Scheduler

Enterprise Edition Required
If you're not on the Enterprise Edition, you can still access this feature, but you must upgrade to the Enterprise plan to continue using it.

• Introduction
• Overview
• Pre-requisites
• Getting Started
  • Scheduler Workspace
  • Creating a Schedule
  • Planning Events
  • Automatic-Solver Constraints
  • Planning Events based on past schedules
  • Scheduler Dashboard
  • Conflict Checking
  • Creating and Booking Events
• Current Limitations
• Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction

Planning and organizing training can be a challenging and time-consuming task, especially when considering factors such as Instructor availability, time zones, planning many events, and adapting to unavoidable changes and demands. Enter the Administrate Scheduler! Not only does it provide a convenient and efficient way to plan your training, but it also leverages automatic-solving capabilities and decision support to help enhance your planning process. This allows you to dynamically react to availability changes and other factors, making it easier than ever to stay on track with the planning process.

Benefits

1. Eliminate the need for multiple tools and spreadsheets when planning
2. Improve time and efficiency by a forecasted 10x
3. Create new schedules much faster by using past schedule and event data
4. Leverage the Scheduler's Automatic solver functionality to plan it for you
5. Sync your MS Teams Outlook Calendars to pull in instructors' availabilities in real-time

Overview

Users can create schedules and benefit from the various options to facilitate and speed up the planning, such as bulk imports, using past schedules to plan the next, drag-and-drop functionality which automatically displays any Instructor and Resource conflicts, bookings, and availability.

The Issue Navigator brings attention to the user with any issue present in their schedule and enables them to easily cycle through each.

Users who don't have very complex requirements or criteria can choose to utilize the Scheduler to automatically create and plan a schedule for them. This is typically completed within minutes, and users are still able to adjust and change things after a schedule is proposed.

 

Pre-requisites

• The Scheduler requires that you've already set up and generated Course Template Sessions. with start and end times
• Resource requirements must be configured on their respective Course Templates if you plan to schedule and book them

 

Getting Started

Locating the Scheduler in your Instance

From the Top navigation menu, click on Events to find the Scheduler feature.

Scheduler Workspace

Schedules are plans for Events that you are considering creating with the required instructors and resources. The Scheduler screen will present you with a list view of all the schedules that you are currently working on or that you have already scheduled or archived. You can use the various field filters to quickly find what you're looking for or you can create a new schedule from this view.

As you continue to use the Scheduler and the list of schedules displayed grows, the filter can quickly find the Schedule you want.

• Scheduler Status can be any of the following:
  • Draft: Indicates that the document is a work in progress.
  • Scheduled: Indicates a schedule is planned and the Events have been created. This is an end state and there is no further work needed
• The Solver State is related to the status of the solution you've run for a particular schedule 
  • Success: Indicates that the schedule was successfully solved and a plan was generated
  • Failed: Indicates that the schedule failed to solve part or all of the plan. If the solver partially solved it, then a solution is provided which can be checked and modified by the user
  • In progress: The schedule is working out a solution for your plan

Creating a Schedule

The first step in creating schedules and planning is to define your schedule settings and boundaries. 

 

Steps Click the Create Schedule button Fill in the fields that are presented within the dialog modal Click the Create Schedule button within the modal to create your schedule and be re-directed to the Scheduler Canvas to start planning. This will create a Schedule canvas with the boundaries, constraints, and configs you've set it to.  Fields Name: Give your schedule a name. (Ex: "Spring Events Plan") Location: The location of the Events you are planning for. Start/End Date: The date boundaries of your Schedule

 

 

Scheduler Canvas

This is where the planning takes place, allowing you to add events, Instructors, and resources within the boundaries you set when first creating your schedule.

 

