Planners

Principles⁠

The board is the source of truth⁠

If the schedule lives in one place, nobody asks who is working. If it lives in a chat, the answer is whatever the last message said.

Let the board refuse the mistake⁠

Double-booking is a software problem, not a discipline problem. Assign someone who is already working and the board stops it and names the clash.

Narrow the offer, fill it faster⁠

A shift offered to the right twenty people fills more reliably than a shift offered to everyone. Groups and skills are what make the offer narrow.

Give the work away⁠

Swaps, availability and time off are your crew's information. Let them maintain it and keep the approval, rather than collecting it and typing it in.

Plan the whole season⁠

One event is a staffing question. Twelve overlapping events is a capacity question, and it needs a view across all of them.

Hours close the loop⁠

The plan is only worth what the hours confirm. Scheduling and timesheets in one place is what makes the estimate improve next time.

Practices⁠

Plan the week on one board⁠

Every event, role and person on a weekly board, with availability and time off already visible, so you plan against reality rather than around it.

Publish open shifts in waves⁠

Offer a shift to one group first and let it widen automatically if it has not filled. Interest counts show where you are short while you can still act.

Group people into pools⁠

Bar, kitchen, core, freelance. Groups decide who sees which shifts, so publishing reaches the right people.

Require the skill on the shift⁠

Keep one skills list, tag your people once, and the offer only reaches those who can do the role.

Let the crew swap between themselves⁠

A worker requests a swap, an eligible colleague accepts, and you approve. The offer never reaches someone who could not cover it.

Handle time off in one queue⁠

Time off, cancellations and availability changes arrive as requests against the existing schedule. Approve one and the board updates itself.

Roll recurring shifts forward⁠

Standing shifts populate ahead of time, fourteen days out by default, so a regular rota is never rebuilt by hand.

Attach a checklist to the shift⁠

Allergies, briefings, keys. Your crew ticks them off in the app so the handover does not depend on a conversation.

Approve hours in bulk⁠

Clear a day or a whole event in one action, correct individual entries, and send approved hours to payroll as a spreadsheet.