Scheduling in Workforce Optimization for ITSM

Release version: Australia

Updated May 20, 2026

2 minutes to read

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Summary of Scheduling in Workforce Optimization for ITSM

Scheduling in Workforce Optimization for ITSM enables ServiceNow customers to efficiently plan, manage, and monitor agent shifts and schedules within their IT service management teams. This capability supports automatic staggering of break times to optimize coverage, centralized shift planning, and on-call scheduling to ensure dedicated issue resolution. It offers a unified view of schedules across teams and simplifies shift and time-off management for both administrators and agents.

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Key Features

Shift Planning for Administrators: Create shift plans with automatically staggered breaks to maximize coverage, build and publish schedule plans, manage time-off requests and shift swaps without approvals, and model demand scenarios to forecast agent needs.
Agent Schedule Management: Agents can view team schedules, request time off, add events like meetings or training, and swap shifts with peers, facilitating better personal schedule control.
Centralized Scheduling Interface: Both schedulers and agents access a calendar view for managing and previewing schedules, enabling real-time adjustments before publishing.
Demand Forecasting and Schedule Adherence: Administrators can predict resource requirements based on historical data and monitor agent adherence to schedules to optimize staffing.

Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

Efficient Workforce Management: Centralized shift planning and scheduling reduce administrative overhead and improve operational coverage.
Improved Agent Experience: Agents gain autonomy over their schedules through self-service capabilities like requesting time off and shift swaps.
Enhanced Service Delivery: Staggered breaks and on-call scheduling ensure continuous team availability and faster issue resolution.
Data-Driven Staffing: Forecasting and adherence monitoring enable proactive adjustments to meet demand and improve team performance.

Getting Started

To begin using Scheduling in Workforce Optimization for ITSM, administrators should activate the Scheduling module and assign appropriate roles. Key setup tasks include configuring event categories, defining access for event types, and understanding schedule adherence metrics. Managers and agents can then leverage the system to plan shifts, manage schedules, and track adherence effectively.

Learn how you can plan shifts with automatically staggered break times for your agents to manage their schedule effectively in Workforce Optimization for ITSM. Publish schedules for the next scheduling period to get a snapshot of which agent is lined up to solve issues for that time period.

Shift planning

Manage the scheduling for your organization from a central location. Use On-Call Scheduling with Workforce Optimization for ITSM to have dedicated team members to resolve issues as they arise.

The image provides a high-level overview of the Scheduling application.

Infographic showing a high-level overview of the Scheduling application. For the text description, refer to the tables that follow.

Table 1. Actions for a shift planning admin (sn_shift_planning.admin)
Action	Description
Plan	Create shift plans that automatically stagger breaks to maximize coverage.
Schedule	Create schedule plans, view them in real time, and publish the schedule for the next time period.
Manage	Create time-off requests and swap shifts for your agents without going through an approval process.
Forecast	Model demand scenarios to analyze agent forecast and view updated demand on the calendar.

Table 2. Actions for an agent (sn_shift_planning.agent)
Action	Description
View team schedule	Know when your peers are working and whenthey are taking time off.
Add events	Create events such as a meeting, training, or an ad hoc work shift.
Request time off	Send a request for the span of time you want to take off.
Swap shifts	Trade shifts with your peers.

Calendar

The image provides a high-level overview of the tasks schedulers and agents can perform on the calendar.

Infographic showing tasks schedulers and agents can perform on the calendar. For the text description, refer to the lists that follow.

As a shift planning administrator, you can:

Create shifts to make sure you have team coverage for the required span of time.
Add breaks to the shifts that automatically stagger agent availability for those shifts.
Preview the schedule and make necessary changes before publishing it to your agents.
Access the schedule of all of your teams from one location.

As a shift planning agent, you can:

Look up your schedule and request time off when required.
Swap your shift with one of your peers.

Getting started with Scheduling in Workforce Optimization for ITSM

Easily find the tasks that you must complete in the Scheduling module.

Table 3. Scheduling
Benefit	User	Finding tasks to complete in Scheduling
Activate Scheduling in Workforce Optimization for ITSM.	admin	Activate Scheduling
Refer to the roles, system properties, and more used in Scheduling and Schedule adherence.	Any scheduling role	Understand components used in Scheduling in Workforce Optimization for ITSM
Configure event categories, access for event types and more.	Scheduling admin	Set up Scheduling in Workforce Optimization for ITSM
Manage your workforce efficiently by planning your teams' shifts and schedule plans. You can also plan and manage schedules and staffing needs across your teams from one location.	Scheduling manager	Schedule your teams' work in Workforce Optimization for ITSM
Understand how Schedule adherence works.	Any role	Understand Schedule adherence in Workforce Optimization for ITSM
Evaluate if your agents are adhering to their schedules and fine-tune your staffing requirements based on their adherence.	Scheduling manager	Monitor schedule adherence of your agents
Predict resources based on historical data.	Scheduling admin	Demand Forecast in Workforce Optimization for ITSM