Resistance to Change

Change is inevitable yet everyone resists change. This is because change means new and different. It could be good, it could be bad? But you need to experience it before you can judge. Fear is a normal human response to the unknown. You need to understand why people will resist change in order to address their fears and help them come to terms with change or even request it.

If you want to introduce change into your organisation then you need to be prepared for resistance. Most of the time if change is resisted then it doesn't happen. After all it's very hard to keep the momentum going when everyone around you is negative.

So if you want change to happen, then you need to keep the momentum going. Set targets, set goals, and organise updates. Build up the momentum, make people take ownership of the project.

When it comes to changing your shift operation people are afraid. They are afraid of what it will mean to them. So you need to demonstrate what their life will be like under the new arrangement. Think about their work/life balance. Compare their current work/life balance to the new arrangement.

If you want a better work/life balance for your employees than take our course in Shift Scheduling. As part of this course you will find out how to design your own shift pattern, you will also find out how to calculate the number of shift workers you need for your operation. The course covers new techniques for coping with vacations and absences. It will also show you how you can be a greener operation through using different procedures and improve your employee’s work/life balance.

For over 10-years we have been organising training courses for companies to teach them how to manage their shift operation. We wanted to create a new more flexible approach to learning. So we have created our video course. 15 films that introduce you to a new way of organising your shift operation. This course only takes about five hours to complete and at the end you will know how many employees you need for your operation, and have VisualrotaX to help you manage your shift pattern. So you can plan the shift operation for up to a year ahead. The course is completely flexible, you can watch the films when you want, from any where in the world. Pause the lesson when you need and go back over classes.
This means that you can learn at your own pace and the films are there when you need a refresher. So you don't just have to rely on notes any more.
Our aim is to create a complete video library on shift working. Everything from concept to implementation, so that you to can be a shift scheduling expert.

So please visit our on-line school today and start your e-learning experience.

Shift Scheduling

C-Desk Technology is about making your life easier. With this in mind we have started an ambitious new project. We plan to put all of our 20 years of experience designing shift patterns for companies around the world, into an on-line school. So that we can help shift manager from around the world realise their potential.
Our first course is Shift Scheduling. This is an introductory course aimed at shift operations managers and HR managers.
All organisations running shifts have very similar problems, including: employing the correct number of staff with the right skill, accommodating annual leave and coping with absences. We work with organisations to set up mechanisms to calculate the right number of staff to match the workload. We set up procedures which allow all staff to take their holidays without disrupting the operation, and the means to cover and cope with expected and unexpected absences. We have combined our expert knowledge of shift pattern design and policies to create a comprehensive course intended to help managers tackle these issues.

Our shift scheduling course is about making your life easier. Giving you a better work/life balance, creating a perfect shift operation that meets your needs. The aim of the Shift Scheduling e-learning course is to provide you with the tools and techniques to implement an efficient shift operation. 

In Shift Scheduling you will find out how to calculate the number of shift workers you need for your operation, and how to design a shift pattern to match your workload and requirements. We will cover new techniques for covering vacations and absences. Show you how you can be a greener operation through using different procedures and improve your employee’s work/life balance.

Click here to get started and go to our on-line school!

Designing the right shift pattern is crucial for running an effective and efficient operation.

New Website

Our new website is up and running: shiftpatterns.com

It's full of videos and information about shift patterns.

If you want to know more about creating a new shift pattern, why not watch our video

Team Building with Fundraising

Are you tired of your company spending thousands on forcing people to make bridges out of straws, fall over each other and sing happy, clappy songs in the name of team building, then why not try something different? You could do something for your favorite charity instead. Volunteer your group for a day at a local charity. Cleaning up the grounds for example. Gets everyone working together to help the community and they get to do all of those team building skills too. So, you select one to be the team leader, a sub team leader, just like on the Apprentice. Have them work out where they will get tools, see if they can work out what is appropriate clothing for a day of gardening. And all it will cost the company is a day of training.

If you want to do something a little more ambitious then what about a fundraising event. This will cost you a lot more time and money but then they get a lot more experience. You could do something simple like a coffee morning. That is nice and easy, get a venue and marketing team and give them a few hours to organise the event. They get to learn budgeting skills, marketing skills, and you have to do minimal effort. Then you just need to have the cakes and the coffee made on the morning. Send them all off for a baking course the day before or give them a budget for cake buying as see what they come up with. Do they know how to make tea and coffee for 100 people or is there a queue waiting for the kettle to boil? (This is not an exaggeration I have been to events and weighted 10 minutes for a cup of coffee since 10 people wanted it and they had to boil the kettle twice! Good job some people settled for cold drinks.)

