Manage a Business

Automated Team Scheduling to Simplify Your Life

March 7, 2024

5 min read

Crafting schedules makes you want to ugly cry into a pint of ice cream? We get it. Entrepreneurs have battle scars from wrangling availability spreadsheets. With so many variables to consider, such as who’s sick, who requested PTO, who changed their shifts recently, etc., it can be easy to make mistakes. Not to mention time lost on crafting a schedule that gets thrown into whack when someone unexpectedly calls out. It’s enough to make you pull out your hair and scream!

Wouldn’t it be great if you had a magic wand to wave all your scheduling woes away? Luckily, Homebase is the perfect tool to make scheduling simple. It does all the heavy lifting for you, allowing you to focus on more important things. And it works so well, scheduling will seem like magic.

Be a forecasting wizard.

Nothing breaks the entrepreneurial spirit like unexpected labor expenses. It’s all wine and roses when you’re adding up the profits. But it can quickly sour when you realize that labor costs are bigger than expected.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a way to look into the future and control your labor costs before a shift starts?

Whip up staffing plans ahead of time with Homebase’s forecasting magic. You’ll feel like a regular Merlin using auto-scheduling to produce data-driven schedules based on past sales, seasons, and labor budget targets.

Auto-schedule can also update your forecast based on anticipated traffic and make adjustments for “busy bee” seasons. Best of all, you’ll feel like you’re peering into a crystal ball by using Homebase to project budget goals using sales data integration.

Level-up your plan with scheduling templates.

Ever feel like you’re in the movie Groundhog Day when building a schedule? Not only can it be insanely repetitive, but everything can get thrown out of whack when someone calls up.

Stop wasting time building schedules from scratch every week with Homebase’s shift templates! Create slick custom frameworks that you can  reuse and easily adjust on the fly with no more effort than a couple of taps on our app. Cue mic drop.

Shift templates empower you to master scheduling chaos so you don’t have to start from scratch every time you need to make a new schedule. Automate routine tasks like opens and closes, set black out dates for PTO and get alerts for late clock ins.  

Best of all, you’re not locked into the template! You can customize any template as needed, applying options for different roles. And you can easily tweak the schedule on the fly whenever something changes. Could it be any simpler?

Let your crew own availability.

Put your staff in the driver’s seat and enable them to control their own availability. Using our app, employees can flag dates they are unavailable to work, sign up to cover someone else, and request PTO. Their input automatically feeds into the schedule, assigning available employees whenever needed. All without you having to lift a finger!  

Best of all, if an employee makes a change, the schedule seamlessly updates for everyone on every device. And if there’s ever a conflict, Homebase will automatically notify you and your team, while you can view availability snapshots. That means no more texts from Becky asking to accommodate her spin class!

Enable shift swaps without migraines.

We live in an unpredictable world. People’s cars break down. Kids get sick. Someone eats some bad shrimp alfredo. Stuff happens. With so many moving pieces, building a schedule can be an absolute nightmare.

If you’re in charge of a schedule, you know what a headache it can be to find someone to cover their shift.

Our app enables your employees to initiate shift swaps with ease. No more endless back-and-forth emails, phone calls, or texts; employees can simply request a swap directly through the app. Swapped shifts automatically sync across all platforms, ensuring everyone is on the same page. Most importantly, Homebase keeps your business in compliance with labor standards.

That lets you take a step back and relax (or at least focus on more important things). But that doesn’t mean you’re out of the loop; Homebase offers you an optional built-in approval system. Say goodbye to scheduling headaches and hello to productivity!

Experience the magic.

The days of feeling overwhelmed by the endless scheduling shuffle are over. It’s time to embrace efficiency and simplicity in managing your team’s schedule. With Homebase, you’ll get back your free time while still keeping your staff organized with automated scheduling features tailored to your business needs.

Experience the magic of effortless employee management and seamless shift coordination today. Sign up now for a free Homebase trial to see your scheduling headaches disappear faster than you can say “Abracadabra!”

Share post on

Christine Umayam

Remember: This is not legal advice. If you have questions about your particular situation, please consult a lawyer, CPA, or other appropriate professional advisor or agency.

Conquer Your Workday.

Join the 100K+ small businesses using Homebase for time clocks, schedules, payroll, and HR.

Get started for free

Homebase is the everything app for hourly teams, with employee scheduling, time clocks, payroll, team communication, and HR. 100,000+ small (but mighty) businesses rely on Homebase to make work radically easy and superpower their teams.