A quick guide on the user interface

All Schedules back button	Redirects you back to the Scheduler list view and search filters
Create Events and Book button	Click this button once you are happy with the plan and want the Scheduler to Create the Events for you. These Events will be under Draft status.   If this button is disabled, then your schedule either has issues that need to be resolved, or you have not started planning yet.
Edit button within the toolbar that displays your Schedule name and information	Allows you to edit your Schedule Settings.
Issues 0/2 <>	The issue navigator displays the number of issues and unresolved issues. For this example, there are 2 unresolved issues.   You can click the navigation arrows <> to quickly cycle through them. This provides a brief description of the issue, as well as highlighting it in the user interface.
Solve button	Click this button to let the Scheduler automatically create a plan for you.   If this is disabled, it means you have not fulfilled the minimum requirement for added Events, Instructors, and/or Resources.    When using the Solve option, it resets any manual adjustments you've made. Proceed with caution whenever you plan to re-solve your schedule.
Month <> within the toolbar	Click on the navigation arrows to switch the view between months. These are locked to the start/end date boundaries you set when you created the Schedule. You can modify this setting anytime by clicking the Edit button in the toolbar.
Month|Week|Year tabs	Change the view of the planner canvas to month, week, and year.
Inventory Courses Instructors Resources	Displays a list of Events, Instructors, and Resources you've added or imported to your Schedule.   You can add Inventory by clicking on the Add button.
View Legend	Provides an explanation for the various types of indicators, images, and states within the scheduler.
The planner or calendar view	This is the grid allowing you to see your Events, Instructors, and Resources in given blocks of time. You are also able to interact with any allocated element within the grid to better plan your Training before creating events and booking.

 

Planning Events 

To start planning, we first need to let the Scheduler know how many Events we are planning to run, which Instructors we want to include, and any Resources that are required. The schedule supports both, Classroom and Blended type Events.

 

Adding Events

Under Inventory, click on the Add button For this example, we want to create a new plan and not base it upon prior planned Event data. So this means we will use the Course option. Click on Course   Options Import: Click Import if you want to import Events from either a plan you previously created or the events that exist within a date range from the past.   Course: Click Course to plan a fresh new schedule for a set number of Events Instructors: Click Instructors to include the Instructors you want to deliver the Training Resources: Click Resources to include the Resources that you want to use or are required in your Training Notes: For Blended Events. LMS info is pulled from the latest Course Template schedule for simplicity LMS info is not displayed on the Scheduler Canvas
For this example, let's assume the user is planning to run two workshops: "BBQ Grill Do's and Don'ts" and "Flight Safety" and 5 Events for each workshop   You can search via the Course Code or Course name Select the Course and type in 5 under the No. of Events Add at '<the desired starting date for the first event>' Click Save   Do the same for any other Courses you want to plan
You will find the Events that you just created listed under the Inventory, Course section. The number next to the title 'Events' shows the total number of Events you are planning Next to each Course you've added, you will find a number indicating the total number of Events you are planning for the specific Course The list of individual Events is displayed under the Course (bolded text), and a numerical increment is added to the Course Code
Next step, let's add Instructors and Resources

 

Adding Instructors

Under Inventory, click on the Add button Click on Instructors to show the Add Instructor modal Select the Instructors who are needed to deliver the Training Click Save The modal displays the list of all Instructors in your Instance and is not limited to those on the Course Templates you've added to your plan.   You can further filter the list by: Those who can teach a specific Course Those who are in a certain Workplace or Location By Name or Account

 

Adding Resources

This step is optional if none of the courses you selected include the required resources (Rooms, Equipment, Instruments, etc.).

Under Inventory click on the Add button Click on Resources to show the Add Resources modal Select the Instructors who are needed to deliver the Training Click Save You can filter your Resources by name, type, and/or Location.

 

Availability and Booking checking tooltips

Notice the Instructor's and resource availabilities and bookings are displayed in the canvas to assist you in planning.   Notice that instructor "Wohn Jick" is not available on Monday.
A blue arrow on the bottom right corner indicates a booking exists but is not necessarily conflicting. Hovering over it will show you more details.

 

Now that we have Events, Instructors, and Resources set up, let's do a final check to make sure we have no issues with our scheduler.

In the Scheduler (beta), you can choose to continue working on your schedule, manage the sessions, import past Events, and adjust until it meets your desired state, or you can let the Scheduler solve it for you.

 

Continue with planning

Things you will need to do:

• Assign Instructors and Resources to your Sessions
• Re-arrange your Sessions and Events by either editing them or dragging and dropping them to optimize your plan
• Create and Book Your Events

Assign Instructors and Resources to your Sessions Click on a Session to quickly view its information Click on the Edit button to edit the session dates, and assign instructors and resources.
Re-arrange your Sessions and Events by either editing them or dragging and dropping them to optimize your plan You can drag and drop Sessions individually You can group sessions that belong to the same Events in order to drag whole Events. To group sessions, right-click on a session that is part of a multi-session Event and click Group. To ungroup, do the same and click ungroup.
Review Instructor & Resources utilization At any moment, you can review the total hours an Instructor or Resource is utilized within a Schedule.

