How do I schedule by employee?

When scheduling your staff, TimeForge allows you to schedule by position or by employee.

An example of scheduling by position might be: From 3:30pm – 8:30pm, I need a cook, and that cook happens to be Joe Smith.

An example of scheduling by employee might be: From 3:30pm – 8:30pm, I need Joe Smith, and Joe happens to be a cook.

Some businesses find that scheduling by employee is best for them, and other businesses prefer scheduling by position. Use the one that makes sense
for your business, or switch between the two with a single click.

Go to the Schedules tab

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Navigate to the Schedules tab and click on Schedules.

Select a Schedule

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Click on the title of the schedule you would like to view.

View Schedule by Employee

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At the top of the Schedule’s page, click on the Employee bubble. You will now be able to see the schedule by employee.

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How do I AutoSchedule a shift?

The AutoScheduler is an industry leading tool that TimeForge offers to its users at no additional cost. AutoScheduler lets you input the basic outline of a schedule, then you click “AutoSchedule” and presto! The perfect schedule is born. An AutoScheduled schedule is optimized to make both employees and managers happy by considering employee requests, skill levels, busy times, costs of different employees, and other criteria. The AutoScheduler creates the most profit-friendly and most employee friendly schedule possible. Below are instructions for AutoScheduling a shift.

Go to Schedules

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Navigate to the Schedules tab and click on Schedules.

Select a Schedule

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Click on the title of the schedule that you would like to view.

Go to Daily View

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At the top of the Schedules page, click on the Daily View link.

Click on the Lock Icon to AutoSchedule a Shift

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Click on the green “Lock” icon. The icon will unlock and become red. This means the shift is no longer locked. A locked shift can’t be AutoScheduled. Once you unlock that shift, you can now click on the AutoSchedule button. The AutoSchedule will automatically assign the best person for the job to that shift.

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How do I Set Up Break Rules?

The TimeForge Breaks module inside of TimeForge Scheduling is a powerful and flexible management system for scheduling breaks and meal periods for staff members. TimeForge Breaks are controlled using the Break Rules, and these Break Rules become scheduled breaks on the schedule that can be controlled and monitored using TimeForge Attendance, or with a worksheet and signatures by staff members.

TimeForge Break Rules are designed to allow management staff to specify the language and requirements of paid, unpaid, optional, and required breaks, similar to how they might be specified by federal, state, or local authorities

For example, in some states, it may be required to provide a 15-minute optional and unpaid break to staff members who work at least 6 hours.

Navigate to the Break Rules

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Go to the Employees tab, and the Breaks sub-tab.

Review the Break Rules

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Review the Break Rules, which specify the number of breaks, duration of break, recurrence, whether or not the break is required (or optional), whether the break is paid (or unpaid), a description for the break, the position the break applies to, and how long the employee must be at work for the break to apply.

Configure Break Rules

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To add a break rule, click on the Add a New Break Rule button [7]. Some information about this screen:

1 – Breaks applying to any position are listed under the “Any Position” section. Breaks for specific positions are listed under their respective position names. This flexibility allows management breaks, or FOH and BOH to have different break set ups.

2 – Select the number of breaks, and the duration of the break(s). For example, in the picture, we are describing “2 breaks”, and each break lasts “5 minutes”.

3 – Choose the duration for repetition of the break(s). For example, in the picture, we are describing breaks that occur once every 6 hours. If the breaks should be awarded every 2 hours, but the shift is 4 hours long, the staff member may be awarded 2 sets of breaks.

4 – Decide whether the breaks are paid, unpaid, required, or optional, and add a description for the break. For example, in the picture, we are describing a required, but unpaid break, with no description.

5 – Decide if the break applies to all positions, or only one type of position, and also decide which specific shifts will receive the break. For example, in the picture we are awarding breaks to staff members who work Bartender shifts that are at least 6 hours long, but no longer than 8 hours.

TimeForge will tie all of the Break Rules together and will apply / award the breaks to staff members working applicable shifts. Based on the picture for this step, TimeForge will provide (2) 5-minute breaks to bartenders who work at least 6 hours, but less than 8 hours. These breaks will both be required, but are unpaid.

When you’re done working with the breaks, make sure to click on the Save Break Rules button [6].

Test the Break Rules

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TimeForge provides management staff with the ability to test the break rules, to ensure that the break rules are configured exactly as you need them for your business.

To test the break rules, choose an applicable position, and then simulate the duration of a work shift, and click on Test Break Rules.

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How do I rate a shift from my schedule?

You will want to rate your shifts so that your managers (and the TimeForge AutoScheduler) can see which shifts you prefer to work and which shifts you would prefer to not work. Shift ratings are a quick and easy way for your managers to get an idea of how good the schedule was so that they can make the best schedules possible in the future. The goal of every schedule is to make everyone happy – happy managers, happy employees, and happy customers. Be sure to rate all of your shifts so your managers know how you feel.

Navigate to Schedules Page

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Navigate to the Schedules tab and click on My Schedule.

Rate your shift

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To rate your shift, click on the blue Rate link.

