Whether you are you a manager looking for a simple way to access and manage your employees’ schedules or an employee who needs help maintaining your work schedule, coordinating with fellow employees, and tracking your hours, employee scheduling apps developed specifically for businesses could be the answer you’re looking for. With these work schedule makers, you can easily schedule, coordinate, and track employee work hours and availability. Read on to discover how to use online scheduling software for your work team.
Why use an employee scheduling app?
An online schedule maker is a great tool for both online and offline businesses to contact employees, coordinate schedules, and confirm hours. Employee scheduling software lets managers and employees communicate during all steps of the scheduling process. Managers can assign hours and contact employees about schedule changes. Meanwhile, employees can update their schedules, request time off, log hours, and communicate with one another for shift coverage, all in one app.
This makes coordinating and communicating much easier. Instead of several different tools, you can use one scheduling app to form your schedule. No longer will you have to play phone tag to change your schedule or manually input the availability calendars of dozens of people. Work schedule apps streamline the scheduling process and leave you with more time to complete your important work assignments.
Customers can also use schedule generators. Instead of wasting time on phone calls, customers can use an online booking calendar. This approach especially appeals to younger customers who prefer using laptops and smartphone apps to phone calls.
Online scheduling is especially useful for those working from home both long- and short-term. Online employee scheduling software ensures that even when you’re away from the office, you can continue to communicate with fellow employees and customers. Many when to work apps include time tracking software and team messaging that lets you record your work hours while working from home and coordinate with colleagues throughout the workday. With many businesses currently switching to remote work, online scheduling is becoming more and more vital for businesses.
Google Calendar
How do employee scheduling apps work?
Each employee scheduling app works in a different, unique way according to the needs of its customer base. To directly compare when to work apps, read our article 5 Best Work Scheduling Apps. This article includes examples of both paid and free employee scheduling software. For a more general overview, proceed to the next paragraph.
To begin using work scheduling software, you must first sign up for the service. After signing up, the app will combine and integrate your availability calendars. Then, you can set your schedule availability for meetings and/or shifts. If you are a manager or group leader, you can then invite other employees to input their schedules. From there, you can easily track and manage shifts by integrating all calendars and sharing your group calendar with everyone.
Features of Employee Scheduling Apps
Before signing up for a staff scheduling app, check out their integrations. For example, Slack integrates with dozens of scheduling apps that allow Slack shift scheduling. Slack scheduling lets workers schedule shifts directly from an app that they are already comfortable with and communicate with one another about shifts on their Slack channels. Some apps, like Meekan Scheduling, include Slack bots that automatically schedule shifts and meetings. Microsoft Teams also includes staff scheduling through its merger with Microsoft StaffHub. This lets managers and employees create and request shifts from within the app.
The best employee scheduling software double as time tracker apps that let you input your hours as an employee or confirm hours as a manager. Timecard apps can ensure that employees don’t punch in before their shift begins and don’t work over-time. Hours tracker apps can also track employee productivity and make sure that work time is used productively.
Toggl time tracker
Most work scheduling apps includes a free employee scheduling software with limited tools. Enterprises should purchase a monthly paid plan that includes features such as personal branding and SMS notifications
What else can work scheduling apps do for me?
Work scheduling tools include additional features that increase worker productivity and streamline management. Many include GPS location, internal communication, and payroll tools. Others ensure that your shift planning complies with local labor laws and that your employees are properly trained for their tasks. Before choosing which app works best for your team, check out which unique features are included in each package. For our recommendations, read 5 Best Work Scheduling Apps. If you’re an Intercom user, you can check out Choosing a Scheduling Integration App on Intercom.
Scheduling and time tracking software are vital tools for individual consultants, small businesses, and large enterprises alike. If you want to save time preparing schedules, communicating with teammates, and tracking hours, be sure to choose a staff scheduling app that best suits your work environment.