Create a Shift Plan

Agent schedules are set up to match staffing with customer demand, keeping service smooth. Creating a Shift Plan helps organize agent schedules and easily adjusts for needs like extended hours or extra staff, so the right agents with the right skills are available when needed.

Let’s dive into the details.

Who can use this

Dialpad WFM is available to all Dialpad users.

Contact your Customer Success Manager to discuss adding Dialpad WFM to your plan.  

You must be a WFM Admin to create a Shift Plan.

What is a Shift Plan?

A Shift Plan is a flexible, reusable template to organize your team's fixed, rotating, or round-robin shift patterns.

Shift Plans help adapt schedules to changing needs, such as extending hours or adding staff during peak times.

For new teams, it’s best to create a Shift Plan that reflects your current scheduling approach or pre-existing shifts, ensuring a smooth transition.

Create a Shift Plan

To create a Shift Plan, head to Dialpad WFM.

1. Select Shift plans

2. Select + New plan
   

3. Name the shift plan, then select Next
   

4. Select the agents and/or team you want to use this Shift Plan
   

5. Select Save

That’s it! One the shift plan is created, its time to add a shifts.

Create shifts

Next, you’ll need to create shifts for your team. These shifts will be added to the Shift Plan.

Each shift includes a name, start and end time, and timezone.

For example:

• Early: 7 AM - 3 PM (London, UK)

• Mid: 9 AM - 5 PM (London, UK)

• Late: 12 PM - 8 PM (London, UK)

• Daily US: 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM (New York, USA)

To create a shift, head to Shift plans

1. Select Create new shift  

2. Name the shift

3. Choose the Shift type

   1. Fixed shift: Has a fixed start and end time.

   2. Fill shift: Automatically fills available time.

4. Enter the start and end time

5. Select the Location timezone
   

6. Select Save

Note

There is no limit to the number of shifts you can create. Assign shifts as needed across various time zones to accommodate team needs and optimize coverage.

Create a Shift Pattern

Create week-long shifts, duplicate them across multiple weeks, and assign split shifts to a group or individual agents based on their needs or preferences.

Shift patterns can be 1 week long (e.g Weekdays 9am - 5pm), or they can rotate across multiple weeks, (e.g. Week 1 Early, Week 2, Late).

To create Shift Pattern, navigate to Shift plans.

1. Select a Shift Plan

2. Select Shift Patterns

3. Select + Create new pattern

4. Choose which agents and/or teams you want to add to this pattern

5. Select Move agents

6. Select the shift you want to apply, then hover over the agent’s daily slot and select the + sign  

To add another week to your Shift Pattern, select + Add week and follow the above steps to fill the availability slots.

Once you’ve added all your patterns, select Save.

Tip

If your weekly schedule repeats, use our Duplicate feature to copy the same pattern to the next week.

Apply a Shift Plan

Once a Shift Pattern has been created and saved to a Shift Plan, it’s ready to be published.

1. Select Yes, apply plan to apply the Shift Plan to the schedule

   

2. Choose the dates you want the Shift Plan to be implemented

3. Select which week your Shift Pattern will start on

4. Select Apply
   

5. Select Publish

Applying a shift plan will:

• Replace all shifts within these dates, according to your viewed timezone.

• Remove any previously scheduled activities.

• Any manual edits or time off will be shown as conflicts in the schedule.

Once published, the scheduled shifts will be shared to your agents — the number of weeks in the Shift Pattern determine how long the schedule lasts.

Frequently asked questions

Will the schedule automatically update when I update a Shift Plan?

No, to update the schedule you need to re-apply the Shift Plan.

What is the difference between Shift pattern and Round Robin?

Round Robins are ideal for use cases like extra weekend or evening shift. For distributing multiple shifts fairly at scale, we recommend creating a Shift Pattern.

My Shift Plan has a mistake—can I fix it?

Yes. If there is an issue with the Shift Plan, or you made a mistake, you can remove it by going to Schedule > Tools, then select Clear shifts.

Can I edit shifts from the Schedule?

Yes, manually edit the schedule at any time by selecting on shifts or by clicking into empty space. This will not affect or update the Shift Plan though.

What happens if a shift conflicts with an agent's time off?

Once the schedule is applied, any shift conflicts with an agent's time off will be flagged, so you can arrange coverage