It helps your stress. It also allows you to thoughtfully consider your day in regards to the responsibilities and tasks that must get done. You have an action plan and can move forward, with your energy level, time and availability hopefully matching with the tasks that need to be completed. It gets you prepared for emergencies. A daily schedule, to-do list, and plan help you identify potential pitfalls before they happen.
You can determine the urgent versus important and then see how those new items stack up against your current list.
It lets you evaluate progress. Understand whether or not you are actually meeting your goals, and what you may need to adjust to make them happen the next day or not. A schedule provides a sense of calm for others. This may be the easiest schedule to do and can be used with a printed paper template like this one.
Write the names of your employees or your tasks in that left-hand column, then block off time on the corresponding days for when that action needs to take place, or when that employee needs to work.
Granted, ClickUp is a turn from pen and paper schedules. With ClickUp, you can create Folders for different parts of your work, then create Lists and tasks within those folders for even more specificity.
You may have one folder for the Customer Service team and then within that folder have Lists for:. Within those Lists, you could create a task for each employee.
Then, assign each employee certain hours to work on those areas of your business via these tasks. Alternatively, you could do it the other way and have Lists for each employee, and then assign them certain tasks during a portion of the day. With the Calendar in ClickUp, you can drag and drop different tasks to different slots in the day, automatically setting the start and end times for those tasks, right in your web browser.
With ClickUp, you can provide exact details, files, attachments and more to the task, so everyone is caught up on their work and status before they begin. ClickUp has a lot more capabilities—including multiple task views, assigned comments, time tracking and more to help you with scheduling and communication among your employees and workforce. Pricing: Free, with unlimited users! Asana is a well-known project management software program that also allows you to create schedules and tasks.
Their timeline feature is not quite a calendar and not quite a Gantt chart…but you can list out your tasks and then plot them on the timeline. This has some advantages, but may be lacking for teams that are looking for a clear solution—such as a straightforward calendar. You can create another just for kitchen staff, one for bartenders, one for hosts and hostesses, and one for managers.
All you need to set up permission to access these folders is an email address. Then your employees can view the information via a web browser on any smartphone, tablet, or computer.
As familiar and widespread as Google Drive is at the moment, it only addresses the distribution issue within your scheduling process. It does nothing to alleviate the pain of actually creating the schedule. Trello is another free tool that you can use to make organizing your team easier. Trello is a web-based list-making application that lets you and your employees work collaboratively to get more done.
Like Google Drive, you can create Trello boards for different positions within your business and give each member permission to access that board. And, no matter where you are, Trello stays in sync across all your devices so you can collaborate with your team anywhere, anytime. Within the Trello cards themselves, you can add members, assign labels, make checklists, set up due dates, start a discussion, and much more. Trello, though, is more of a task or to-do list than a full-service employee scheduling tool.
Yes, you can attach documents, spreadsheets, and files to the Trello cards, but this is more of a distribution channel than an app that can actually streamline and simplify the scheduling process. Built for small businesses with a limited number of employees, it has since expanded to serve larger businesses such as charities, hospitals, and museums as well as the food and beverage departments in hotels and restaurants. ABC Roster aims to be efficient and user-friendly while providing you, the manager, with a convenient and intuitive way of creating schedules quickly.
The main features of ABC Roster revolve around an easy-to-use interface that allows you to manage all aspects of scheduling — including employee availability, days off, leave, events, bookings, and more — from one screen. ABC Roster is a free employee scheduling software tool that is simple and focused solely on scheduling your team. Those benefits, though, are also part of what makes the app limited in its scope and usefulness for most businesses.
ABC Roster does nothing but schedule employees. If you need more integration to help you control labor costs , deal with overtime , and monitor paid time off , a more powerful program may be a better choice. Another factor that may affect your decision is that ABC Roster is a native application, meaning that you download it to a phone, tablet, or computer and it runs ONLY on that device.
DRoster is for organizations and businesses that need to schedule unlimited shifts, positions, duties, and employees with one program. And while DRoster does offer a free version of its program, the functionality is limited.
Sling was designed specifically for retail and restaurant business owners. Because of this, Sling simplifies the scheduling process like none of the other free options on this list.
Sling even notifies you of overlapping shifts or double-bookings. Sling Tasks allows you to assign jobs and follow their progress. You can create to-do lists and assign by name, group, location, or position.