 

 

Let the Scheduler suggest a plan for you

You can use the Solve function to let the Scheduler suggest a schedule based on your inputs and configuration. Here's an overview of how the Solver functions work:

1. The configuration in the Course Template acts as the constraint rules (or hard rules) for scheduling each course. For example, if "Remote Task Handling" is a 3-day course that must start on Mondays, you can set this requirement, and the Scheduler will include it when suggesting a plan.

2. Event sessions will always be grouped by default. So, a 5-day training event that runs from Monday to Friday will always be planned as such when the Scheduler suggests a plan.

3. Events will be spread evenly across your plan's time bounds. For example, running a 3-session "Remote Task Handling Training" over 3 months will typically result in one event per month.

4. The Scheduler will try to balance the workload among the available instructors and resources in the plan.

5. The Scheduler will attempt to avoid overbooking instructors or resources. However, if it cannot avoid overbooking, it will still suggest a plan.

With all the above considered, once a plan is generated, you have full control to change and update it to suit your needs. If the 5-day training doesn't work for a certain event, you can break the grouping, drag and drop sessions independently, change instructors, and more.

Let's try it out

When using the Solve function, you'll be presented with two options:

1. Use exact Session times (The solver will plan the sessions respecting the exact start and end time defined in the Course outline)
2. Use durations of Sessions (The solver will plan the sessions respecting the duration of sessions, and plot them based on the provided earliest start and end times)

If there are no issues, the Solve button should become available and no longer be disabled Click on the Solve Choose the preferred method of solving (Exact session times or duration of sessions) The Scheduler may take some time to come up with a plan for you depending on the Events and criteria you've given it. Note: You can close the browser, navigate somewhere else, and back. This won't pause or cancel any solution in progress.
The solver will look at the following constraints and conflict checking when attempting to find a solution for your schedule
Once done, the possible outputs might be: Successfully Solved Cannot Solve You can tell it's successfully solved by checking on the top right navbar.
Once solved, you will see all your Events planned in the calendar.
Click on one of the Sessions to view its details or if you wish to adjust it. Click Edit to show the Edit Modal
Editing a session allows you to change the start and end date, the Instructor, and or Resources.   Notes You cannot add Resources if there are no Resource requirements for the Session You cannot assign multiple Instructors for a session. In the next iteration, this option is planned to become available.
Besides clicking the Edit button to modify a session, you can simply drag and drop. Drag and drop to another date Drag and drop to swap or change Instructors Drag and drop to swap or change Resources

 

Automatic-Solver Constraints & Requirements

The solver will consider the following when attempting to automatically suggest a schedule:

• The Schedule Settings
• Instructor & Resource Requirements
• Course Template Session Configuration
• Course Template allowed training days and duration
• Instructors and Resources Availability
• External Events. If you have the 2-way-calendar sync enabled.

 

Planning Events - Based on Past Schedules

The Scheduler allows you to easily import and replicate previously scheduled training programs into new date ranges. This is particularly useful for organizations with recurring training cycles, as it enables you to carry over your Q1 schedule to Q2 with ease. All event details, instructor assignments, and resource allocations are included and updated with real-time availability data. By automating these tasks, you can quickly address conflicts such as holidays or unforeseen absences, allowing you to focus on delivering exceptional training experiences.

Let's try it out!

Create a schedule with the date bounds to July 2023
Under the Inventory section, click on Add then Import
From the Import modal, filter the month you want to import the schedule from. In our example, it's June 2023, so select the start date to be the 1st of June 2023 and the End date to be the 30th of June 2023. Click Next Step
You'll be presented with a list of Courses, Instructors, and Resources that were used by the Events that happened in that selected Period. So reference to the image on the right. In June 2023, we've run 3 events of Flight Barrel Rolls, and 5 Events of Flight Safety Course. We had 3 Instructors who delivered those Events, and 3 Resources were used.   Notes: The Courses that are displayed in the list are the ones that have/had Events running in the date bounds you've selected initially. These Events must not be in Draft mode or Cancelled The Instructors & Resources list are those that were assigned to the Events at the time
You can choose to run the exact same, and by that, you can just click on Import, or, you can choose to change things up and select or de-select some of the items there before you start the import.
Once imported. You'll see that all the Events, Instructors, and Resources are mapped out in the Scheduler Canvas, in an initialized state. This means you need to assign the Instructors and resources to the Sessions, plan them out in the Scheduler, or choose to have it solved automatically by hitting the Solve button.

 

Scheduler Dashboard

The Scheduler dashboard allows users to quickly assess the quality and effectiveness of their training plans without the need for extensive manual review of the schedule. It provides the right information and insights a planner needs to evaluate. 

