A calendar that knows the jobs
An appointment is not just an entry. It belongs to a job and it has a duration.
Practice / Scheduling and capacity
Scheduling and capacity
The question of whether something can still be fitted in next week is often answered from what one person happens to know.
The starting point
The work
in between.
- Dates sit in the calendar, in the job folder and on a board in the workshop.
- Availability is often pieced together by one person from calendar, board and experience. Without a shared plan that is kept up, others cannot see the state dependably.
- Commitments are made on the phone, before anyone could look.
- If someone drops out, half a day is rearranged and half the customers get a call.
A suitable design
What needs to
work together.
These components describe one possible individual scope. Scope and rules are agreed with your business.
Capacity instead of gut feel
What is possible in a week is a number. Whether you want to go over it stays a decision.
Rearranging without a phone list
If someone drops out, a suggestion is ready for who goes where, with drafts for the messages to customers.
An example decision card
Next week is overbooked
For two days more work is committed than there is capacity for.
Two appointments carry no firm commitment. Suggestions for moving them are prepared.
How is overbooked calculated?
- committed appointments with their stored duration
- against the capacity available on the same days
- without a buffer for travel and the unexpected
- → the sum is optimistic rather than strict
07 · To replan
A week that shows its limit.
On Tuesday nine hours are planned into eight available ones. Drag a flexible appointment to another day, or pick a suggestion you can follow.
Mon
7 / 8 hrs 1 hrs free
-
08:00 to 12:00
FixedHandrail, north wing
Example business, metalwork
-
13:00 to 16:00
FixedMeasure up, inner courtyard
Example business, managing agent
No appointments on this day.
Tue
9 / 8 hrs 1 hrs overbooked
-
08:00 to 13:00
Fit the escape stair
Example business, metalwork
-
13:00 to 17:00
Ventilation service
Example business, hotel
No appointments on this day.
Wed
6 / 8 hrs 2 hrs free
-
08:00 to 12:00
FixedTreatment room refit
Example business, medical practice
-
13:00 to 15:00
FixedSign-off, gate guide
Example business, manufacturing
No appointments on this day.
Thu
3 / 8 hrs 5 hrs free
-
08:00 to 11:00
FixedHeating circuit, works hall
Example business, manufacturing
No appointments on this day.
Fri
2 / 8 hrs 6 hrs free
-
13:00 to 15:00
FixedDocumentation, north wing
Example business, metalwork
No appointments on this day.
Two possible solutions
Both suggestions resolve the visible capacity and resource conflicts.
Move the service to Thursday
The hotel is flexible. The visit moves to Thursday, 13:00 to 17:00.
Tuesday 5 / 8 hrs · Thursday 7 / 8 hrs
Move the fitting to Friday
Team 2 is free on Friday. The fitting moves to Friday, 08:00 to 13:00.
Tuesday 4 / 8 hrs · Friday 7 / 8 hrs
History
Notice it, decide it, record it.
- Agent · planning Tuesday is overbooked at 9 of 8 hours. Two conflict-free suggestions prepared.
An illustration. All the names stand for generic example businesses; the visits and the times are invented. On small screens the week is shown as a daily agenda.
The conflict stays visible
An overbooking is not resolved quietly. The agent names it, shows two possible consequences and waits for a decision.
Capacity is more than an empty slot
Commitments, durations and the people available belong together. Only out of those does a suggestion for the next appointment become dependable.
The countercheck
Where things
can go wrong.
Planning is easily built too fine. Weeks planned in quarter hours rarely stay current in a business with customers and weather. A plan that keeps missing the day loses acceptance. Rough and current is then worth more than fine and out of date.
A useful first trial includes this failure case explicitly. Fast processing alone is not success if checking and correction create more work.
The connection to the next task
Your first stage
Start where
the work improves.
For Scheduling and capacity, we choose a bounded first outcome with your team. Existing specialist systems can stay where they fulfil necessary requirements. We compare time relief, payments that can end and the cost of the new way of working.
The workshop gives you priorities and a roadmap. You can continue internally or with support from Markus Kirchmair. The choice of model and agent follows the task, with data and rules retained outside an individual chat.
Explore the workshop →Ready for the next change
Keep the work simple.
The first view should show the next relevant decision. Reasoning and sources remain accessible. We leave out unnecessary features and make actual progress visible.
When a rule changes, agents can help investigate the impact, prepare the adjustment and update tests and documentation. A qualified person assesses the result and its adoption.
Try a change →Your first step
Say yes
to less.
Less unnecessary software. More room for your work. Let’s find the useful first step.