You can even set due dates and reminders as completion time approaches. Sling Messages and Newsfeed make communication a breeze. You can communicate directly with employees on Sling and send messages to individuals or groups. You can even share work files, photos, videos, and links when you communicate. Sling is the most powerful restaurant scheduling tool available. It reduces the time it takes to create and manage schedules and helps managers bring their teams together, keep everyone informed, and build better company culture.
What more could you ask for in a free app! For more free resources to help you manage your business better, organize and schedule your team, and track and calculate labor costs, visit GetSling. Employee scheduling made easy Save countless hours each week scheduling your employees while reducing cost of labor.
Pen And Paper VS. Free Employee Scheduling Software Despite decades of technological advancements and the advent of software for just about every conceivable demand, some managers still prefer using pen and paper to make their work schedules.
However, the pen-and-paper process is not without its drawbacks. What about free employee scheduling software? Instantaneously distributes the schedule when you send it out electronically. With software, the schedule is received the moment you send it. Allows you to make necessary adjustments quickly and easily. The updated schedule can be instantly sent out once again after the changes have been made.
Cuts back on the amount of paper your business uses. This reduces costs and helps reduce paper waste, which is better for the environment. Here are some of the variables your employee scheduling software should allow for.
The varying needs of your business for every shift. Perhaps you only need four servers on the floor for a weeknight shift, but you may need 10 servers for a Friday or Saturday night. Employee availability. Some folks may only be able to work at night, while others are only free during the day. You will also need to consider whether each employee is part-time or full-time and see to it that everyone is receiving the appropriate number of shifts.
The positions that each individual is qualified to work. It was first devised by an independent company called BookFresh. The scheduling software was acquired by Square in Square Appointments has an interesting concept — everything in its offer is available for free, but only for one user. This makes it the best free scheduling software on our list for solopreneurs. The sleek, modern user interface makes navigation a breeze whether you are on a mobile device or using the web platform.
However, the app for Android is still under development, and certain features that work on iOS and the web-based platform are missing or not working properly. Square Appointments provides access to a free online scheduling platform through its cloud-based calendar software. Additionally, policies can be enforced: Cancellation and no-show fees can be automated. The calendar also syncs with different devices and integrates with other popular calendar apps. In addition to integrating payment processing with your appointment booking calendar, Square also lets you integrate the booking software with other websites and social media platforms.
This makes its extensive CRM features all the more impressive. You can also set up automated email and SMS reminders for both you and your customers. Square Appointments is part of a large family of Square products. Customer support for all of them works the same way — there is an extensive support center with a chatbot helper and a large selection of support articles. Phone support for the free booking software is available from Monday to Friday.
Overall, Square Appointments is a fantastic program. Calendly is a cloud-based SaaS platform that helps people book, schedule, and organize their meetings. This free online appointment scheduling software is based in Atlanta. From its humble beginnings in , Calendly has grown into a company reshaping how people make appointments. It has solved organizational problems for more than 10 million users in less than ten years.
Its growth in the past couple of years can only be described as spectacular. It has numerous additional features to streamline the scheduling process, as well as more than enough integrations to cover all your other scheduling needs. For example, you can integrate it with PayPal to get paid during your session, or a popular CRM or analytics program to scale your business easier.
This online appointment scheduling software serves its primary purpose as simply as possible: All you have to do is copy-paste a link for your availability, and let Calendly handle the next steps on its own. Furthermore, it has compacted its generous set of features into effective apps for both iOS and Android. You can download these, and do all your scheduling on the go. Calendly is an excellent solution for anyone looking to outsource time-consuming admin tasks. This online appointment scheduling software, even when free , effortlessly merges all your calendars, making it easy to accommodate customers who may not be using the same calendar as you.
It also has automated reminders and follow-up emails. Thanks to its integration with Zapier, you can further automate scheduling once you sign up for a paid plan. You can further embed Calendly in your website and even remove its branding from it, making it look like an integral part of your business. This will certainly boost your credibility. Within the same Professional pricing plan, Calendly integrates two popular payment providers - PayPal and Stripe - to help you get paid for your services much more efficiently.
While this is something we would like to see in the future, it would inevitably change its price. At the moment, it does offer excellent integration with Salesforce, which should cover your CRM needs. Or, you could use Zapier to connect it with your preferred CRM. Calendly has an extensive library of articles that can help you troubleshoot any problems in no time without going back and forth with the team.
