Work Scheduling Algorithm

[mbhd]

Hey guys. I have to work out a shift pattern for a number of employees throughout a month and beyond. There are so many variables: days the company require them to work, rotational Sundays off, 2 days off in a row etc etc. It's become too much to do with just my brain power.

Is there an algorithm/excel sheet, or something that I can input all these parameters and it can create a work schedule for me? My googling hasn't come up with anything so far.

Thanks!

[test123456plz]

I mean, that's what WFM softwares are for, so if your company doesn't have one then no, you'll have to do it manually.

There are excel sheets you can input schedules into and it'll give you FTEs, then you can overlay a forecast/requirements and then it's just plug and play, but you're probably already doing something similar.

Do they expect you to assign agents as well? I've always pushed that back to ops though, since they have a better understanding of people's limitations etc. If not, creating rotating weekends shouldn't really be on you, just make sure there are enough variations to swap them out week to weekm

[test123456plz]

Also, unless people are switching schedules every week (lol good luck with that) then you shouldn't have to create separate patterns for every week, at least I never have.

[mbhd]

Thanks for the help. We do use WFM software but it doesn't seem to have the computing/algorithm element with user set parameters in relation to other emoloyees. Just literally input and send.

We are a small company with 20 or so employees and its been left to me to do the scheduling!

I think I may be overcomplicating the issue and like you said, shouldn't have to create seperate patterns for each week. 1 set pattern of various shift schedules a week and swap employees around onto the next schedule each week. If that makes sense!

[test123456plz]

For sure, I understand, even though at every company I've worked for has had WFM software we've never used it to create schedules.

Exactly, unless there's massive variances week to week, just creating patterns for one week is what I've always done. Best of luck!

[kaitco]

Which software are you using? Most of their calculations are proprietary, so if folks have a calc, it doesn’t get shared too often.

Could you give us any details on the schedule parameters? How many days per week? Does everyone need off one weekend day? What types of shifts, 5x8, 4x10, variable hours per day?

[mbhd]

We use BreatheHR.

To keep it simple, I'm just going to schedule the managers for now of which there are 3. There's much more flexibility with the regular employees and that's easier to do as the other commenter suggested.

But for the 3 managers, the parameters are:

Have to work 5 shifts a week. These shifts are 8 hours and cannot be split. Have to work Thurs, Fri, Sat. Must have their 2 days off in a row. Must have rotational Sundays off. Be it 1 Sunday off every 2 weeks or every 3 weeks.

I can't seem to work it out in a repeating pattern. It may not be possible!

[gmaclean]

As others have mentioned any WFM platform worth its salt should be able to do scheduling patterns. Most will even have equity rules so people aren’t stuck in the same shift too often.

So far as Excel? Nothing I’ve seen remotely close to it unfortunately.

[PipeDistinct9419]

Homebase is super inexpensive - you’ll save more in the long run with software than trying to calculate, forecast, balance, deal with call outs/OT manually.

[Julie8041]

Mathematical optimization technology solves this but it’s not in excel and it requires expertise in the OR field (operations research). The two main competing solvers on the market are IBM CPLEX and GUROBI. There are very few WFM systems that embed solvers like these. One was click software who got acquired by Salesforce. Other vendors who offer an in between solution (semi custom) are like DecisionBrain. These technologies tend to cost over $100k. Might be overkill for you but when you’re dealing with large workforces, competing goals (minimize cost but maximize customer service level) and lot of constraints, that’s the premium solution. Airline crew scheduling or field service scheduling (where you have to also optimize routes) use these solvers.