Did you enjoy your shift?

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Click on the green “thumbs up” button if you enjoyed your shift. If you did not enjoy your shift, click on the red “thumbs down” button.

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How do I run Schedule reports?

Reports enable you to view, print, and analyze your operations so that you can optimize your profitability by avoiding over- or under- scheduling in the future. Schedule reports provide a printable, streamlined view of the employee schedule, so that you can quickly print and post your schedule, or review on a computer. Below are instructions for running schedule reports and understanding your options.

Go to Reports

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To run a schedule report, first navigate to Schedules and then click on Reports.

Select a Report

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Click on the type of report you want to run. There are brief explanations below each report’s title for clarification.

Select a Schedule

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Mark the check boxes next to the schedule(s) you would like to run a report on, and enter other relevant information.
If you want a run a report based on specific date range, rather than on a specific schedule, click the Run Report By Date Range link at the bottom of the page.

Run Report

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When you are finished entering all relevant information and selecting your options, click on the “Run Report” button.

View Report

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Your report should load at the very bottom of the page. Scroll down to view the report. From here you can print, download, etc.

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How do I schedule by position?

TimeForge provides you with the ability to build and view schedules using whichever method best suits the operations of your business – by positions, employees, times, hours, or costs. Below are instructions for building or viewing an existing schedule by position.

Go to Schedules

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Navigate to the Schedules tab and click on Schedules.

Select a Schedule

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Click on the title of the schedule you would like to view.

View Schedule by Position

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At the top of the Schedules page, click on the Position bubble. You will now be able to view the schedules by positions.

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How do I Post a Schedule?

TimeForge schedules are private, and kept hidden from staff members, until a manager or qualified supervisor, chooses to post the schedule.

Once posted, the schedule is visible to all staff members through the TimeForge employee portal, and TimeForge will begin sending text messages and email alerts to staff members who want to receive schedule notifications. Also, once a schedule is posted, to minimize staff confusion, the schedule cannot be “un-posted”.

Additionally, if you are using TimeForge Attendance, the posted schedules can be enforced to ensure that staff are not riding the clock, buddy punching, or sweet-hearting.

Navigate to the Schedules Tab

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To post a schedule, you need to navigate to the Schedules tab. Then click on the Schedules sub-tab to see the list of schedules.

Build a Schedule, if Necessary

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If needed, create a new schedule and choose the start and the end date of the schedule. Click the Add This Schedule button.

Alternatively, you can edit an existing schedule.

Post the Schedule

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After editing the schedule, click on Post Schedule Changes.

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How Do I Prevent Overstaffing?

Scheduling staff is a complicated process, and cross-training staff members while scheduling multiple departments, can make scheduling a nightmare. When working with multiple departments, it is sometimes possible to short staff a single department by over staffing another department. Over staffing one department will create a cascade of problems, from upset staff members to increased overtime.

TimeForge’s short staffing rules allow administrators and management to create daily templates and Normal Week templates, which will be used as a base-level schedule for other schedules and departments. TimeForge will warn management if they exceed the departments, or schedule staff who are listed to work on another schedule or template in an overlapping time period.

Create or Edit a Staffing Template

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Start setting up short staffing alerts by creating a new template, or editing an existing staffing template.

Edit the Template Properties

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Edit the Properties for the staff template.

Set the Day of Week for the Template

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Specify the day of the week for the schedule template, so TimeForge knows which day of the week you normally use the template.

Create a Weekly Staffing Template

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Specify the Normal Weekly Template

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After setting up 1 or more templates, create a Weekly Template which includes all of your necessary templates.

In the graphic above, the Weekly Template uses a template on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Other days of the week did not have a template.

To ensure that TimeForge uses the Weekly Template for short staffing alerts, choose the Normal Week check box.

If you are not using departments, you are done at this point.

Build Another Template, for a Different Department

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Short staffing alerts are triggered when Normal Week templates indicate that there may be a shortage in staff members for a particular department or location, by comparing the departments to the schedules and Normal Week templates of the other departments.

To see the template warnings for short staffing, build templates for the other departments, and make sure to set the day of week.

Create Another Weekly Template for the Second Department

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Make sure to set up another weekly template for this department, and set it to be a Normal Week.

Set Up the Shifts in each Template

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Add shifts to your templates. If the shifts that are added will cause your business to be short staffed, TimeForge will warn you. Additionally, if staff members are placed in conflicting templates or departments, TimeForge will warn you.

Detected Shortages will Trigger Warnings

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A shortage warning will appear if short staffing is likely to occur based on what is normally worked in a work week.

Schedule Staff Shortages Show Alerts Too…

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In addition to Template warnings, TimeForge’s short staffing alerts will notify management when the schedule exceeds or overlaps with Normal Week templates for other departments.

Posted in Schedules Tab / No Comments.

How do I Set Up Break Rules?

The TimeForge Breaks module inside of TimeForge Scheduling is a powerful and flexible management system for scheduling breaks and meal periods for staff members. TimeForge Breaks are controlled using the Break Rules, and these Break Rules become scheduled breaks on the schedule that can be controlled and monitored using TimeForge Attendance, or with a worksheet and signatures by staff members.

