4 Ways You Can Use Text Message Scheduling to Manage Employees

One of the biggest challenges and biggest expenses in running a business is managing the people within it. Wages make up a big part of expenses, and sick days and missed shifts not only cause headaches, but cost even more money. Text message scheduling is a great way to automate some parts of the employee management process, so that managers can focus on keeping the most expensive and important part of the business healthy and happy! Here are four text message scheduling techniques that apply to any business with employees.

Distributing rosters

Let your employees know their shifts as soon as rosters are completed with text message scheduling. You can input the data by simply copy-pasting the shift times in the appropriate format into a text message for your employees. A delivery report means that you have hard copy proof that your employees were notified of their shifts!

Even when absenteeism is not an issue, scheduled text messages informing employees of rosters eliminates confusion and cuts down on paper usage -- much more appropriate in the modern world.

Staff meeting notices

Text message scheduling to a group using web based software is extremely quick and extremely cost-effective -- much more so than ringing employees individually to let them know about an upcoming meeting. The cost for good text message scheduling will usually be around 10p per message, and you can request employees reply to confirm that they are attending. This strategy helps ensure everyone gets the message at minimal time and cost.

Social club events

Send out a reminder about Friday drinks, Monday lunchtime's trivia event, or an upcoming office birthday party using text messaging. Even people who aren’t working (and so won’t be checking their work e-mails or noticeboards) will get the message, and won’t miss out on the event.

Memos

Use this technique carefully; text message scheduling for memos sounds like a great idea for ensuring blanket coverage for management's message, but the practicalities can be a little restrictive. You only have 160 characters to get your message out, or else a second message will be sent. Sending two messages is unprofessional (and more than a little annoying for the recipient!). This strategy can be useful as a reminder for policies that everybody has previously discussed, but is rarely a good format to deliver more extensive new information.