Live chat is available from the help center page for quick and knowledgeable guidance for any issue. Having Calendly on your side is like having an excellent virtual assistant. It understands how vital your meetings are and schedules them with ease. Squarespace Scheduling is an Acuity product designed for and integrated into Squarespace. Squarespace Scheduling has three plans, which you can try out by signing up for a free seven-day trial. It offers everything from the previous tier plus two to six calendars, SMS reminders, and bundled deals for clients such as packages, gift certificates, memberships, or subscriptions.
Squarespace Scheduling has a well-organized user interface. Without any developer knowledge, you can change colors, lettering, and logos. The software allows integration with dozens of third-party accounting, email marketing, analytics, CRM, API, video conferencing, web builder , client engagement, and payment solutions. Depending on the plan you choose, you can access one, six, or 36 scheduling calendars.
Squarespace Scheduling lets you set your availability and arrange an unlimited number of appointments of various sorts, from live meetings to phone and video conferences. To facilitate the process even more, the software can seamlessly integrate with popular apps such as iCloud, Google Calendar, Outlook Office , Outlook Exchange, and Outlook. Squarespace has robust online booking functions.
It lets you list an unlimited number of services with time slots and prices. You can collect payments by using popular payment methods like PayPal, Stripe, and Square. Squarespace Scheduling offers SMS and email reminders, payment options, reporting, and calendar integration. This appointment—scheduling service offers a very robust self-help section on the website. Alternatively, you can send the provider an email anytime. Overall, Squarespace Scheduling is a great tool to have.
It offers a fantastic user interface with good online booking options, unlimited monthly appointments, customizable appointment reminders, quality integrations, and much more. Appointy started as an outsourcing company for software solutions. The schedule app bearing the same name has been around since , and it has been tweaked and improved constantly ever since it was introduced.
Appointy offers four plans: Free, Growth, Professional, and Enterprise. Free plan features include monthly appointments, Google Calendar booking, website integration, Zapier and Square Payments support, and automatic reminders. In order to be the best scheduling app, you have to deliver more than just useful features. All of the important booking information can be found on the left panel, where you can access your calendar, view reports, look up customers, and more.
Notifications are in the top right corner. No matter your platform of choice, Appointy has you covered. Although the free version has its share of limits, it is one of the better scheduling apps when it comes to calendar management. You get one calendar with the free version, and multiple staff logins are available only through the Professional and Enterprise plans. However, people can book directly from their Google Calendars with the free version.
The free plan also supports website integration and automatic reminders for both you and your customers, as well as five services that can be booked. Google Calendar booking is very useful, and clients can schedule, cancel, and reschedule appointments easily with all plans. The free version of the appointment scheduling app allows for listing as many as five services and it supports payment processing through Square Payments, but customers cannot make group appointments.
The Growth plan adds that functionality in addition to payment-processing options through Stripe, Paypal, and Authorize. Appointy has several great CRM features. You get free basic client activity reports bookings, rescheduling, cancellations , and you can also request a review after a booking has been made through the client scheduling app.
Premium plans allow you to send customized messages and get more detailed reports on your customers as well as sending them gift cards and bonus offers. Email notifications are free for all plans, but SMS notifications cost extra. Customer support is available around the clock except for Sundays. You can reach customer service agents through email on the basic free plan, or live chat as well if you move to the Growth plan.
The customer-support staff is quick to respond and helpful, though we do wish live chat were an option for all plans. Appointy is a fantastic online scheduling app that offers some very nice features in the free version.
Its excellent app integration through Zapier, easy booking through Google Calendar, and plentiful CRM options are commendable, but we do wish that more plans including the free one supported multiple staff logins. Some businesses may find the five services offered in the free version to be too little. The software was launched in and has since become the online booking system of choice for many organizations around the world. There is also a day trial option for those who wish to try premium features before committing.
The free edition supports two staff logins and appointments per month. It is also limited to online-only customer support. A dropdown menu lets you customize the calendar view. A search bar provides access to customer data and support articles. If you like, you can easily change the default blue-and-white color scheme. The website is mobile optimized, so you can access it on your phone without downloading the app if you prefer.
It also allows users to view an activity log to check out schedule changes, cancellations, and payments. The system integrates seamlessly with Google Calendar, making it a rare free online booking system with Google support. You can create multiple services, and service providers can be linked to some or all of them.
