Open Forum

I am new to my position and I am working with a scheduling system from my predecessor. The part-time educators I am scheduling don't like the system, I don't like the system, so I am wondering, what are the other ways museums schedule their part-time staff? 

We are currently using a complex Google Calendar setup, which works in ways, but can be confusing. Do some people use Doodle? Do some have staff fill out availability on a paper calendar a month prior? What do you find that works well to schedule part-time staff that are, many times, juggling many different museum jobs.

I thank you for your insight!

We use workschedule.net for all of our part time and 3/4 time educators. There's administrator access and educator access. As an educator, it seems like a pretty good system. I can access my work schedule anywhere online. It allows us to request time off. Is fairly easy to navigate/use. I know it took a big effort to change over to the system, and I'm not familiar with the administrative side of things, but it has definitely made a big difference for our department when it comes to scheduling a lot of different people and moving parts. I hope this helps!

I am new to my position and I am working with a scheduling system from my predecessor. The part-time educators I am scheduling don't like the system, I don't like the system, so I am wondering, what are the other ways museums schedule their part-time staff? 

We are currently using a complex Google Calendar setup, which works in ways, but can be confusing. Do some people use Doodle? Do some have staff fill out availability on a paper calendar a month prior? What do you find that works well to schedule part-time staff that are, many times, juggling many different museum jobs.

I thank you for your insight!

I am new to my position and I am working with a scheduling system from my predecessor. The part-time educators I am scheduling don't like the system, I don't like the system, so I am wondering, what are the other ways museums schedule their part-time staff? 

We are currently using a complex Google Calendar setup, which works in ways, but can be confusing. Do some people use Doodle? Do some have staff fill out availability on a paper calendar a month prior? What do you find that works well to schedule part-time staff that are, many times, juggling many different museum jobs.

I thank you for your insight!

I am new to my position and I am working with a scheduling system from my predecessor. The part-time educators I am scheduling don't like the system, I don't like the system, so I am wondering, what are the other ways museums schedule their part-time staff? 

We are currently using a complex Google Calendar setup, which works in ways, but can be confusing. Do some people use Doodle? Do some have staff fill out availability on a paper calendar a month prior? What do you find that works well to schedule part-time staff that are, many times, juggling many different museum jobs.

I thank you for your insight!

Are you their supervisor? If so, I would think you schedule staff when you need them - be it part-time paid or volunteers. You say they have many jobs at the museum. Are they in an education department or working across the spectrum of museum operations?  Just trying to figure out your scheduling dilemma.

We use the shared Outlook calendar to schedule group visits determine how many staff and volunteers are needed. Part-time people work a set schedule. We fill in an Excel document with the monthly schedule, have staff review it, and share it once that is done. It changes as people have requests, but it usually nothing too dramatic. I'm sure there are simpler methods today, but we created this template 22 years ago and it works for us as-is. Generally, we try to set up the next month's schedule by the middle of the previous month and try to give volunteers  sufficient time so that we can align our needs with their schedule.

I am new to my position and I am working with a scheduling system from my predecessor. The part-time educators I am scheduling don't like the system, I don't like the system, so I am wondering, what are the other ways museums schedule their part-time staff? 

We are currently using a complex Google Calendar setup, which works in ways, but can be confusing. Do some people use Doodle? Do some have staff fill out availability on a paper calendar a month prior? What do you find that works well to schedule part-time staff that are, many times, juggling many different museum jobs.

I thank you for your insight!

We use WhenIWork.com for our frontline team and it's great! It's also tiered in pricing per month, depending on how many staff you hire. Some seasons we have more, so we increase our plan, and then we can easily switch back down at any time. There isn't a contract, so it's also easy to cancel, if it's not the right fit. 

It's great for visual learners and you can color-code type of shift (i.e. Desk, Interpretation, Tour) with notes for each shift and there's a mobile app that staff can download for free. Time off requests are also very easy and, once approved, the rest of the team can view them to see who is or isn't available for covering a shift.

Are you their supervisor? If so, I would think you schedule staff when you need them - be it part-time paid or volunteers. You say they have many jobs at the museum. Are they in an education department or working across the spectrum of museum operations?  Just trying to figure out your scheduling dilemma.

