when they see these patterns because there are so many one and two-day breaks. These patterns are especially unattractive to anyone who is expecting to consistently get 3 consecutive days off by changing to 10-hour shifts.     Organization and Supervision  Many 8-hour and 12-hour schedules use 4 squads. Squad members work the same shift(s) and the same days of the week. 10-hour shift schedules for small organizations (less than 50 people), rarely use squads. Some days, Officer A might be working with officers C and E. On other days, he or she might be working with officers B and D, or maybe with officers G and J.   With 8 or 12-hour shift schedules, each squad usually has a sergeant or corporal who acts as the team leader/supervisor. With 10-hour shifts, in order to ensure that a supervisor is always on duty, it's necessary to put them on their own, separate schedule. This means the officers will not always be working with the same supervisor after changing to a 10-hour shift schedule.       Conclusions  10-hour shifts provide more time off than 8-hour shifts, but not as much as 12-hour shifts. The extra days off may not be realized since some of them will probably be used to cover absences. Although the schedule will provide 3 days off for most weeks, they won't always occur on consecutive days. 10-hour shifts also will change the way the group is organized and supervised. Although 10-hour shifts are clearly more attractive than 8-hour shifts, they may not live up to the high expectations that many police officers have of them. I think the shift length debate among officers should not be 8s vs. 10s, but 10s vs. 12s.   Please check out my other 10-hour blog posts, especially 10-hour shifts and Police Management. Go to the search box and type in 10 hour shifts. You really need to educate yourself about this before making a choice you might regret.  

Shift schedules specify when employees are supposed to work. For managers, this defines how the staff will be utilized. For employees, this determines their time off, making it just as important as their pay. Shift schedules tend to be associated with companies that operate around-the-clock, such as public safety (fire and police), hospitals, utilities, mines, and large manufacturing facilities. But shift schedules are needed by any group that has more than one shift. The first big change in shift schedules began in the 1980s, when larger 24/7 operations started changing from 8-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts. These companies found that the longer shifts were good for both management and employees. Productivity improved because there were fewer shift hand-offs and tasks were more likely to be finished on one shift rather than passed along to the following shift. Although most workers hated the idea of working longer shifts, the 12-hour patterns were clearly better than the 8-hour patterns, since they offered twice as many days off and up to half the weekends off. The second major change in shift schedules arose from widespread business growth. Companies that were working 5-days-a-week were expanding to 7-day operations. The three 8-hour crews covering Mon-Fri were burned out from all the weekend overtime and the companies didn't like the spiraling costs. Some companies chose to adopt 5½-day or 6-day schedules. Some chose to hire weekend crews. Most decided to add a fourth crew and adopt a 24/7 schedule, typically with 12-hour shifts. The third and most recent change encompassed companies not normally associated with shiftwork, such as beauty salons, pharmacies, government offices, mechanics, dentists, insurance companies, restaurants, and customer support centers. They may not run 24/7, but they do operate longer than the traditional 8 to 5, Monday to Friday, and therefore require more than just one shift. Some of these companies found it more economical to add a shift rather than move to larger facilities or purchase additional equipment. Others found it necessary to stay open longer because of competition and customer expectations. Because the workload in these companies is rarely constant all day or throughout the week, the challenge for scheduling is finding a schedule that matches the coverage with the workload throughout the hours of operation. This can involve staggered shift start times, multiple shift lengths, and overlapping shifts. Whereas the two previous changes in shift schedules involved finding the single best shift length for around-the-clock coverage, the third change involves choosing the best combination of shift lengths and start times to accommodate a variable workload, often with less-than-24/7 coverage. At the same time shift schedules were evolving, the process for finding a new schedule also was changing. Early scheduling transitions took place in companies with large staffs and budgets. They often hired consultants to help facilitate the change. The consultants would start by developing a business case that justified changing schedules. Then they would involve the employees in the selection process, educate them about different approaches, revise paid-time-off policies to match the new schedule, and help to implement the new schedule. When smaller organizations (that couldn't afford a consultant) started changing schedules, they initially turned to industry forums for help, and more recently to free schedule templates found on the Internet. Although the number of options is somewhat limited, this approach is okay if the workload is constant and the staff size is a multiple of 4 (since most of the schedules rely on 4 crews). Since most smaller groups don't have a steady workload or the right number of employees, the templates often will result in unnecessary costs and/or ineffective utilization of the staff. In addition to thinking you can simply copy schedule examples from the Internet, here are the most common mistakes made today when searching for a new shift schedule: 1.      Wrong priorities. Increased concern for employee work-life balance has led many managers to search for a schedule with shift lengths or work patterns that are popular with employees. They forget that employee satisfaction is NOT the primary purpose of the schedule. The reason you have a schedule is to ensure the right number of the right people are working at the right time. This means matching the coverage (the number of people actually working) with the workload distribution. You don't want a schedule with steady coverage if the organization's workload is lighter from Midnight to 6 a.m. or on the weekends. And you don't want a schedule with a lot of double coverage (from overlapping shifts) if the organization's workload is constant. The top priority should be to find an approach that satisfies the business requirements. Then, and only then, should you seek options (using that approach) that a majority of your employees prefer. 2.      Narrow focus. Focusing on a single issue and ignoring the big picture often results in costly choices. For example, many establishments think they're saving money by having a schedule with no overtime in it. They don't understand that this requires a larger staff and/or more overtime to cover absences. Although they think they are being frugal, a schedule with a small amount of built-in overtime actually might have been cheaper when the total labor costs are considered. Another example is the manager who wants to give his employees more days off by adopting a 10-hour schedule. He doesn't realize that this will reduce the coverage on each shift by 25%, which depletes the reserve capacity used to compensate for absences. Although employees now have 3 scheduled days off each week, they may have to work some of those days whenever somebody takes vacation or calls in sick.   3.      Solution-oriented. When most managers decide it's time for a new schedule, they immediately start searching for a solution on the Internet, e.g., schedule examples or articles about the pros and cons of different shift lengths or work patterns. They should start by developing a process for educating and involving employees. If employees don't believe there is a need to change or that their opinions are being considered, it will be difficult to secure their buy-in and support for the new schedule. Managers should never assume they know what's best for the group. They should try to find multiple options that satisfy the business requirements and let the employees make the final choice. Each site will choose differently due to its unique combination of demographics, experiences, and lifestyles. Shift schedules will continue to evolve as more and more groups adopt them. Although many of the same issues will continue to exist, new problems are likely to arise as more diverse facilities begin implementing new schedules. Let's hope they learn from the mistakes of other organizations and contact us.