Scheduling software

Epi

So I'm helping open a restaurant and I'm managing all the scheduling business via Excel.

I took a peek online to see about maybe using some form of software to help with the process and was

a) Overwhelmed with the million options
b) Disappointed by the lack of any clearly outstanding choices.

I thought it might be prudent to ask around and see if anyone has any experience with said type of software.

If you've used any of these types of programs, do you have opinions on which, if any, are worthwhile or not?

GothicLargo

Scheduling as in what?

Work scheduling, or reservation scheduling?

Big difference. To be entirely honest the most effective way to work schedule at a restaurant is to just put up a chalkboard/whiteboard and put people on it, or print out a table. In proper companies (factories, etc) that have work schedules they use stuff like SAP but that's overkill for a restaurant.

MS Outlook also has a very good scheduling system, but again, having a full exchange server to take advantage of it is really overkill for a small business.

Reservation scheduling is an entirely different beast altogether.

bowen

Pen and paper work great for both of these. Easier to change when shifts change or reservations change.

I'd assume it's shift scheduling because computerized reservation tracking for restaurants is really weird to deal with.

TychoCelchuuu

I'm not sure if it's more than you need or too expensive but WhenToWork is pretty effective.

Ganluan

And for the love of god, don't use Kronos.

Epi

Thanks guys. Kronos is out the window. I'll look into WhenToWork.

Somebody told me to look into ScheduleFly too. Though, for now, it's Open Office spreadsheets for me!

Also, yes it's for employee scheduling. I doubt there will be a need for reservation scheduling at a gourmet hotdog joint, regardless of how gourmet it is.

Shadowfire

Ganluan wrote: »

And for the love of god, don't use Kronos.

I'd get an infraction if I made this font as big as it needed to be...

Also, there are several versions of Kronos. Honestly, Kronos works fine for warehouses and other places where your workload is predictable. Any time you have customers added into the mix, forget it...


I'd also echo the "pen and paper works well" sentiment. For a small business, I'd say that's the best way to go. Just make sure you get everyone's availability in writing beforehand, and stick to some policy of "you need to give us X time notice for time off."