The Human Services Professionals

 

Authors: Damien Ryan and Tony Ryan
Audience: Administrators with 'Shift Administration Level Access' to RosterCoster.com
Key Competencies: Login to RosterCoster.com, log availability for a staff member, log and replace a 'sick leave' shift.

 

PART 1: Login to RosterCoster.com, log your availability for shifts

 

STEP 1: Open your web browser

 

For example, clicking a link that looks like this:

 

 

STEP 2: Visit www.rostercoster.com

 

By typing the text ‘www.RosterCoster.com’ in the address bar as shown below:

 

STEP 3: Enter your login name and password

 

Enter your login name and password in the top right hand corner of the screen as shown below:

 

 

STEP 4: Confirm your personal details

 

Use the following menu item near the top of the screen to change your password to something more convenient, and to confirm personal details such as your phone numbers.

 

Important: don't forget to press SAVE after you have finished changing your password or your personal details!

 

 

Please note that when you click into any of the above ‘User Options’, you will be taken to a different screen to confirm your personal details.

If you need to return to your own ‘shift grid’, simply select ‘My Roster’ as shown below (in the example below, the user has visited the ‘Set Password’ screen, and is about to return to the ‘shift grid’). This is only if you need to see your own shifts, often administrator shifts won't be logged at all.

 

STEP 5: GET HELP (if you need it)

There are help options online, for example, see the ‘Help’ menu item at the top of your screen. However, if you are still unsure then call/email your local contact as seen on the home page at www.rostercoster.com.

Important: to return to your shifts, press the BACK arrow on your web browser (near the top left hand corner of your screen). Don't press the 'X' in the top right hand corner of the screen

STEP 8: Log Off

 

There are a number of ways to do this, but the easiest way is to press the ‘X’ in the top right hand corner of the screen, as shown below:

PART 2: Log availability for another staff member/log and replace a 'sick leave' shift.

 

STEP 1: Login to www.RosterCoster.com

 

The default screen that appears on your screen looks like the following:

 

STEP 2: Go to the 'Availability' Screen

Click 'Availability' at the top of the screen as shown below:  

After a few seconds, your screen should look like the following:

 

 

Please note that the only significant difference between this screen and the previous screen is that you can now see ALL staff names attached to your unit 

If no staff names appear (on the left of screen), try selecting your area from the membership dropdown box.

 

STEP 3: Log availability for a staff member other than yourself

Example: Staff member J. Dalton has just rung you and has asked you to put in her availability for work between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM on Thursday, 23 October 2008.

 

Using the left button of your mouse, ‘paint’ a shift between (approximately) 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM against J. Dalton under the heading 'Thu 23/10', as shown below:

Confirm the details of the availability in the dialogue box that appears as soon as you finish painting as follows:

 

 

Press Apply/Close, after which the software will respond to your entry in two ways:

1. J. Dalton's name will go to the top of the list, ready for being selected for shifts; and

2. The painted line will turn BLUE, for available

STEP 4: Log a staff member in as 'sick'

 

Example: After completing the availability for J Dalton (previous example), staff member B. Beake, who has been rostered on shift (appears as a WHITE line as shown below) rings you, and tells you that he is sick, and cannot do that shift.

 

Click on the shift with your mouse to bring up the now familiar dialogue box (see below). Under the heading 'Type', choose 'OFF Unfilled - Leave: Sick', as shown below:

Click Apply/Close. The shift will now change from WHITE to YELLOW, as shown below.

*Please note that you can only ring people who are AVAILABLE. In the above example, the only person who is available is J. Dalton. 

STEP 5: Replace Sick Leave Shift

 

Using the mouse, hover over J. Dalton's name to bring up her phone details.

Ring J. Dalton to offer the available shift. You may wish to hover over that shift to check the exact start and finish times, as shown below:

 

 

If the staff member accepts the shift, click on J. Dalton's BLUE LINE and change her 'Type' from AVAILABLE to 'ON - Casual'.

 

If a portion of J. Dalton's blue line needs to remain on the grid, (i.e., the shift she is accepting is shorter than her availability segment,)and she wishes to be available before or after the new shift is worked, best practice is to add the new blue lines before changing the old blue line to a working shift. That way her name does not sink out of view when you change the shift type

You can add multiple shifts for one time period, so;

• If a portion of the available time period is to remain, create a new shift or shifts by painting a line in a spare area of her row, and change the times and/or dates to the size of the new available segment (there may be a segment before and a segment after in some cases). Choose Available Type and save. The interim result may look something like this:

• Click on J. Dalton's Original BLUE LINE and change her 'Type' from AVAILABLE to 'ON - Casual'. This will ensure that nobody wastes time ringing J. Dalton, as she is now 'on duty'.

• ADJUST the times in the new 'ON - Casual' shift to match the new shift she will be working. The result may look something like this:

Please Note: if the staff member is not available for the shift, change the 'Type' from AVAILABLE to UNAVAILABLE. Also once the shift has been covered, B. Beake's 'Type' will need to be changed to avoid the shift being filled again.

Click on B. Beake's YELLOW line and change his 'Type' from 'OFF Unfilled: Leave - Sick' to 'OFF Filled: Leave - Sick'. 

 

 

 STEP 6: Log Off

There are a number of ways to do this, but the easiest way is to press the ‘X’ in the top right hand corner of the screen, as shown below:

COLOR LEGEND:

• A BLUE line means that a staff member is AVAILABLE

• A BLACK line means that a staff is UNAVAILABLE

• A WHITE line means that a staff member must turn up for duty

• A YELLOW line means 'Off Unfilled...' FILL THIS SHIFT NOW*

• A GREY line means 'Off Filled...'

PART 3: Frequently Asked Questions.

 

Question

 I have many shifts to fill each day, and have two screens attached to my PC. How can I put 'shifts to be filled' on one screen, and 'availability' on the other screen?

 

Response

• Launch Internet Explorer on each of your two screens.

• Login to www.RosterCoster.com on BOTH screens.

• Click 'Availability' on BOTH screens.

• Decide the layout you are interested in (for example, 'From 11/11/2008', 'View by Day', 'Page Size = 30').

• Apply this layout to BOTH screens. At this point, most of the visible bars on each screen should be BLUE ('Available').

• On the LEFT HAND SCREEN ONLY, click forward to page 2, 3 or 4 etc until you get to the end of the BLUE lines.

• Leave the RIGHT HAND SCREEN as is. The BLUE ('available') lines will already have 'floated' to the top.

Question

It is too slow to go searching for them through the pages at the bottom of my screen for a given staff member, in order to paint that person's shift. Is there an easier way? 

 

Response

Press the 'Add' button near the top of the screen, and then in the dialogue box that pops up on the screen, start typing the person's name in the box marked 'Name'. As you type, the software will bring up the staff name and

  

Question

A staff member has painted that he or she is available for, say, a ten hour shift, and then I offer that person a four hour shift. How do I know of that person wants to be available for the rest of the day. 

 

Response

While you still have the person on the phone, ASK the person whether he or she wants to be available for the rest of the day. If the person says 'yes', then you will need to:

• Click on the 10 hour 'availability' line and convert it into a 6 hour 'availability' line; and THEN

• Paint a NEW into a 4 hour 'shift'