Or you could be more ambitious. This week I organized a Royal Tea Party for Cancer Research UK. A wonderful charity and last year I joined my local fundraising committee. So if you need help organizing an event I suggest that you contact your local committee of your chosen charity and ask for help and advice on setting up a fundraising event.

So, I decided that my event would be a tea party with a speaker. Having been to lots of charity talks over the years I had a good idea of what is a good speaker. Firstly, think about your audience and pick appropriately, e.g. a motivational speaker in a tracksuit is not appropriate as a speaker for successful banker and academics. Than you need to think of someone people will pay to see and thirdly you want them to go away happy so they will give more money and come back to your events. So, there was one name that stuck in my head as a witty, interesting and would appeal to a large audience. Hence, I gave William French, a Falkland’s veteran, butler to the Royal Family and other celebrities, a call. You can see why he would appeal to large audience, those interesting in the military, the Royal Family and film stars would want to listen. But the really reason I asked him was that he is a very good speaker with a great story to tell.

So, I had my speaker, now I needed a venue. I went for my local theatre, (which is also a charity) lovely old theatre called the Robin Hood Theatre. A really gem, which helped me loads in organizing the event. Then there was advertising, amazing how much free publicity you can get for interesting charity events, newspapers and radio. Food I organized and got for the Cancer Research committee, (great set of bakers), local WI and a few over contacts. Raffle prizes I begged off everyone.

On the day, the committee stepped in once again to help me in the kitchen and selling raffle tickets, the theatre helped me in the box office and with lighting. Within 4 hours we set up, got everyone into their seats, laughed over William’s life story, stuffed people with cake, delighted half the crowd prizes and cleaned up. We raised over £1,300 for Cancer Research UK.

Now doesn’t that sound like more fun 

than your typical team building exercise?

Frustrating Lack of Consistency

If you do not have clear rules and procedures, then it can be very frustrating for everyone. Take holidays for example. If everyone knows what the rules are then they can abide by them. However, the rules tend to change depending on who is in charge, who you ask or even who you are - then the system becomes unfair. Unfortunately, this is what often happens. Defining clear guidelines which will work for everyone in every possible scenario is incredibly difficult to set up.

So how do you ensure that your system will be fair to everyone?

Step 1: Understand what you need. This is the hardest thing to define. Yet if you know what you need then you can use that as the basis for your rules. So if you need a minimum of two people in the office at all times, say that.

Step 2: Fair rules. Write up a set of rules that are applicable to everyone.

Step 3: Testing and Evaluation. Look at the rules and see how they would have worked had you had them in place last year.

Step 4: Exceptions. There will always be exceptions to the rules, because you can’t think of everything, so have a “At manager’s discretion” clause.

Step 5: There are two sides to rules and procedures, checking to see that they work for the organisation, and checking that they work for the employee. When it comes to creating rules about holidays, think about ensuring that all of your employees can take all of their holidays in the year.

Step 6: Enforcement. When it comes to holidays, in practice, there are only two people who can manage and enforce the rules. You either have the ‘boss’ or the ‘temp’ do the administration. The ‘boss’ has to have the authority to implement any decisions they make. The ‘temp’ has no authority, so can only follow the rules. In this way everyone is treated equally and fairly.

If you are having trouble with holidays, then why not attend our course on holiday management. Alternatively, we also run courses on change management, annualised hours, absence and shift planning. 

Shift Pattern Examples

There is nothing like an example when you are trying to explain a complicated problem. They are very useful tool for visualising and comparing methodologies and strategies. Hence C-Desk Technology has created hundreds of shift pattern examples to help you design and manage your own shift operation.

Office Hours shift pattern for five people

We have a number of shift patterns designed to cover a variety of operations from office hours shifts to 24/7 shift patterns.

All of the shift patterns were created in our shift pattern generator. They are displayed in Excel with counting functions to show the number of people on shift each day, the total number of sifts or hours each person would work each year.

We are now selling our shift patterns examples in our shop. If you would like to know what a shift pattern would look like over a year, or have an example to play with, then you can purchase the shift patterns from just £1 per shift pattern.

If you would like to know more about shift patterns, and the different options available, then vist our site at shiftpatterns.com 

The perfect shift pattern is there, just waiting for you!

Finding the right shift pattern

If you want to know what the best shift pattern is for you, then you need to understand how a shift pattern is designed. Then what are the advantages and disadvantages of each and how they will affect you over the year.

So to makes things simple for you, C-Desk Technology has set up a website to help you understand the different shift patterns.

Shift Patterns

So it covers the main types of shift patterns. Including, double shift, 24/5 and 24/7. There are also a variety of shift patterns set out over a full year for you to buy in the shop.

Should you need more help creating the perfect shift pattern for you, C-Desk Technology also offers a training course and consultancy packages.

So you don't need to struggle with designing a shift pattern any more. Just select the one that's right for you from as little as £1