How to create a shift pattern as well as adding, editing and copying shifts
- What is Shift Pattern Manager?
- Creating a Shift Pattern
- Creating a shift
- Copying and editing shifts
- Copying days
- Copying and adding Weeks
What is Shift Pattern Manager?
Shift Pattern Manager is used to create shift pattern templates to outline the required staffing levels for each service. This is the start of the rota creation process in RotaMaster.
Each Rota Group/service can have multiple shift patterns and each pattern can contain multiple weeks.
For example, if your service has the same shift requirements week in week out then you will just need a one week rolling rota. However, if your service has working patterns over several weeks, i.e. staff are contracted to work set shifts over a 4 week pattern then you will need to build multiple weeks into your pattern.
The only time you will want to make changes to your Shift Patterns is if you have a permanent change to your service, i.e. adding extra shifts on at the weekend. Any ad hoc changes to shifts will be made in the live rota.
💡Shifts can either be pre-filled if you have staff contracted to work set shifts or be left empty to be filled at a later date by one of our shift allocation methods. Click here for a guide on different allocation methods.
Creating a Shift Pattern
Shift Patterns are built in Rota>Shift Pattern Manager open this screen and select the Rota Group you would like to create a pattern for from the panel on the left of the screen and click Add a Pattern
Give your pattern a name and press Save. Additional weeks can be added later so leave this number as 1
💡Your pattern name can be changed at any point by selecting the pattern and clicking the Edit a Pattern button 
Clicking the arrow next to your Rota Group will show the pattern you have just added
Creating a Shift
To add shifts to your pattern click the arrow next to your pattern name, then next to Week 1 then click on Monday
Clicking Monday will allow you to click the Add a Shift button on the main screen area
In the Add shift box you must fill in the following information:
Duty Station - Physical location of shift, configured in Rota>Rota Settings
Zone - Wider geographical location off the shift, configured in Rota>Rota Settings
Shift Role - What job role you want to work the shift, configured in Rota>Rota Settings
Category - Configured in Rota>Rota Settings
Shift Group - What type of shift it is, configured in Rota>Rota Settings
Start Time
Finish Time
Pay Rate Group - Hourly rate for the shift configured in Finance+>Pay Rates
✋The end time of the shift must be recorded as one minute before the end of the shift. For example, if your shift is due to finish at 12:00 it should read as finishing at 11:59.
You should end up with something like this
If this shift is always going to be worked by the same person then you can add them into the shift by clicking Defaults and selecting their name from the drop down list in the Default Person field, if it doesn't have a staff member contracted to it then leave it blank.
✋Can't find the person you're looking for? Make sure to check they have the correct role and have access to work in this Rota Group.
If that is all the information you want on the shift then press Save and continue creating the rest of your required shifts for that day by repeating the steps above or using our copying tools to save you a bit of time.
For information on the additional fields available on shifts then please click here for a detailed guide on shift fields.
Copying and Editing Shifts
Once you have created your first shift you may find it quicker to copy that shift and then edit it for additional shifts on that day as opposed to creating a whole new shift. To do this highlight the shift you would like to copy and click Copy Shift
You can then choose to copy this shift to the same day or a different day in your shift pattern
Clicking Copy Shift Same Day will duplicate the shift below your original shift.
💡If every day in your shift pattern has the same, or very similar, shift requirements then creating all the shifts needed for Monday and copying that day into the rest of the week will save you time.
Once your copied shift is showing you can edit it by either double clicking on the shift or selecting the shift and clicking Edit Shift
Make any changes necessary to the shift and press Save. Continue following these steps until you have created every shift needed for your Monday.
Multiple shifts can be edited at once by pressing and holding Shift on your keyboard and selecting every shift you want to edit. You can then use the Quick Edit button to make changes to all selected shifts
Quick Add will add the same staff member as the default person in all selected shifts
Quick Edit will allow you to change shift details on all selected shifts
Quick Remove will remove the default person from all selected shifts
Copying Days
Once you have created all the shifts needed for Monday you can then copy these shifts into different days of the week to do this right click on Monday in the left hand panel and click Copy Day
This will allow you to choose what day(s) in the week you would like to copy your shifts to. Select the relevant day(s) and click OK.
✋This will copy every shift in that day to the selected day(s). If you only want to copy some of the shifts to a different day the select the shift(s) and use the Copy Shift icon.
Once you have copied your shifts you can then make any amendments needed to those days by editing or deleting the shifts as required.
Shifts can be deleted by selecting the shift you no longer want and clicking Delete Shift
Complete your first week by using all the tools highlighted in this article. If you have a one week rolling rota, i.e your shift requirements are the same week in week out, then you will only need a one week shift pattern.
If your shift requirements vary then you will need to add multiple weeks to your rota. Remember, you only need multiple weeks if your staff members are contracted into set rolling patterns, such as one weekend on, one off, or if the number of shifts required change on a set weekly basis.
✋If your service runs different shifts or closes on a bank holiday then you will need to configure Special Days into your pattern, Click here for a guide on how to do this.
Copying and Adding Weeks
Additional weeks can be added to your Shift Pattern by either copying an existing week or adding a brand new one.
Copying Weeks
A week can be copied by right clicking on the week you want to copy and clicking Copy Week
This will create an exact copy of your first week, titled Week 2 allowing you to make any relevant changes to staff or shifts.
Adding weeks
A brand new week can be added by right clicking on Week 1 and clicking Add Week
This will create a blank week allowing you to build in your shifts exactly the same way you did for Week 1.
You can create as many weeks as needed for your shift pattern to work. If you are unsure of how many weeks you will need please contact our Support Team for help.