Odoo 18’s Planning module offers a robust and flexible solution for managing employee shifts, enabling businesses to streamline scheduling, optimize resource allocation, and enhance operational efficiency. Designed to cater to diverse organizational needs, the module supports shift planning by roles, projects, and sales orders, with intuitive tools for creating, managing, and analyzing schedules. This blog explores how Odoo 18 handles employee shifts, highlighting key features and configurations to help businesses manage their workforce effectively.
Schedule Menu: A Centralized Hub for Shift Management
The Schedule menu is the core of shift management in Odoo 18, offering a calendar-based Gantt view to display employee schedules by day, week, month, or year. This view allows managers to visualize resource allocation, identify conflicts, and make adjustments with drag-and-drop functionality.
- Publish: Releases schedules to employees, notifying them via email or the Odoo portal.
- Copy Previous Week: Duplicates schedules from the prior week to save time.
- Auto Plan: Automatically assigns open shifts or creates shifts based on sales orders or project requirements.
To create a new shift, users can click the New button and specify details.
Such as:
- Resource: The employee or material assigned to the shift.
- Role: The job role (e.g., Developer, Manager) linked to the shift.
- Project: The project associated with the shift, if applicable.
- Sales Order Item: Links the shift to a specific sales order for service-based businesses.
- Date and Time: Start and end times, with options for recurring shifts.
- Repeat Frequency: Configures recurring shifts (e.g., daily, weekly).
- Save as Template: Stores the shift configuration for future use.
The Gantt view also supports visual indicators, such as color-coded shifts for published status, diagonal stripes for unpublished shifts, and progress bars for ongoing tasks, ensuring clarity in schedule management as illustrated below..
Scheduling Options
Odoo 18 offers multiple scheduling perspectives to suit different organizational needs:
1. Schedule by Resource: Allows managers to assign shifts to specific employees or materials, ensuring alignment with their roles and availability.
For example, a manager can schedule a Developer for a morning shift on a specific project, specifying start and end times.
2. Schedule by Role: Organizes shifts based on job roles (e.g., Consultant, Technician), enabling departmental scheduling.
This is particularly useful for businesses with role-specific tasks, as it ensures shifts are assigned to employees with the appropriate skills.
3. Schedule by Project: Facilitates project-based scheduling, allowing managers to allocate resources to specific projects and track progress.
This is ideal for project-driven organizations, such as consultancies or construction firms.
4. Schedule by Sales Order: Links shifts to sales orders, ensuring service-based businesses allocate resources efficiently to fulfill client orders.
For instance, a catering company can schedule staff for events tied to specific sales orders.
These options provide flexibility, allowing businesses to tailor shift planning to their operational structure.
My Planning Menu: Empowering Employees
The My Planning menu enables employees to view their assigned shifts in a calendar view, helping them prioritize tasks and manage their workload. Employees can filter their schedules by role, project, or date and request shift changes or unassignments (if permitted by the admin). This feature promotes autonomy and ensures employees stay informed about their responsibilities.
Configuration Menu: Setting Up Shift Management
The Configuration menu in Odoo 18’s Planning module allows administrators to customize settings, roles, and resources to align with business needs. Key configuration options include:
Settings
- Employee Unavailabilities: Permits employees to unassign themselves from shifts within a set deadline, enhancing flexibility.
- Recurring Shifts: Configures the time frame for generating recurring shifts (default is six months in advance).
- Project Planning: Enables or disables project-based scheduling for better resource allocation.
Employees
The Employees settings allow administrators to define employee profiles, including roles, working hours, and availability. To configure shifts accurately:
- Navigate to Planning > Configuration > Employees. Assign Roles and a Default Role to ensure shifts align with employee skills and auto-planning preferences.
Working hours impact shift allocation and payroll calculations, ensuring accurate tracking of allocated time.
Roles
Roles (e.g., Chef, Analyst) are critical for organizing shifts and ensuring tasks are assigned to qualified employees. To create a role:
1. Go to Planning > Configuration > Roles.
2. Click New, enter the role name, and assign employees or materials to the role.
Shift Templates
Shift templates simplify scheduling by allowing administrators to predefine shift configurations. To create a template:
1. Navigate to Planning > Configuration > Shift Templates.
2. Click New and specify details like Start Hour, Duration, Role, and Project.
3. Save the template for reuse when creating new shifts.
For example, a template for a “Morning Shift” (8 AM to 4 PM, Developer role) can be applied to multiple employees, reducing manual input.
Materials
In addition to employees, Odoo 18 supports scheduling for material resources (e.g., equipment like cranes or vehicles). Administrators can configure materials under Planning > Configuration > Materials, assigning roles to ensure availability aligns with shift schedules.
The Odoo 18 Planning module is a comprehensive tool for scheduling resources, including employees and materials, across various business contexts. It provides a Gantt chart-based interface for visualizing schedules, supports automated shift assignment, and integrates seamlessly with other Odoo apps like Payroll, Sales, and Project. Key functionalities include creating and publishing shifts, copying schedules, and auto-planning based on roles or sales orders. Employees can access their schedules through a personal portal, ensuring transparency and ease of access.
To read more about How to Configure Planning Resources & Roles in Odoo 18, refer to our blog How to Configure Planning Resources & Roles in Odoo 18.