---
sourceDocument: Australia Field Service Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/field-service-management

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia Field Service Management

ft:clusterId :

    - fsm

bundleId :

    - fsm

workflow :

    - Customer and Industry


---

# Create policies

# Create a policy for Schedule Optimization {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Australia
* 
* Updated March 12, 2026
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read

Create policies to promote factors like the travel time and an agent's availability. Policies determine how to optimize an agent's schedule based on defined objectives or constraints.

## Before you begin

Role required: wm_admin

## About this task

A policy defines the rules and priorities that guide Schedule Optimization. Policies are built from objectives and constraints, which work together to determine how tasks are assigned to agents. Objectives control how tasks are prioritized during optimization,
while constraints define the mandatory conditions an assignment group must meet to be considered for a task. See [Optimization Features](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/VU4D0kwB_4HhRLse4s8kBA "Objectives and constraints are optimization features that determine how tasks are assigned to technicians in Schedule Optimization.") for the full list of objectives and constraints.

You can use different policies for different batch or intraday configurations.

## Procedure

1. Navigate to AllSchedule OptimizationAdministrationPolicies.
2. Select New.
3. On the policy record form, provide a name and description.
4. Select Submit.
5. Select the policy you created.
6. **Optional:** Add a constraint.
   1. Select the Constraint tab.
   2. Select New.
   3. In the Optimization feature field, select the Lookup using list icon (![Lookup using list icon.]()) and select the constraint to add.
   4. Select Submit.
   {#create-policies-schedule-optimization__substeps_jjt_fjb_hwb}
7. **Optional:** Add additional objectives.  
   Policies include default objectives that cannot be removed. You can add optional objectives to further customize optimization behavior.
   1. Select the Objective tab.
   2. Select New.
   3. In the Optimization feature field, select the Lookup using list icon (![Lookup using list icon.]()) and select the objective to add.
   4. Select Submit.
   5. In the Objectives list, double-click (or use the keyboard shortcut) the Weight field for the objective you added and enter an integer value.

   {#create-policies-schedule-optimization__substeps_el4_r3b_hwb}  
   Schedule Optimization prioritizes higher-numbered weights. For default settings, apply a weight of 1. For more important factors, apply a weight of 2 or higher.
8. Select Update.

## Result

You have now created a schedule optimization policy.

## What to do next

[Create a batch for Schedule Optimization](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/EE_DV~yGZrIYrxOpNCyNLA#create-an-optimization-batch "Create an optimization batch to determine the interval at which optimization should run. Set the start date, batch start time and end time, and run frequency for the related scope.").
**Related tasks**   

* [Add objectives to a policy](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/9uMT1knmAigGVL_fZyJ1Lg "Add objectives to Schedule Optimization policies to achieve additional optimization goals.")
* [Add constraints to a policy](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/KzDPgABcnOC6DpJwvEuK5A "Add constraints to Schedule Optimization policies to define the mandatory conditions technicians must meet to be considered for a task.")

*[\>]: and then