How to master rota planning

Creating staff rotas and assigning shifts can be a tedious task. It can even negatively affect a business if not done correctly.

The process often involves using a combination of spreadsheets, messaging apps, and even paper.

We asked business owners and managers how they deal with planning rotas and staff shifts. And some managers send their staff photos of bio-scribbled wall calendars via WhatsApp.

But what are the problems they face and how does BrightHR solve them? Let's take a look…

1) Creating staff rotas and shifts quickly and accurately

Shift scheduling in our software is a doddle to set up thanks to our user-friendly interface.

To save time, you can create single or many rolling shift patterns. You can also add or remove people with a click.

Plus, you can build and review rotas in draft before publishing them to your staff.

2) Publishing the schedules online, from the same place you planned and built them

It sounds simple, but it's surprising how many people still manually distribute a spreadsheet or piece of paper. They attach a spreadsheet to an email or pin a paper version to a noticeboard.

BrightHR allows you to schedule, publish, and share information securely in one place.

3) Sharing rotas with employees with a simple click, so that everyone has access

Once you’re happy with the shifts you’ve scheduled on the rota, simply hit send. It’ll fire a real-time notification to the staff involved.

And that’s it: everyone has instant 24/7 access, via the website or our mobile app. We recommend that all BrightHR users download our app.

4) Making changes to live shift schedules whilst on the move

Nothing at work is static, not people or plans. And we know how important it is to swap, change and fine-tune shifts and rotas once they’re live.

This is simple with BrightHR and can be done as many times as you need.

Our product is designed to work smoothly on your mobile phone. Changes can be made from anywhere with an internet connection.

5) Notifying staff of new or updated shifts via their smartphone

When you make changes to the staff rota, it's important to ensure that all staff members are aware of the updates. Without proper communication, things can easily break down.

BrightHR allows you to send instant notifications to all staff members. This addresses the issue. These notifications will then appear on their smartphones, much like social media alerts.

6) Having a ‘single version of the truth’

The real crux of it, and critical for any business is version control. Knowing that what you’re looking at is the same as what everyone else is looking at and that it’s correct.

Changes and updates made on any device with BrightHR are automatically synced in real time. This means the latest version is always accessible on any device.

Like all the features in BrightHR, we've built our shifts & rotas features based on what business owners and managers have told us. We considered the challenges you face every day and your company's goals.

Want to see how our Shifts & Rotas feature can help your business? Check out this video to see how it works or to see in it action request your free demo of BrightHR today.