Available from Professional plan and higher.
Patterns are a great solution if you have employees doing repeating shifts or if you have locations that need to be covered at all times.
Watch an introductory video to get an overview of how the shift patterns work.
Patterns
To get to the Patterns page simply hover over the Schedule tab and choose Patterns. Here you can have an overview of all the created patterns and manage them from one place.
How to create a new Pattern?
1. Add Pattern
You can add a new pattern in two places, either on the Patterns page by clicking on 'Add Pattern' on the top right corner
Alternatively, on the Schedule page right-clicking on the calendar and choosing 'Add Pattern'.
2. Name the Pattern
This will help to differentiate between patterns later and you can use it to search for shifts by Pattern Name on the Shifts List.
3. Select Pattern Type
Choose a type that will best suit your needs, for example, if you want to create a simple Weekly pattern or a more customised ON/OFF pattern type. Next, choose when you want this to Repeat and the Time Period.
4. Fill in Shift Details and Create Pattern Occurrence
After choosing the Pattern Type you will need to fill in the information about Location, Position and Times. Next, Select the Days for the shifts by clicking on the Day Boxes. On the right, a Calendar Preview will appear as you are creating the shifts so you can see how the pattern will look over a period of time.
If you wish to create shifts for other days of this pattern, click on 'Fill Other Days'.
A new shift dialogue box will open which will give you the option to create shifts for the other pattern days should they have different Times, Positions or Sites.
Please note! It is not possible to create shifts with different positions for the same day.
5. Assigning People to a Pattern
If you want to assign a pattern to a particular employee you can do this by clicking on 'Assign People'. Or alternatively, you can create the pattern as Open Shifts and assign them to people later.
Calendar Preview
The Calendar on the right side will give you an overview of the created shifts which allows you to double-check that the pattern has been created as needed.
It also shows the status of the created Positions and Shifts. If you hover over the dates on the calendar it will show you how many shifts have been assigned out of the total and the number of requests and applications.
The colours on the Calendar indicate Shift Statuses as well:
Border Colour - Shifts have been created but are open
Full Colour - All shifts have been assigned and the position is filled
Faded Colour - Only some shifts have been assigned, the position is not completely filled
If you would like to find out how to create a more complex ON/OFF pattern have a look at our article on how to create a 4 on 4 off pattern here -> Customised ON/OFF Patterns
OR read here how to edit a pattern.
If you have any questions or would like to know more, please contact us via the blue button located at the right bottom corner and we will be happy to help you out!