Preparing for Shift Scheduling

Before your planners can create shifts and assign them, configure Salesforce for shift scheduling.

Required Editions

Note Workforce Engagement is scheduled for retirement. See Workforce Engagement Retirement.

If you set up Workforce Engagement to create a capacity plan, you completed some steps already. If you completed a step, skip it and proceed to the next one.

The steps differ depending on whether you’re using an Omni-Channel queue-based routing workflow. A queue-based workflow uses Omni-Channel queues and job profiles to match work assignments to support reps. If you’re using a non-Omni workflow, scheduling matches assignments to support reps based on their skills.

Configuration Step	Documentation
Step 1. Assign the appropriate permission sets to your users. Assign the Shift Scheduling Planner or Workforce Engagement Planner permission set to users who create and schedule shifts. Assign the Shift Scheduling Agent or Workforce Engagement Agent permission set to your support reps.	Manage Permission Set Assignments Workforce Engagement User Permission Sets
Step 2. In the profile for the user who creates and assigns shifts, set standard object permissions for Service Resource Preferences to View All Records. It's not possible to edit standard object permissions on a standard user profile, so this user must have a custom profile.	Edit Object Permissions in Profiles
Step 3. Add related lists to objects. Add the Time Slots related list to the Operating Hours object. Add the Skill Requirements related list to the Job Profiles object. Add the Service Territory, Shifts, Skills, Preferences, Absences, and Time Sheets related lists to the page layout for the Service Resources object. If you’re using Shift Scheduling or a workflow other than Omni-Channel queue-based routing in Workforce Engagement, add the Skill Requirements related list to the Job Profile object.	Add a Related List to an Object
Step 4. Create operating hours with time slots to represent your business operating hours.	Create Operating Hours with Time Slots
Step 5. Create service territories for the contact centers where your support reps work. Select the operating hours for each service territory.	Create a Service Territory
Step 6. Create a service resource for each agent that you want to assign shifts to. In the Type field, select Agent. To specify where an agent works, add a service territory to the Service Territory related list on the service resource.	Create Service Resources for Agents
Step 7. If you’re using Shift Scheduling or a workflow other than Omni-Channel queue-based routing in Workforce Engagement, create skills so that scheduling can match support reps’ abilities with work assignments. Add one or more skills to the Skills related list on each service resource.	Create and Assign Skills
Step 8. Create job profiles to associate with your shifts. If you’re using Shift Scheduling or a workflow other than Omni-Channel queue-based routing in Workforce Engagement, add one or more skills to each job profile. Scheduling then matches shifts with skill requirements in a job profile to support reps who have those skills. If you’re using an Omni-Channel queue-based routing workflow in Workforce Engagement, scheduling uses job profile to queue mappings instead. Configure these mappings in the next step.	Create a Job Profile
Step 9. (Omni-Channel queue-based routing workflow in Workforce Engagement) If you haven’t done so already, enable Omni-Channel, set up queues, and associate routing configurations with each queue. Add your agent users as queue members. Enable the configuration app in Setup, and map job profiles to queues. Scheduling matches shifts for each job profile to queues with the same job profile. It then assigns the shift to a queue member.	Enable Omni-Channel Create Omni-Channel Queues Enable Workforce Engagement and Feature Preferences Map Job Profiles to Queues
Step 10. Create scheduling rules that help to match support reps to shifts. Create a Match Territory rule. A rule of this type is required. If you’re using Shift Scheduling or a workflow other than Omni-Channel queue-based routing in Workforce Engagement, you want scheduling to assign work based on skills. Create a Match Skills rule. If you’re using a queue-based workflow in Workforce Engagement, you want scheduling to match queues to shifts’ job profiles. Create a Match Queue rule. Optionally, add more rules to narrow down the pool of candidates for each shift.	Create a Scheduling Rule
Step 11. Create scheduling constraints, such as work limits, to associate with scheduling rules. Add scheduling constraints to service resources or service territories. A scheduling rule looks first for a constraint on a service resource. If there isn’t one, it looks for a constraint on the service territory.	Create a Scheduling Constraint
Step 12. Create scheduling objectives to reflect business goals. For example, balance shifts across your support reps or consider a support rep’s shift preference.	Create a Scheduling Objective
Step 13. Let support reps see assigned shifts. Create an Apex trigger that allows support reps to see the shifts that have been assigned to them.	Allow Agents to See Their Assigned Shifts with an Apex Trigger