We use the shared Outlook calendar to schedule group visits determine how many staff and volunteers are needed. Part-time people work a set schedule. We fill in an Excel document with the monthly schedule, have staff review it, and share it once that is done. It changes as people have requests, but it usually nothing too dramatic. I'm sure there are simpler methods today, but we created this template 22 years ago and it works for us as-is. Generally, we try to set up the next month's schedule by the middle of the previous month and try to give volunteers  sufficient time so that we can align our needs with their schedule.

I am new to my position and I am working with a scheduling system from my predecessor. The part-time educators I am scheduling don't like the system, I don't like the system, so I am wondering, what are the other ways museums schedule their part-time staff? 

We are currently using a complex Google Calendar setup, which works in ways, but can be confusing. Do some people use Doodle? Do some have staff fill out availability on a paper calendar a month prior? What do you find that works well to schedule part-time staff that are, many times, juggling many different museum jobs.

I thank you for your insight!

We use a paper calendar, pencils, a push pin and a cork board to post the thing on. We have 11 docents for our mansion tours and 10 admission and shop staff.  They are all seasonal, hourly or part time and many have been with us for years.  They are excellent at covering for each other.  Works great!

Steve   

We use WhenIWork.com for our frontline team and it's great! It's also tiered in pricing per month, depending on how many staff you hire. Some seasons we have more, so we increase our plan, and then we can easily switch back down at any time. There isn't a contract, so it's also easy to cancel, if it's not the right fit. 

It's great for visual learners and you can color-code type of shift (i.e. Desk, Interpretation, Tour) with notes for each shift and there's a mobile app that staff can download for free. Time off requests are also very easy and, once approved, the rest of the team can view them to see who is or isn't available for covering a shift.

Are you their supervisor? If so, I would think you schedule staff when you need them - be it part-time paid or volunteers. You say they have many jobs at the museum. Are they in an education department or working across the spectrum of museum operations?  Just trying to figure out your scheduling dilemma.

We use the shared Outlook calendar to schedule group visits determine how many staff and volunteers are needed. Part-time people work a set schedule. We fill in an Excel document with the monthly schedule, have staff review it, and share it once that is done. It changes as people have requests, but it usually nothing too dramatic. I'm sure there are simpler methods today, but we created this template 22 years ago and it works for us as-is. Generally, we try to set up the next month's schedule by the middle of the previous month and try to give volunteers  sufficient time so that we can align our needs with their schedule.

I am new to my position and I am working with a scheduling system from my predecessor. The part-time educators I am scheduling don't like the system, I don't like the system, so I am wondering, what are the other ways museums schedule their part-time staff? 

We are currently using a complex Google Calendar setup, which works in ways, but can be confusing. Do some people use Doodle? Do some have staff fill out availability on a paper calendar a month prior? What do you find that works well to schedule part-time staff that are, many times, juggling many different museum jobs.

I thank you for your insight!

I am new to my position and I am working with a scheduling system from my predecessor. The part-time educators I am scheduling don't like the system, I don't like the system, so I am wondering, what are the other ways museums schedule their part-time staff? 

We are currently using a complex Google Calendar setup, which works in ways, but can be confusing. Do some people use Doodle? Do some have staff fill out availability on a paper calendar a month prior? What do you find that works well to schedule part-time staff that are, many times, juggling many different museum jobs.

I thank you for your insight!

I am new to my position and I am working with a scheduling system from my predecessor. The part-time educators I am scheduling don't like the system, I don't like the system, so I am wondering, what are the other ways museums schedule their part-time staff? 

We are currently using a complex Google Calendar setup, which works in ways, but can be confusing. Do some people use Doodle? Do some have staff fill out availability on a paper calendar a month prior? What do you find that works well to schedule part-time staff that are, many times, juggling many different museum jobs.

I thank you for your insight!

I am new to my position and I am working with a scheduling system from my predecessor. The part-time educators I am scheduling don't like the system, I don't like the system, so I am wondering, what are the other ways museums schedule their part-time staff? 

We are currently using a complex Google Calendar setup, which works in ways, but can be confusing. Do some people use Doodle? Do some have staff fill out availability on a paper calendar a month prior? What do you find that works well to schedule part-time staff that are, many times, juggling many different museum jobs.

I thank you for your insight!