Introduction¶
About this guide¶
This guide describes how to use the Resource Planner to create work rotas for resources. The 'Quick Start Guide' section gives a quick introduction to get started. The 'Advanced Resource Planning' section describes the more advanced functionality that is available to use. This guide is designed to be used alongside the PSO Workbench User Guide; the concepts are covered in detail in this guide, while the controls and user interactions are described in detail in the user guide.
There are also a number of commonly used terms within this guide, which are described below:
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Dataset | A set of resources that require resource planning. More than one dataset may exist, but if so, they will be entirely independent of each other. |
| Resource | A person who is able to carry out work and has working hours that need to be planned. |
| Division | A division or department within an organisation, for which shifts and working times need to be planned. Divisions are arranged in a hierarchy. |
| Shift | A period of time when a member of staff is planned to work. |
| Shift Template | A standard pattern of shifts e.g. 'Four days on, four days off'. |
| Skill | A skill, competency or qualification that may be required to perform certain types of work. |
| Role | A combination of skills (including competencies and/or qualifications) that may be required to perform certain types of work. |
| Position | An assigned position that a resource will work in within an organisation, division or team. |
| Team | A group of people who commonly work together and thus can be planned as a group in order to make planning easier. |
| Unavailability | A period of time when a resource is not available for work for any reason, such as holiday or sickness. |
| Rule | A rule/law about permitted working times e.g. minimum rest periods, maximum continuous working time, etc. |
| Requirement | A stipulation of how many resources are required to be working at any given time, based on their position and/or the roles that they satisfy. |
| Rota | A complete work plan for all resources, including all their planned shifts. |