Employee Scheduling Software

Enter Shift Explanations and Notes in Shift Scheduling Software

Posted by Brandy on August 6, 2012

Using Visual Staff Scheduler shift scheduling software you can enter your own shift explanations and notes for your employees’ work schedule. This gives you the ability to add details to shifts and time off.

What are Shift Explanations and Notes?

Explanations are most commonly used for adding detail to shifts. They can be used to tell employees what they will be doing on a particular shift, such as training, or where they will be working during a shift, such as the 2^nd or ICU. Explanations are also used to indicate a reason for time off, such as vacation and sick time, when an employee is out for jury duty or funerals, holidays, or any other type of time off.

Notes are used to enter additional comments about shifts, time off, or on-call status.

Define Explanations in Shift Scheduling Software

From the Define menu in this scheduling program select Explanations. You can define your own unique explanations, as well as edit existing ones from the Define menu. To setup a new explanation choose an undefined option in the list and type in a description, abbreviation, and quick key. 

The description will be displayed in on-screen views, schedules, and reports. The abbreviation will be used on screen and on reports when there is not enough room for the full explanation description to be displayed. The monthly view and a six-week schedule are two examples when abbreviations are used because of limited space on your computer screen or on paper. Quick keys are used to set explanations using the keyboard instead of mouse clicks. 

Add Explanations and Notes to Your Shift Schedule

 There are a couple of different ways to add explanations to your schedule. 

1. You can select an explanation from the explanation list in the upper left corner of the scheduling program.
2. You can double-click on an open cell to assign both a shift and an explanation at the same time. You can even type in a special note all in the same screen.
3. You can also use the copy and paste commands (Copy Multiple or Schedule Multiple features) to assign explanations to a group of employees quickly.

To enter a special note, click on the Note text box towards the top of the screen or press the Control and ‘N’ keys on your keyboard to type in a note or comment. This is how you can enter additional information about a person’s shift, time off, or other important data.

This shift scheduling software has unparalleled flexibility in entering shift explanations and notes, so you can add any type of schedule information your organization desires. Watch the video to see how easy it can be to define and add explanations and notes to your employees’ work schedule.