The Extended Labor Pool property of a work position defines other positions that can be added to the candidate list for that work position’s coverage schedule. Each work position can include an extended labor pool where additional workgroups that have qualified positions for that work position can be assigned.
To activate the extended labor pool when searching for additional candidates for a coverage schedule:

1. Click the My Filter Set drop-down list in the Candidates panel and select Customize.
2. Click the Add Filter button in the Manage Candidates Filter Sets panel.
3. Select Extended Work Position Labor Pool from the Filter drop-down list in the Add Candidate Eligibility Filter window. The extended labor pool filter is added to the filter list in the Manage Candidate Filter Sets panel.
4. To activate the extended labor pool filter, click the Enable column checkbox, if it does not have a check mark, and click the on/off state field of the filter to activate the drop-down list.
5. Select On from the drop-down list.

See Activating the Extended Labor Pool for details.

Schedule templates in Visual Scheduling are divided into stages that define the scheduling workflow. Each stage of the template indicates who can interact with schedules.

Schedule templates in Visual Scheduling are divided into stages that define the scheduling workflow. To advance a schedule template to the next stage:

1. Click the Stage drop-down menu in the upper-right corner of the schedule view.
2. Click on the desired stage.
3. Click the Suspend Sending Messages option (if needed). This will stop notifications that alert your employees of the stage advancement from being sent out.
4. Click OK.

Notes:

• Advancing the stage of your schedule may change your employee’s ability to perform actions toward work schedules (pick up schedules, trade schedules, etc.).
• The names of your schedule stage options may be different than what is shown in the video, as these options are based on your organization’s preferences.
• The stage of your schedule will automatically advance to the next stage in the scheduling lifecycle based on the date ranges established for each stage in the scheduling cycle.

See Advancing Schedule Template Stages for details.

Schedule templates are created for a specific work location (facility, floor or department) defined in the Encompasses workgroup definition. If you have multiple work locations that can share employees as needed, you can apply Extended Reach to bring eligible employees from other locations into the candidate list for a coverage schedule in your template. Extended reach employees who are assigned to the coverage schedule will see a schedule transfer in their time card for that shift.
To use extended reach, it must first be added in the template properties. When extended reach has been added to the schedule template’s properties, the Reach drop-down list will be visible in the schedule template page.

1. Click the Reach button.
2. Click on the Workgroup set for the additional employees that you would like to include in your schedule
3. Enable the Extend Candidate Search, Extend Open Schedules and/or Extend Trade Participants options. These options will:

• Find additional candidates to fill open shifts (Note: You will need to enable the Extended Reach Candidate List option as well. To learn more about this option, read this article.
• Allow additional employees to pick up open shifts
• Allow other employees to participate in schedule trades

4. Click OK.

See Using Extended Reach for details.

Schedule template viewing options let you adjust how much detail you will see in your schedule template. Work positions, schedule times, total schedule hours and employees assigned to a coverage schedule can all be hidden from your template view.
In the View drop-down list:

• Click the Show Assignments menu item to view the names of the employees assigned to the schedules in the template.
• Click the Show Schedules menu item to view the schedules times and total scheduled hours in the template.
• Click the Positions menu item and select a position to view only the schedules for that position in the template or select All to view all of the schedules.
• Click the Members menu item and select an audience to view the members of that audience in the audience panel.

See Schedule Template Viewing Options for details.

Work positions are added to a master template during configuration of your system based on your ideal schedule. If you find that you need to add one of your configured work positions to a day that it is not currently appearing in your schedule, it can be added within the schedule template. To add a work position:

1. Click the Plus icon (+) in the day cell of your schedule template. Note: If your schedule template has numerous work positions and coverage schedules displayed, you may need to use the scroll bar at the right side of the template to locate the Plus icon at the bottom of the day cell.
2. Click the Add Position button to open the Add Position to Schedule Template window.
3. Select the work position you want to add. Note: Only the work positions configured in your system and not currently included in the template for that date will appear in the drop-down list.
4. Enable the Build Coverage from Existing Work Schedules check box to bring in schedules that match the date, work position workgroup and the encompasses workgroup. If the work position does not have any work schedules associated with it or you do not enable this checkbox, only the position name will appear in the schedule template.
5. Click OK.

See Adding a Work Position for details.

The Actions menu for a Visual Scheduling work position can be used to:

• Remove employees assigned to the coverage schedules for the work position
• Remove the work position from the schedule template (see the job aid Adding a Work Position for information about this menu item)
• Show the schedule in a roster view
• Show external matching schedules
• Recalculate coverage schedule numbers
  
  To view the Actions menu, click the Work Position name in the schedule template and click the Actions menu item.

See Work Position Actions for details.

Work position filter buttons can be used to filter the schedule template display in Visual Scheduling to show only the selected work position(s). Only managed worked positions in the schedule template can be have a filter button. Work positions are selected as managed work position in the basic template properties.

The abbreviations of work positions are used as filter button labels. Work position abbreviations can be added and adjusted in the Work Positions menu item if you have access to the System Setup folder in your database.

Note Work Position filter buttons are available in the Full and Weekly View Mode, but NOT available in Accordion View Mode. These modes are selected in the Basic properties of the schedule template.

To add the work position filter buttons:

1. Click the Operations drop-down menu in the template header and select Properties to open the template properties panel.

2. Click the Advanced tab in the template properties panel and enable the Work Position Selector Buttons check box.

3. Click Managed Work Positions on the Basic tab. The Managed Work Positions dialog is displayed.

4. Enable the check boxes for the work positions you want add a filter button for in the schedule template.

5. Click the OK button.

6. Return to the Visual Scheduling dashboard and access the template again to refresh the header with the filter buttons.

When none of the filter buttons are selected, all of the work positions will be displayed in the template.

When one or more filter buttons are selected, only those work positions will be displayed in the template.

Download the printable version instructions Work Position Filter Button for details.

Schedule template user roles define the extent to which users can interact with the template. A role is assigned to specific system users in the template’s properties in order to grant them access to the template. A user must have a user account established in your system to be selected as a template operator. If the user does not appear in your Operator drop-down list, add the user account in your account management menu item in MSS.

To add an operator to your schedule template:

1. Open the Template Properties panel by selecting Properties from the Operations drop-down list in the Visual Scheduling template.
2. Click the Operators tab in the template properties panel.
3. Click Add to open the Add Schedule Template Operator window.

In the Add Schedule Template Operator window, you will define the role for the selected operator.

4. Select the operator you want to add to the template from the Operator drop-down menu (in this example, Mary Smith has been selected).

5. Select the role for the operator from the Role drop-down list (in this example, the role of Assistant Scheduler has been selected).

Operator roles were defined as part of your Visual Scheduling implementation.

6. Select the specific group of employees you want the operator to access in the schedule template.

   When making an Access selection, be sure to use the same access selection assigned to the other Operators of this schedule template. If you are not sure which Access has been assigned to your template, contact your implementer or a support technician.

7. Click OK to close the Add Schedule Template Operator window.

The new operator will appear in the Operations tab with the role and access information you have assigned. To adjust a role or access for an operator or remove an operator, click the Pencil icon next to the operator’s name in the Operators tab.

Adjust a role or access for an operator using the Role and Access drop-down lists or remove an operator by enabling the Remove this Operator check box to remove the operator.

Download the printable version instructions Adding a User to a Visual Scheduling Template for details.