Workforce optimization for itsm on the now platform lets managers plan shifts and publish schedules to give them the tools they need to manage the scheduling for their organization from a central location Ingrid Menard is the manager of operations for a large organization she has 12 teens reporting to her with each team having anywhere between 20 and 50 agents with Workforce optimization Ingrid can create shifts create schedule plans as well as assign agents to those shifts she can also duplicate schedule plans to repurpose them for new schedules without having to re-enter a lot of the same information first she navigates to the manager workspace and then from the sidebar she selects the schedule module across the top are five tabs teen calendar shifts shift approvals forecasts and schedule adherence here on the team calendar tab she can see her team's shift details such as the start and end times of their shifts and breaks and time off show schedules lets Ingrid and her team see the different schedules she has created and published for her team shift plans are predefined shifts this lets her create shift templates that she can keep reusing through the year she can also create a new work shift or on-call shifts from here she gives the shift a name to differentiate from other shifts she's created this one will be a Tuesday through Friday shift consisting of four ten hour days the start time will be 7 AM and the end time will be 5 PM if use agent time zone is selected the schedule time automatically adjusts to each agent's time zone this way Ingrid doesn't have to Define shifts for the different time zones now that she's created the shift she can add breaks and time off first she'll give it a name and enter the duration and then she'll Define the time frame within which she wants to add breaks the scheduling application automatically staggers the break time for each agent so that the entire team isn't on break at the same time the scheduling application will cycle through the rest of the agents using the same process if there are more agents in that shift Ingrid uses the same process to add a lunch break and an afternoon break for her agents now that she has created and defined the shift she can create a scheduled plan for her team here Ingrid can see the schedule she has already created if she wants to create a new one she clicks the plus icon and gives it a name then she sets the time frame she wants she also has the option to assign the schedule plan to all the groups or to specific groups that she manages she saves when she's done and now she can add a shift he selects the shift she created earlier and assigns agents to the shift then saves she continues to build her shift by repeating the process of adding shifts and assigning agents after each saved change the team calendar refreshes giving her a review of the schedule she is building which is now in a draft state when she's done adding all the shifts and agents she can publish it for everyone to access another feature available to Ingrid is duplicate this is helpful if she wants to create a new schedule but doesn't anticipate many changes or differences from one she has already created all she has to do is duplicate it and then make the changes she needs such as renaming it and setting the dates of the schedule this saves her the time of having to create a new schedule from scratch and lets her keep the essential shifts and agents she has already implemented in an already existing one with one simple setup Ingrid has completed a scheduled plan for her entire team so her agents can resolve issues as they arise for more information see our product documentation or knowledge base or ask a question in the servicenow community