TimeForge Break Rules are designed to allow management staff to specify the language and requirements of paid, unpaid, optional, and required breaks, similar to how they might be specified by federal, state, or local authorities

For example, in some states, it may be required to provide a 15-minute optional and unpaid break to staff members who work at least 6 hours.

Navigate to the Break Rules

Navigate_to_the_Break_Rules.png

Go to the Employees tab, and the Breaks sub-tab.

Review the Break Rules

Review_the_Break_Rules.png

Review the Break Rules, which specify the number of breaks, duration of break, recurrence, whether or not the break is required (or optional), whether the break is paid (or unpaid), a description for the break, the position the break applies to, and how long the employee must be at work for the break to apply.

Configure Break Rules

Configure_Break_Rules.png

To add a break rule, click on the Add a New Break Rule button [7]. Some information about this screen:

1 – Breaks applying to any position are listed under the “Any Position” section. Breaks for specific positions are listed under their respective position names. This flexibility allows management breaks, or FOH and BOH to have different break set ups.

2 – Select the number of breaks, and the duration of the break(s). For example, in the picture, we are describing “2 breaks”, and each break lasts “5 minutes”.

3 – Choose the duration for repetition of the break(s). For example, in the picture, we are describing breaks that occur once every 6 hours. If the breaks should be awarded every 2 hours, but the shift is 4 hours long, the staff member may be awarded 2 sets of breaks.

4 – Decide whether the breaks are paid, unpaid, required, or optional, and add a description for the break. For example, in the picture, we are describing a required, but unpaid break, with no description.

5 – Decide if the break applies to all positions, or only one type of position, and also decide which specific shifts will receive the break. For example, in the picture we are awarding breaks to staff members who work Bartender shifts that are at least 6 hours long, but no longer than 8 hours.

TimeForge will tie all of the Break Rules together and will apply / award the breaks to staff members working applicable shifts. Based on the picture for this step, TimeForge will provide (2) 5-minute breaks to bartenders who work at least 6 hours, but less than 8 hours. These breaks will both be required, but are unpaid.

When you’re done working with the breaks, make sure to click on the Save Break Rules button [6].

Test the Break Rules

Test_the_Break_Rules.png

TimeForge provides management staff with the ability to test the break rules, to ensure that the break rules are configured exactly as you need them for your business.

To test the break rules, choose an applicable position, and then simulate the duration of a work shift, and click on Test Break Rules.

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How do I Schedule Breaks for Staff?

The TimeForge Breaks module inside of TimeForge Scheduling is a powerful and flexible management system for scheduling breaks and meal periods for staff members. TimeForge Breaks are controlled using the Break Rules, and translate into scheduled breaks that can be controlled and monitored using TimeForge Attendance, or with a worksheet and signatures by staff members.

Navigate to the Schedules Tab

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If you are using TimeForge Scheduling, you can add new schedules and breaks for staff members. To start, navigate to the Schedules tab.

Edit Your Schedule

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Pick a schedule that you would like to edit. Or you can add a new schedule to begin adding shifts and breaks for your staff.

Choose a Shift

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Then pick an employee, and then a shift. if there is not a shift available already, you may add a new shift.

Navigate to the Breaks Tab

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At the top of the add-edit shift screen, there is a Shift tab and a Breaks tab. Choose the Breaks tab to display scheduled breaks, or schedule new breaks.

Please Note: If you do not see the Breaks tab, there are no configured Break Rules. TimeForge requires that Break Rules be configured before individual breaks can be laid out for shifts. Setting up Break Rules will allow the TimeForge software to automatically schedule and stagger breaks for staff members.

Add Breaks for the Shift

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To schedule breaks for the shift, click on Add More Breaks.

Set Break Parameters

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Configure the time, the duration, and the type of break that you want for this shift. When you are finished adding breaks for this shift, click on the Shift tab and click on Save to save the shift.

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heartWhat some of our clients have to say ...

We are one year into it now, well past being enamored with the newness. We are married to TimeForge. It's as essential to us now as any of our management tools today, and we very happy about that.- Steve @ Hermosa Cyclery
We really like the program so far. I know that it is geared towards restaurants, but we are a real estate company and we love it because it is inexpensive and it is so easy to use.- Nicole @ Exit Premier Realty
The Timeforge scheduling system has not only increased our efficiency tremendously; decreased the errors in what is normally an error prone environment; it has also saved us ten times what it costs us each month.- Michael @ Tiara Cafe
I would highly recommend TimeForge to anyone making work schedules. ... What used to take 1-2 hours, now takes 15 minutes. The reports section is comprehensive and useful.- Lawrence Payne @ Mid Pacific Country Club
I've been really pleased with this latest version of TimeForge. I'm really getting familiar with this program and its become a great time saver! Keep up the good work!- Loren @ Fresh Produce
Before using TimeForge, creating a schedule took 2 hours. With TimeForge, it takes less than 10 minutes.- Gail @ Kerr Drug

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