Recently, I was talking to the owner of a café. We were discussing how long it takes them to complete the weekly schedule. I was shocked by how much time they were investing each week. Once we added up the time to create the roster, share it with staff and then make all the changes due to availability and requests to swap. I knew I could save this business time and money.
So I threw down a challenge. That I could build them a roster in less time than making the piccolo I was generously offered. Including the time it was going to take me to complete the initial set-up of their business.
I had observed all different businesses sign up and then start creating their shifts. If I was a bookmaker I would have myself start as the short-priced favourite to take out this race. Then I started thinking how long it took to make a piccolo when the café was closed to customers?
The sign-up to complete the initial set-up is quick and easy. In this case, it is structured as a three-step process. The first step I entered the business name, details, email address and create a password. The second step I confirmed the primary business location (important for those with multi-site or buildings across their operation). Finally, I add the employees.
I was hit with the aroma of coffee beans and the sound of steam blasting milk commenced. At this point, I had the cafe set up for Online Rostering access. Of course, any business can add any level of detail about their locations, employees, work areas, pay rules, and a lot more once they have access. This was a race after all so I had what I needed to get started on the roster.
I started at the top, adding a standard shift for Chloe. Next, I checked Tues, Wed, Thurs, Friday, and Saturday. In an instant, her schedule for the week was complete. I then copied Chloe’s shift and pasted it across the other five staff for their respective days. A made a few adjustments to their shift times and the weekly schedule was complete.
I yelled out I’m all done over here. The piccolo was still in the making. A wise person always said you never want to rush a master when they are making YOUR coffee. I didn’t, the race was well and truly over, and the piccolo was finished to perfection.
I enjoyed the first sip as we began to review what I had created. For this operator, the potential time-saving of building the weekly roster was significant. However, it was the other benefits we discussed that an online rostering platform became a game-changer and remains in use at this venue today.
Some of these are:
- Instantly sharing shifts to employees via there mobile app
- Staff acceptance (or rejection) status visible within the schedule
- Receiving notifications and taking quick action when changes are required
- Real-time visibility, from anywhere, on staff check-in, late arrivals, or no shows
- Online Time Clock auto-generating, payroll ready timesheets, after every shift
- Real-time financial and operational data to help make smarter decisions
- Ability to customise the software to align with locations, employee and permissions for any business
- Modern pay rule engine to calculate wages with the variation of hours, time of day, and day of week
Next time you or your management sit down to undertake the weekly roster. Make yourself a coffee and sign-up to try online rostering. It may be a game-changer for your business and employees too. Giving you more time for your customers, your family and perhaps some for yourself!
Watch the initially set up of Double Shot Cafe and how easy it was to start created shifts in seconds
