Intraday Management: Forecast vs actual
Objective. Read where today has diverged from the plan interval by interval, and understand the reforecast of the remaining day as a projection on current assumptions - not a fact.
This screen is the heart of the detect step: it overlays what was planned against what actually happened by interval and reforecasts the rest of the day, so the manager can see whether a gap is a blip or a trend.
See it in the demo
What this screen answers
'How far has today pulled away from plan, where, and what does the rest of the day now look like?' A duty manager comes here after the tower flags drift. It converts a single red signal into an interval-level picture: which periods ran heavy or light, and a reforecast of the remaining intervals so the manager can judge whether to act now or hold.
The task
Scope to the team or skill group and today, then compare the planned curve against actuals interval by interval. Look for the shape of the gap - a one-off spike that is already recovering reads very differently from a steady widening gap. Use the reforecast of the remaining day to see the projected position if nothing changes. That projection is what you carry into staffing and the what-if, not a conclusion in itself.
How to read it
The actuals are history; the reforecast is a projection built on current assumptions about arrivals, handling and shrinkage. The classic misread is treating the reforecast line as what will happen - it is what is expected to happen if today's observed pattern holds and nobody intervenes. A large early gap can shrink on its own; a small one can compound. Read the trend and the reforecast assumptions together, and remember a stale actuals feed makes the whole comparison wrong.
Honest limits
This screen reforecasts and reveals; it does not decide or execute. The reforecast is only as good as the freshness and accuracy of the feeds behind it - confirm actuals-feed latency and the reforecast method with product. Exact chart controls, interval granularity and the specific figures in the demo are SME-validation-pending. Do not present a reforecast number to a customer as a promised end-of-day result.
Interpretation check
The reforecast of the remaining day is a projection on current assumptions if nobody intervenes - never read it as the outcome that will happen, and never quote it to a customer as a committed number.
In the field
KnackGlobal (RCM, ~6,000 seats): on a time-sensitive claim queue, seeing the reforecast widen mid-morning is what justifies acting before filing deadlines slip - but the projection still needs a decision, not blind trust.
Practical task
On the demo, find an interval where actual diverges from plan, classify the gap as blip or trend, and write one line stating the reforecast position and whether you would act or hold - labelling the reforecast explicitly as a projection.
Self-check
The reforecast shows the day ending 6 percent under target. What does that actually tell you?
That on current observed patterns, with no intervention, the day is projected to finish under. It is a decision prompt, not a prediction of fact. Assumptions can change and a manager can still act.
Why does the shape of the gap matter more than its size at a single moment?
A large gap already recovering needs no action, while a small gap steadily widening may. Trend and reforecast direction drive the decision, not the point-in-time number.
What single input failure would silently make this whole screen misleading?
A stale or incomplete actuals feed. The planned-vs-actual comparison and the reforecast both depend on fresh, accurate actuals. Confirm feed freshness before trusting it.
A prospect asks whether the reforecast is guaranteed. How do you answer?
It is a projection on current assumptions, offered as decision support. The achieved result depends on arrivals continuing as observed and on what the manager does next.
Verified vs demo. Screen is live in the demo at /#/forecast; exact chart controls, interval granularity, reforecast method and figures are SME-validation-pending.