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Scheduling a Week of Jobs

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📋 The Scenario

• 3 technicians available (Mike, Sarah, Tom)
• 28 jobs to schedule
• A mix of routine inspections and follow-up repairs
• Some jobs with specific customer time requirements

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🎯 What You’ll Learn

• Reviewing available work and resources
• Balancing workloads across the team
• Handling scheduling constraints
• Optimizing routes and travel time
• Communicating the schedule to the team

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📝 Prerequisites

• Access to Jobs and Schedule sections
• Knowledge of your team’s availability
• Understanding of job durations
• Customer time requirements noted in job records

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👣 Step-by-Step Walkthrough

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Step 1: Review Available Resources (5 minutes)

1. Check team availability
   • Go to Operations > Schedule
   • Switch to Week View
   • Select next week
   • Check for any blocked time (leave, training)

   Team Member	Availability
   Mike	Full week available
   Sarah	Out Tuesday (training)
   Tom	Full week, but half day Friday (appointment)

2. Calculate available hours
   Mike:   5 days × 8 hours = 40 hours
   Sarah:  4 days × 8 hours = 32 hours
   Tom:    4.5 days × 8 hours = 36 hours
   Total available: 108 hours
   
3. Note any special skills

   Team Member	Certifications
   Mike	Fire panels, all equipment
   Sarah	Fire extinguishers, emergency lighting
   Tom	All equipment, training delivery

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Step 2: Review Jobs to Schedule (10 minutes)

1. Navigate to Jobs
   • Go to Operations > Jobs
   • Filter: Status = “Scheduled” + “Draft” (unscheduled)
   • Filter: Date = Next week or unscheduled
2. Categorize the jobs

   Category	Count	Total Hours	Notes
   Fire extinguisher inspections	12	18 hrs	Routine quarterly
   Fire panel services	5	15 hrs	Annual certifications
   Emergency lighting tests	6	9 hrs	Can combine with other work
   Follow-up repairs	3	6 hrs	From previous faults
   New installations	2	12 hrs	Customer-specific times
   Total	28	60 hrs

3. Check for constraints Review each job for specific requirements:

   Job	Constraint	Impact
   J-1234 Panel service	Customer requested Thursday AM	Lock to Thursday
   J-1235 Installation	Building access only 7am-3pm	Morning slot
   J-1242 School inspection	Must be during school hours	Weekday 9am-3pm
   J-1251 Medical centre	After hours preferred	Early AM or late PM

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Step 3: Create the Schedule Framework (5 minutes)

1. Map out the week
   MONDAY
   └── Mike: North region jobs
   └── Sarah: West region jobs
   └── Tom: South region jobs
   
   TUESDAY
   └── Mike: North/East jobs
   └── Sarah: TRAINING - unavailable
   └── Tom: Central jobs + 1 installation
   
   WEDNESDAY
   └── All: Central/mixed - panel services
   
   THURSDAY
   └── Mike: Customer-requested panel service + nearby
   └── Sarah: West region continuation
   └── Tom: Emergency lighting focus
   
   FRIDAY
   └── Mike: Mop-up / follow-ups
   └── Sarah: Final inspections
   └── Tom: Morning only - repairs
   
2. Calculate per-person targets
   Total work: 60 hours
   Available: 108 hours
   Utilization target: ~56% (allows for travel, breaks, overruns)
   
   Per person target:
   Mike: ~22 hours (5 days)
   Sarah: ~18 hours (4 days)
   Tom: ~20 hours (4.5 days)
   

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Step 4: Assign Jobs by Region (15 minutes)

1. Open the Schedule view
   • Go to Operations > Schedule
   • Week view, next week
2. Start with constrained jobs first These MUST be at specific times:

   Job	When	Who	Duration
   J-1234 Panel service	Thu 9am	Mike	3 hrs
   J-1235 Installation	Tue 7am	Tom	4 hrs
   J-1242 School	Wed 10am	Sarah	2 hrs
   J-1251 Medical	Mon 7am	Mike	2 hrs

   Drag these jobs to their required slots first.
3. Fill in with regional groupings Monday - Mike (North region):
   7:00 AM - Medical centre (J-1251) - 2 hrs [CONSTRAINED]
   9:30 AM - Office building inspection - 1.5 hrs
   11:30 AM - Warehouse quarterly - 2 hrs
   2:00 PM - Retail store inspection - 1.5 hrs
   4:00 PM - Restaurant compliance - 1 hr
   Total: 8 hours
   
   Monday - Sarah (West region):
   8:00 AM - Shopping centre - 3 hrs
   11:30 AM - Gym equipment check - 1.5 hrs
   1:30 PM - Office park (3 buildings) - 3 hrs
   Total: 7.5 hours
   
   Monday - Tom (South region):
   8:00 AM - Factory inspection - 2.5 hrs
   11:00 AM - Warehouse complex - 2 hrs
   1:30 PM - Distribution centre - 2.5 hrs
   4:30 PM - Small retail - 1 hr
   Total: 8 hours
   
4. Continue for each day Use the same regional approach, keeping these principles:
   • Constrained jobs anchor the day
   • Group nearby jobs together
   • Consider traffic patterns (avoid cross-city during rush hour)
   • Leave buffer time between jobs

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Step 5: Balance and Optimize (10 minutes)

