Scheduling: Schedule planner
Objective. Scope the planner to a team and period, lay or inspect shifts against the requirement, and locate a shortage window where required demand exceeds scheduled staffing.
The planner is where a staffing requirement becomes actual shifts. It answers: does this draft cover demand at every interval, and exactly where does it fall short or overlap? Reading it correctly means never confusing a planned gap with an actual one.
See it in the demo
What this screen answers
A Sales or CSM person opens the planner to answer: for this team and period, where does the schedule fall short of demand, and where does it overstaff? This is the build surface for step one of the three - planning - and it is where you point to a concrete shortage window in a demo rather than talking in the abstract.
The task
Scope to the team and the planning period (W42 in these modules). Inspect the draft laid against the requirement and find a shortage window - an interval where required demand exceeds scheduled staffing. Name the gap plainly: which interval, how short. This is the setup for the planning -> optimization -> publication story the rest of the modules follow.
How to read it
Coverage in the planner is planned: required (from the forecast) versus scheduled (your draft). A shortage window means the draft does not cover forecast demand at that interval; a surplus means idle overlap and cost. It is not a record of who actually turned up. Crucially, 'required' comes from the forecast version the draft is bound to - a stale forecast makes the gap wrong in either direction, so a clean-looking planner on an old forecast can still miss current demand.
Honest limits
The planner shows feasibility against the configured rules and the bound forecast; it does not verify that scheduled people will actually show up, nor that the rules match the customer's labour policy. Confirm the forecast version and the rule configuration before trusting any gap reading. Supported rules and integrations confirm with product.
Interpretation check
A shortage or surplus in the planner is planned (forecast-required vs drafted-scheduled), not actual - and it is only as correct as the forecast version the draft is bound to.
In the field
A contact centre building the week's roster: the planner exposes the 2pm peak gap that a spreadsheet's daily headcount total would have hidden until the day went wrong.
Practical task
On the demo planner, scope a team and period, find one shortage window, and write a one-line finding: the interval, how short it is, and the forecast version you would confirm before trusting it.
Self-check
The planner shows full coverage. Why might the week still be at risk?
Because 'required' is only as current as the forecast behind the draft. A draft on a stale forecast can look fully covered while failing current demand. Confirm the live forecast version first.
Is a shortage window a record of absence or understaffing on the day?
No. It is planned: forecast-required exceeds drafted-scheduled at that interval. Actual attendance and adherence are measured separately, in RTA.
Why name the specific shortage interval rather than the daily total?
Because daily totals can look sufficient while a peak interval breaks. Interval-level coverage is where service actually succeeds or fails.
Verified vs demo. Screen is live in the demo at /#/planner; exact controls, labels and figures are SME-validation-pending.