Manual Scheduling
Overview
A schedule can be created in two ways:
automatically, as described on the Auto Scheduling page
manually, by assigning schedule elements to people (based on the provided forecast or your judgment), as described on this page.
This page provides technical details on how to manually assign, copy, paste or delete schedule elements. The process of understanding the requirements and initial steps are described on the Adding a New Schedule page.
Schedule Elements
The elements represent work, other activities or non-working times, for example: lunch, break, training, meeting or sick. Each element has a default length assigned (for example: Voice - 2 hours, Lunch - 30 minutes etc.).
Hover the mouse cursor over elements to see their default duration.
Each schedule element has the following parameters assigned: default length, type, and if paid or unpaid. Length can be easily modified, whereas type and if paid/unpaid are fixed values.
Elements can be one of the following types:
productive – time spent working (for example, being available for incoming calls), only the Voice, Chat and Email elements have this type assigned
non-productive – all other work-related activities, when a person is not performing their primary task (for example, is not available for incoming calls due to a meeting, training or break)
Additionally, the Lunch element is marked as an unpaid activity (as many employers do not count lunch as work time), all other elements are paid. This information is used for shift length calculation.
The table below contains information about all available schedule elements:
Name | Description | Default length | Type | Paid? | Pinnable?* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Voice | Basic work element representing time spent answering calls (channel type: voice). | 2 hours | Productive | Yes | No |
Chat | Basic work element representing time spent answering chats (channel type: chat). | 2 hours | Productive | Yes | No |
Basic work element representing time spent answering emails (channel type: email). | 2 hours | Productive | Yes | No | |
Lunch | Unpaid lunch break. | 30 minutes | Non-Productive | No | No |
Break | Any work break which is paid. | 15 minutes | Non-Productive | Yes | No |
Vacation | An element representing paid time off requested by a person. | 24 hours | Non-Productive | Yes | Pinned by default |
Sick | An element representing a day off due to illness. | 24 hours | Non-Productive | Yes | Pinned by default |
Training | Time spent on training. | 1 hour | Non-Productive | Yes | Yes |
Meeting | Time spent in a meeting. | 1 hour | Non-Productive | Yes | Yes |
One on One | Time spent in an individual meeting with a supervisor/leader. | 30 minutes | Non-Productive | Yes | Yes |
Holiday | An element representing all non-working days, like public/national holidays, Christmas etc. (not a user's paid time off). | 24 hours | Non-Productive | Yes | Pinned by default |
Task 1 | An element representing any other custom activity | 1 hour | Productive | Yes | Yes |
Task 2 | An element representing any other custom activity | 1 hour | Productive | Yes | Yes |
Task 3 | An element representing any other custom activity | 1 hour | Productive | Yes | Yes |
*Read more about the pinning functionality in the Pinning and Unpinning Elements section.
Note that by default the Vacation element is set to one day:
If a person has no elements assigned for a given day, the Vacation will automatically extend to cover the whole day.
If another element is already assigned to a person and then vacation is assigned for the same day, the Vacation element will start from the end of the previous element until the end of the day.
Assigning Schedule Elements
Drag and drop the element to assign it to the selected person for the selected time. It will appear on the timeline in the relevant row:
Hover the mouse cursor over the element to view details. A tooltip will appear, containing the following details:
name of the element
duration of the element
type of the element
Click inside the element to drag and move it to a different time or assign it to someone else. The selected element is highlighted with a black frame.
The schedule element can begin on one day and continue overnight, ending the next day (for example from 22:00 to 02:00). Drag and drop the element to move it along the timeline.
Hold the CTRL key to select multiple elements which you can drag and move together. All selected elements are highlighted with a black frame. It is possible to move them to a different place on the timeline or assign them to someone else.
To select all elements assigned to a person at once:
Right click with the mouse on the person's name. A tooltip will display.
Click Select all.
All elements assigned to the person will be selected. Move them backward or forward in time, as needed.
The Select all feature (in scheduling) applies to the currently selected day only. It doesn't influence other days of the schedule.
Drag the bar to extend or shrink the duration of the element:
To remove the element from the person's timeline, click on it to select it, and then click the DELETE key (if using a PC) or BACKSPACE key (if using a Mac) using your keyboard.
Copying and Pasting the Schedule
To copy the schedule assigned to one person and assign it to another person:
Right click with the mouse on the first person's name. A tooltip will display.
Click Copy schedule.
Right click with the mouse on the second person's name. A tooltip will display.
Click Paste schedule.
The schedule will be assigned to the second person.
Any preexisting activities assigned to the person will be overwritten if the content is pasted. The Working in Office/Working Remotely status will be overwritten as well, so re-check if the number of people working in the office matches the Available Seats value.
The Copy/Paste feature (in scheduling) applies to the currently selected day only. It doesn't influence other days of the schedule.
Any elements that start one day and end the next day (for example from 22:00 to 02:00) will be cut during the Copy/Paste operation. Only the part of the element that falls within the currently selected day will be pasted.
Cloning the Schedule for One Person
Agents who belong to the teams that the current user has assigned in User Management > Can Review section are available. Details can be found in the Can Review section of the Editing Users page.
To copy the schedule assigned to a person for the currently displayed day and paste it to other day(s):
Right click with the mouse on the person's name. A tooltip will display.
Click Clone schedule.
A calendar will display. The current day is marked in blue. Select to which day(s) it should be cloned. Multiple days can be selected at once.
Click Clone schedule.
The schedule for the currently displayed day will be copied to other selected days.
Cloning the Schedule for All People
To copy the schedule assigned to all people for the currently displayed day and paste it to other day(s):
Click the Settings button on the left side of the table. A tooltip will display.
Click Clone all people schedule.
A calendar will display. The current day is marked in blue. Select to which day(s) it should be cloned. Multiple days can be selected at once.
Click Clone schedule.
The schedules for the currently displayed day will be copied to other selected days.
Any elements that start one day and end the next day (for example from 22:00 to 02:00) will be cut during the Clone schedule operation. Only the part of the element that falls within the currently selected day will be pasted.
Clearing the Schedule
To clear the schedule assigned to a person:
Right click with the mouse on the person's name. A tooltip will display.
Click Clear schedule.
All activities assigned to the person will be removed, however, the person will remain assigned to the schedule.
This feature (in scheduling) applies to the currently selected day only. It doesn't influence other days of the schedule.
Next Steps
After creating the schedule, proceed to evaluate the results as described on the Adding a New Schedule page.