Staff scheduling in Google Calendar, done properly
Sorting out who's going where shouldn't need a morning ring-round. Google Calendar, set up properly, will run a small team's week without another subscription.
Where it hurts
When it's just you, the diary in your head is fine. Add two or three people and it falls apart fast. Who's on the Henderson job, who's free Thursday afternoon, who's already booked solid, none of it's visible in one place.
So the day starts with phone calls and texts to sort out where everyone's going. That's fine once. Every morning it's a tax on the person doing the organising, and it's easy to send someone the wrong way.
And when a job overruns or a customer moves, the change lives in one person's head until they remember to tell everyone. The ones who don't get told turn up to the wrong place.
What I'd build
I'd set up a shared calendar for each person or van, colour-coded, so the whole team sees the same plan on their phones. A job goes in with the address, the customer, the contact number and any notes, so whoever's assigned has everything they need without ringing the office. Drag a job to a new time and everyone sees it move. I'll add the office as a viewer of every calendar so you can plan the week across the whole team on one screen, spot the gaps, and stop the morning ring-round. If you take bookings elsewhere I'll feed those in so they land straight on the right person's diary.
What changes
- Every person or van has a clear day, visible to all
- Job address, contact and notes travel with the booking
- Change a job once and the whole team sees it
- Plan the week across everyone on a single screen
Related fixes
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