Open shifts

What is an open shift?

An open shift is a shift that has not yet been assigned to a volunteer. You can use them to your advantage in a few ways:

If there will be more than one volunteer doing the same shift, it can be set up as one open shift with multiple shift "slots", then assign the slots to the volunteers
You can use them to set up your schedule before assigning shifts, for example, if your volunteers are not yet onboarded.
Use them to let volunteers request shifts that suit them.

How to add an open shift

Select the open shift cell corresponding to the role and day for which the shift will be scheduled. A slide-out panel will appear.
Fill in the shift details (see below for more information on setting the shift details) and select the Save button at the bottom of the panel.
Done! Repeat for all shifts needed.

Setting the shift details

More information on what is available when adding an open shift:

Detail

What it is

Example

Number of slots

How many volunteers are needed for this shift

1 for a single volunteer, 5 for multiple volunteers doing the same shift

Shift title

This will appear on the schedule, and for the volunteer, it should be something that makes sense to both. When there are multiple shifts with the same shift title, the volunteer will see them as categories. Optional.

"Information session" is the shift title

Date and Time

Select the start and finish times of the shift.

Shift status

The current status of the shift.

Activities

Add what the volunteer will be expected to do during the shift. The volunteer will be able to see this when requesting the shift. Optional.

Check off registrations, Hand out lanyards, take last-minute registrations

Note for the volunteer

Add any extra information needed for this shift that the volunteer will need. The volunteer will be able to see this when requesting the shift. Optional.

"Please wear your conference polo issued at the information session" or "Anna will be the supervisor"

What shift details does the volunteer see

If the schedule is sent to the volunteers, here is what they will see:

(1) Where shift titles appear on the volunteer view. (2) Where the activities and notes appear if added. Volunteer selects the +more info link to toggle the visibility.

👉🏽 Find out more about sending volunteers their schedule

Assigning an open shift slot to a volunteer

Select the open shift on the schedule
Open the context menu (three dots on the top right of the popover)
Select the Assign slot option
Pick the volunteer to assign the slot to
Select the appropriate shift status

✋🏿 Careful: if you assign an open shift to a volunteer whose primary role isn't the same as the shift's role, you will "pull" the volunteer into that role, and it becomes their secondary role. Learn more about roles.

Allow volunteers to assign themselves to shifts

Yes, volunteers can view and request eligible shifts on their schedule. 📖 Learn more about how to set this up.

Unassign an open shift slot from a volunteer

There are several ways to handle the situation where an open shift assigned to a volunteer needs to be removed. Your actions depend on the circumstances.

Reassign the shift to another volunteer

This changes the slot allocation from one volunteer to another. It is best done when both volunteers know that this will happen or before shifts are sent.

Release the slot

This will remove the shift from the volunteer, and the open shift will gain back the slot, ready to be assigned to another volunteer. It is best done when the volunteer knows that this will happen or before shifts are sent.

Change the status to cancelled

The volunteer will see that the shift has been cancelled on their schedule. It's best done when you need to cancel the shift. Once cancelled, you can opt to send a message to the volunteer to provide more context. The slot will be released back to the open shift for reassignment to another volunteer.

Delete the shift

The volunteer will not be notified; the shift will disappear, and the slot will no longer be available. This should only be done when you first set up the shift.

See an open shift's slot allocation

Quickly see which volunteers have been assigned a shift slot

Select the open shift
In the popover, select the link slot allocation. This will trigger the open shift slot allocation slide-out
See which volunteers have been allocated a shift slot, as well as any pending requests