Analyze staff alignment using Demand Forecast

Use Demand Forecast to plan the number of staff members that you require so that you have enough agents to do the job.

Before you begin

Role required: sn_agent_forecast.user

About this task

Using Demand Forecast, you can:

• Monitor agent or team shift coverage for any day, week, or month.
• Analyze if you are overstaffed, understaffed, perfectly staffed, or not aligned well with your staffing needs.
• Adjust the staff alignment depending on the coverage you need and the schedule of your teams.
• Analyze staff alignment as you are creating a schedule.
• You can analyze the agent coverage you have and the actual demand for the number of agents based on assignment groups and work shifts in a day.

Procedure

1. Navigate to Workspaces > Manager Workspace.
2. Click the Schedule () icon.
3. Click the Team Calendar tab.
4. Analyze staff alignment for each shift.
   You can click the filter icon and select the assignment groups and shift plans for which you want to view the staff alignment.

   To analyze staff alignment	Do the following
   For each day	Select Day from the list. The Total resources needed row displays the demand for the number of agents for that day at the selected intervals of 15,30, and 60-minute. For example, at 15-minute intervals, a number 16 between 0700 and 0715 means that the agent demand forecast is 16. The time slots are color-coded as below to show the coverage of agents in a particular interval: Highlight color for each day for a group Description Green The number of agents you have scheduled for that interval and demand for that interval are an exact match—your staffing needs are perfectly aligned. Yellow The number of agents you have scheduled are more than the demand you have for that interval. Red The number of agents you have scheduled are less than the demand you have for that interval. Grey The demand for the number of agents and the number of agents scheduled is zero for that interval.
   For a given week	Select Week from the list. The Total coverage/demand row has indicators for the staff alignment. If the row displays Then An arrow points downward The predicted forecast is lower than the number of agents you need for that day An arrow points upward The predicated forecast is higher than the number of agents you need for that day A checkmark The perfect alignment of the predicted forecast and the required number of agents. Click any of the indications displayed in the Total coverage/demand row to analyze further details on the forecast. You can also view the coverage and demand for every hour for each group.
   For a given month	Select Month from the list. The month view displays current week and the upcoming three weeks (28 days) on the calendar in a single view. The current day is highlighted in purple. In the calendar drop-down, set a date. Up to four weeks starting the week containing this date appear on the team calendar. The Total coverage/demand row has indicators for the staff alignment. If the row displays Then An arrow points downward The predicted forecast is lower than the number of agents you need for that day An arrow points upward The predicated forecast is higher than the number of agents you need for that day A checkmark The perfect alignment of the predicted forecast and the required number of agents. Click any of the indications displayed in the Total coverage/demand row to analyze further details on the forecast. You can also view the full day's coverage and demand for 28 days in a single view. The training, time-off, and meeting events that are less than four hours are hidden in the Month view. Note: Your administrator can set: the sn_shift_planning.enable_month_view_for_team_calendar_manager_workspace system property to false to remove the Month option in the drop-down. This system property is set to true by default in the CSM. The month view is enabled by default for ZBoot customers. the value in the sn_shift_planning.hide_events_by_duration_in_month_view_manager_workspace system property to the maximum number of hours for which an event (training, time-off, and meeting) must be hidden on a calendar in the month view. By default, the value is set to 4.

   The following scheduling snapshots provide you an example to analyze staff alignment using Demand Forecast. The misaligned staffing indicator in the pop-up shows that the forecast manager has scheduled certain number of agents for each shift but they need more agents to cover them.