There are integration options for WordPress and Weebly, as well as Paypal for payment processing options, so clients can pay in advance for their bookings. Paid plans also include health insurance compliance features, which are missing from most other scheduling programs. The free program has an automated email and SMS notification system as well as online surveys that can be used to gather information about customer preferences or satisfaction.
There is also an extensive customer database that contains appointment, transaction, and communication history. A two-way messaging system adds a personal touch, allowing real-time communication with customers through the booking platform.
The only thing missing is telephone support, which is reserved for paid plans. Founded in , MeetFox is a free scheduler designed for professionals who want to spend less time on administrative tasks and improve communications with their clients.
MeetFox has three plans, including a free option. The plans are designed around the number of meetings you can schedule. The free version allows you to schedule up to three online, phone, or face-to-face meetings per month. Widely regarded as the best free scheduling tool on the market, MeetFox is extremely intuitive to use.
Mac and Windows users will be happy to hear that they can use the software on any device. Also, the group meetings are limited to 16 people, whichever plan you choose.
MeetFox has various online booking functions. Once the appointment is scheduled, the software will close the slot for that period of time. Moreover, you can set the software to disable last minute bookings. The features available at MeetFox guarantee a great experience for your clients. For example, you can create a questionnaire for each service you provide and figure out what your clients like and dislike, and how you can improve your services. The software integrates with Stripe, which enables fast and secure payments.
MeetFox offers free customer support with each of its pricing plans. The agents are very polite and knowledgeable, and they respond quickly. MeetFox is definitely the best free appointment scheduling app for those who want a simple solution to manage their online meetings. However, the software is not designed for businesses that need a robust platform to manage large-scale meetings. The maximum number of people who can participate in a meeting is 16, meaning that the software is not the best option for webinars.
Back and forth conversations about the best time to meet can be a time consuming process - especially for sales staff. HubSpot is an all-in-one solution for a small sales team. With this scheduler, you can customize every detail, including localizing language, time zones, and number formatting.
It also allows you to add your branding to the schedule and set up time limits and buffers in between meetings. It automatically adds details into its CRM, which is also entirely free and facilitates better customer relationships. Additionally, HubSpot offers many integrations that you can set up with a couple of clicks.
For starters, you can make use of popular financial integrations that can help you manage your invoices and payments. One of these is DocuSign, which assists you with the management of electronic agreements and other resources without requiring you to leave HubSpot. There are more than other integrations that sales professionals rely on to enhance their productivity. The tool integrates seamlessly with many popular calendars, including Gmail, G Suite, Outlook, and Office You can start scheduling meetings as soon as the tool is set up.
The level of simplicity is something both your staff and your customers will most certainly appreciate. By eliminating hours of unnecessary emailing, this tool keeps your calendar full while helping you and your team focus on productivity. It also offers flexibility in how meetings are scheduled and allows you to share group meeting links. Even before the meeting, or, to be more precise, as soon as a client books a meeting, it inserts the relevant information about the client into your CRM.
This helps your sales team prepare for the meeting in advance. It also automatically creates reports for you to evaluate later. While the free version is perfectly sufficient, upgrading to the paid plan offers even more options. In short, this is an affordable tool for further optimizing the entire sales process.
When speaking of online booking, you and your team will have all the options you need with this solution. We've already mentioned the useful CRM sync and automated emails. However, you can further customize every step of the process.
From changing the language, time zone, and number formatting to adding your logo and brand materials to the scheduler, you can incorporate this tool into your processes without any hassle.
You can set up custom forms to gather all the necessary information before the meeting, customize the schedule with various time increments, effortlessly handle no-shows , and set buffer times for your team members to prepare for the next meeting.
All this extends to an unlimited number of meetings. HubSpot tops the list of some of the best CRM for small businesses. It comes with all the essential features a good CRM should have while adding a few extra perks, such as this free scheduler.
With its CRM, you can enjoy the benefits of both email and call tracking, as well as AI-powered insights and detailed customer profiles. It allows for excellent contact management and visually appealing email templates that help you build better relationships with your customers.
Unfortunately, free users can rely solely on its community center for help. Meanwhile, paying customers can get access to agents via live chat, email and by phone if they sign up for the Professional or Enterprise packages. If you are a growing team or using the scheduling software for the first time, having the in-app support is certainly worth the affordable price. All in all, HubSpot is an excellent scheduling app for smaller teams as it has more than enough functionalities without being overwhelming.
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