1. Check workload balance

   Day	Mike	Sarah	Tom
   Monday	8 hrs	7.5 hrs	8 hrs
   Tuesday	7 hrs	TRAINING	8 hrs
   Wednesday	8 hrs	7 hrs	7.5 hrs
   Thursday	7.5 hrs	8 hrs	7 hrs
   Friday	6 hrs	6 hrs	4 hrs (half day)
   Total	36.5 hrs	28.5 hrs	34.5 hrs

2. Optimize routes For each day, verify jobs are in logical order:
   • Morning: Start furthest from base
   • Work toward base through day
   • Or cluster tightly in one area
3. Add travel buffers Ensure realistic gaps:
   • Same suburb: 15 min buffer
   • Adjacent suburbs: 30 min buffer
   • Cross-city: 45+ min buffer
4. Check for issues

   Issue	Found?	Resolution
   Double-booked technician	No	✓
   Job needs specialist	Check	Mike has panel cert ✓
   Unrealistic travel	Tue PM Tom	Moved J-1256 to Wed
   Over-scheduled day	Friday Mike	Moved 1 job to Thursday

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Step 6: Add Schedule Notes (5 minutes)

1. Add notes to specific jobs:
   J-1251 (Medical Centre):
   "Early start - 7am. Enter via loading dock.
   Contact: Reception (02) 9555 1234.
   Note: Work quietly, patients sleeping."
   
   J-1235 (Installation):
   "New customer. Bring welcome pack.
   Equipment staged in van (checked Friday).
   Customer contact: Dave 0412 XXX XXX"
   
2. Add day-level notes (if your system supports):
   Wednesday Team Note:
   "Heavy panel service day. Mike to assist Sarah
   if her jobs run over. Regroup at office for
   3pm if all complete - training session."
   

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Step 7: Communicate the Schedule (5 minutes)

1. Send schedule notifications
   • System automatically notifies technicians of new assignments
   • Verify notifications sent
2. Send team summary email/message:
   Subject: Next Week's Schedule (Dec 9-13)
   
   Hi team,
   
   Schedule is locked in for next week. Key notes:
   
   • Sarah - reminder you're at training Tuesday
   • Tom - half day Friday as requested
   • Mike - you have the medical centre early start Monday
   
   Special jobs:
   • New installation Tuesday (Tom) - equipment in van
   • Customer-requested slot Thursday 9am (Mike)
   
   Any issues, let me know before EOD Friday.
   
   [Link to schedule view]
   
3. Flag any callbacks needed If customers requested confirmation:
   • Call to confirm appointments
   • Note confirmation in job record

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⚡ Pro Tips

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Planning Efficiency

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Balancing Workload

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Buffer Time Rules of Thumb

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🔄 Variations

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What if you have more work than capacity?

1. Identify must-do vs. can-defer jobs
2. Communicate with customers about delays
3. See if any jobs can be split across days
4. Consider overtime (discuss with team first)
5. Push non-urgent work to following week

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What if a technician calls in sick?

1. Assess which jobs are most critical
2. Redistribute to remaining team
3. Reschedule lower-priority jobs
4. Contact affected customers early
5. Document changes made

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What if a customer requests a change after you’ve scheduled?

1. Check the original constraint reason
2. Look for swap opportunities
3. Confirm new time works for technician
4. Update both customer and tech
5. Document the change

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What about recurring jobs?

1. Create recurring job templates
2. Set default day/tech preferences
3. Build around these anchors
4. Review quarterly - still optimal?

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❓ Common Questions

Aim for 1 week ahead locked, 2 weeks ahead draft. Further out is provisional and will change.

70-80% of available hours scheduled. The rest is travel, admin, overruns. 100% scheduled = guaranteed problems.

Some teams do this successfully. Start with admin scheduling, then evolve based on team maturity and preferences.

Always leave small gaps (15-30 min between jobs). Have a “flex” slot each day for urgent work. Know which jobs can be easily rescheduled.

Get their input before finalizing. Explain constraints. Rotate undesirable jobs fairly. Listen to efficiency suggestions.

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✅ Weekly Scheduling Checklist

• Confirmed team availability
• Reviewed all jobs needing scheduling
• Noted customer constraints
• Checked special skill requirements

• Constrained jobs placed first
• Jobs grouped by region
• Realistic travel buffers added
• Workload balanced across team
• No double-bookings

• Schedule reviewed for issues
• Notifications sent to team
• Summary communication sent
• Customer confirmations made (if needed)
• Notes added to key jobs

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Sample Week View

             MONDAY    TUESDAY   WEDNESDAY  THURSDAY   FRIDAY
            ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════

  MIKE      ████████  ███████   ████████   ███████½   ██████
            8 hrs     7 hrs     8 hrs      7.5 hrs    6 hrs

  SARAH     ███████½  TRAINING  ███████    ████████   ██████
            7.5 hrs   [OFF]     7 hrs      8 hrs      6 hrs

  TOM       ████████  ████████  ███████½   ███████    ████
            8 hrs     8 hrs     7.5 hrs    7 hrs      4 hrs

            ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════
  TOTALS    23.5 hrs  15 hrs    22.5 hrs   22.5 hrs   16 hrs

  WEEK TOTAL: 99.5 scheduled hours / 108 available = 92% utilization