15-25Monthly Events
2000+shifts yearly
20Hrmax per student
500workers monthly
Using Shiftboard, California Athletics schedules 2,000+ event
staff shifts with student workers.
Summary
Each month, University of California Berkeley’s Athletic (Cal) ticket office management fills hundreds of slots with student workers in order to staff a phone ticket sales center and two dozen sporting events. Inconsistent student availability, a 20-hour-per-student limit, and frequent event schedule changes added to the complexity.
Manual events staff scheduling methods became unwieldy, so Cal switched to Shiftboard. “It’s so much easier than spreadsheets” said Stephanie White, Assistant Ticket Manager. “I really like it and so do the students.”
Results
- Saved time by replacing manual processes with easy-to-use online system
- Boosted worker satisfaction by enabling students to check schedules and sign up for shifts in advance
- Enhanced communication by broadcasting schedule changes instantly
- Implemented new event scheduling software system with no training required for staff and students
“I had an Excel spreadsheet that I would update every week. Just keeping it up to date and not forgetting things was a constant problem.”Stephanie White, Assistant Ticket Manager
Challenge
Cal ticket office staffs 15-25 sporting events per month requiring two to 40 student workers per event, plus schedules students to handle phone ticket sales during normal business hours. Like most sport event management organizations, the ticket office must adapt to many last-minute changes, including staffing requirements, weather cancellations, and changes to event start times.
Scheduling student workers is challenging, because their availability changes weekly due to exams, vacations, and other factors. Plus management must ensure no student goes above a fixed 20-hours-per-week maximum.
Before Shiftboard, Cal’s scheduling process was manual. “I had an Excel spreadsheet that I would update every week,” said Stephanie White, Assistant Ticket Manager. “Just keeping it up to date and not forgetting things was a constant problem. We had a signup board in the office, but there was no sense of urgency. Students would sign up as they felt like it. Many students did not work in the office so they did not have a way to sign up. I would still be trying to find students by phone the day of the event.”
Shiftboard has made my life so much easier by putting the scheduling in the kids’ hands. I just open up the hours and they pick them up. Stephanie White, Assistant Ticket Manager
With Shiftboard, scheduling errors are reduced by 85%.
Solution
Cal’s Events & Ceremonies department already used Shiftboard and loved it for event scheduling during reunions and homecoming. The Cal ticket office management readily took the recommendation, and found Shiftboard drastically simplified the task of scheduling 2,000+ slots throughout year, thanks to:
- Tracking and reporting hours in real-time ”The biggest thing is tracking the students’ hours through Shiftboard‘s reporting, to ensure they’re not going over the allotted 20 hours per week,” said White.
- Students selecting their own shifts “The students can now find their own shifts, as well as cancel their shifts, which takes a big load off me,” said White. “If someone cancels a shift, immediately someone else picks it up because they are all looking for hours. It’s all right there.”
- Integrated communications, including automated reminders and mass broadcasts “It really helps for events like football games, where students sign up but we don’t know the start time until the week before,” said White. “We can send out notices and remind people all at once.”
White now can post her schedule for the entire fall or winter season in advance, and because the system isf irst-come first-served, there is now motivation to sign up immediately. “Students love it,” White said. “They can access the schedule at any time. They pick up shifts at one or two in the morning. I now have kids who are frustrated they don’t get events because they wait until the last minute. They learn quickly, because the schedules fill up fast.”