Planning Stats Widget

• # of Events: Represents the number of Events scheduled. This metric does not account for the number of individual sessions within these Events.
• Days Used: Indicates the total number of unique days on which at least one session is scheduled. This metric considers only working days as defined by the company's schedule.
• Training Hours: Total duration of all sessions scheduled.
• Total Capacity: Totals the maximum number of places available across all events, even if some events are duplicated.

Instructors & Resources Hours Widget

This widget provides insights into instructor and resource scheduling. It displays the minimum and maximum hours utilized by instructors and resources. It also shows the average hours utilized across all. Hovering over any displayed hours will show the name of the corresponding instructor or resource.

'Unused' indicates that these resources and instructors are not assigned to any event or session in the plan.

Issues Widget

The Issues Widget provides an overview of problems within the plan, such as instructor conflicts or missing requirements. Issues are categorized into two main types: Critical and Other. Additionally, they are grouped into three categories: Course-related Issues, Instructor Issues, and Resource Issues, allowing for easy identification and resolution.

Critical Issues

Example

• A required resource or instructor is missing from the plan.
• Misconfigured Course Template, such as missing a default start and end time.
• Instructor no longer exist/left the organization.

Other Issues

Example

• Conflict with an Instructor or Resource.
• Events do not match the intended course template schedule.
• The session was not assigned a resource that is required.

 

Conflict Checking

Throughout your planning, the Scheduler will display any issue you stumble upon or conflict you happen to create due to an Instructor swap or Session being moved manually to another date.

 

You can use the Issue Navigator to help locate the issues and learn more about how to resolve them.

Creating and Booking Events

Once you are happy with your plan, click on the Create and Book Events button to show a confirmation modal of what will be created.   Click once more on Create Events and Book to create your Events.   A Blended Event is created when: There are the necessary LMS settings on the Course Template, it will use that to determine the LMS dates Otherwise, default to the Event start/end dates   You can now continue to manage your Events from the Event's screen as usual.

 

Common warnings and how to resolve

Warning	Suggested Solution	Screenshot
Cannot solve Schedule without Sessions for Course Template '<CourseName>'	Go to the Course in question and ensure you've generated the Sessions for that Course. Click on the Course Title will take you to the Course Template, click on the Schedule tab, then click on Generate Sessions button.
Cannot solve Schedule without Session Start and End times for Course Template '<CourseName>'.	Go to the Course in question and ensure you've set up start and end dates Sessions then hit Submit, then Generate Sessions.
Required Resources are missing	You need to add the Required Resources to your Scheduler. Within the Scheduler, click on Add next to the Inventory section, then add the missing Resources.
Course Template '<CourseName>' has changed its Resource Requirements, thus invalidating the current solution.	This might occur if you change the Resource requirements of a Course Template after including it in your Schedule and planning the Events.   Make sure the Resources are included in the Sessions they are required in by either editing the Sessions and adding the Resource or utilizing the Automatic-Solve to automatically reschedule it for you.

 

Current Limitations

• Supports Classroom and Blended Based Courses and Events
• When using the solve function, the scheduler can only schedule one instructor. However, you can manually edit the events to change or add multiple instructors.
• Supports scheduling for a Single Location at a time

 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much time does the Scheduler take to suggest a plan?

   1. On average, the scheduler takes between 3-5 min to find an optimal plan for a large schedule (±200 events). Depending on the size and complexity this time may vary.

2. What constitutes a “full day unavailability”?

   1. An Instructor is considered not available for a full day if their unavailability begins before the scheduled time and ends after

3. How does the Scheduler determine which days of the week it should create schedules for?

   1. The non-working days that are displayed in the Courses row within the Scheduler canvas are determined based on the Course Template defined days.

   2. The non-working days that are displayed in the Instructor and Resources rows within the Scheduler canvas are determined based on the days specified within the Company settings.

   3. When using the automatic solver functionality, the solver considers the schedule outlined in the Course Template when creating the sessions.
      
      

4. When dragging an Event/Session across multiple months, it eventually stops showing conflict highlights within the cells

   1. While dragging Events/Sessions, the Scheduler conflict highlighting will be displayed for a span of 2 months. This is a current limitation within the Scheduler Beta.

5. Is the Scheduler free during the open beta period?

   1. Yes, the Scheduler will be completely free to use during the open beta access period, which will last for 6 months from release. We’re excited to offer this opportunity to our users as we gather valuable feedback and make improvements to ensure the best possible experience. After the open beta phase, you will have the opportunity to decide if you would like to continue using this feature. To re-activate it, kindly get in touch with our Support Team.