How to plan before development

Before planning shifts in Odoo Planning, it helps to set up a few things first so schedules are accurate and Auto Plan works correctly. This covers the main configuration to check before you start building a roster.

What to set up before you start

Roles

Go to Planning > Configuration > Roles to define the roles your team performs, such as chef, waiter or manager, and choose which employees or materials perform each role. Roles are used by Auto Plan to assign open shifts to the right person.

Employees and working hours

Under Planning > Configuration > Employees, check each employee’s Work Information tab. Their Working Hours field is used to calculate allocated time for shifts. Leaving it blank means the employee is treated as working flexible hours, and flexible workers cannot be scheduled with Auto Plan.

Materials

If you need to schedule equipment such as machines or rooms rather than people, set these up as Materials, which can also be given roles and working hours.

Shift templates

Creating Shift Templates for shifts you use often saves time later. A template can pre-fill the start time, duration, role and project for a new shift.

How this pays off once you start planning

With roles, employees and templates in place, shifts can be created quickly and the Auto Plan feature can assign open shifts automatically, taking roles, working hours, time off and contracts into account.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need roles set up before creating shifts?

It helps. Shifts can be created without a role, but Auto Plan cannot assign shifts to an employee who has no role.

What if an employee has no fixed Working Hours set?

They are treated as working flexible hours, and Auto Plan cannot be used to assign shifts to them automatically.

Need help?

Need help preparing your Odoo Planning setup? Contact support@thoughtlogik.com or see our Odoo implementation services.