My Two Cents on Being a Duty Planner
Nobody said being a duty planner would be easy. But if you know me, you know I’m always up for a challenge. How hard can it be right? Those were my thoughts when I eagerly took over my senior’s job before he left. He patiently taught me the basics during office hours and left me to try planning for a few months. Looking back, I don't blame him for not teaching me everything there was to know about duty planning.
As commonplace as duty planning is in workplaces, it is equally fluid when it comes down to the execution. There were many scenarios I was not prepared for, but I believe it comes with the job. Creating a roster that fits everyone’s schedule and preference is not the easiest task in the world, but it is not rocket science either. It took me a few tries to be comfortable and proficient in planning the duties but still I made grave errors occasionally.
When I ran into issues, I was fortunate to have competent colleagues who could advise me on the best course of action. Sometimes I had to present the case before my bosses to get them to intervene; other times, I managed to resolve it on my own.
With almost 20 months of experience when it comes to planning, I can confidently say that I have seen it all. From people seeking medical leave to skip duties, to asking me what to say to the medical officer to get excused from duties, or even asking me to tamper with the points received, I have managed to steer away from negative influences and kept a tight grip on the system.
Observing my senior's workflow taught me that being a good cop is not the answer. The planner needs to be empathetic, yet at the same time strict and composed enough to reason with unsatisfactory remarks made by others. He needs to stand by his decisions made when creating the roster. For that, I can even dare say that I am more direct and less forgiving than my senior when it comes to duty planning.
Being unbiased is another quality I had to possess to produce consistent and quality work. I ensured those who were skimming on their responsibilities did their duties on time and equally allocated the rest. This applied to everyone, not just my colleagues whom I interacted with daily. Of course, I did my fair share of duties during my time in office as well.
It takes two to tango. And with any duty system, this was no different. To throw in some statistics, there are almost a 100 people available in the system every month. A day of duty is split between a day and night shift, though the hours are not even. Out of the 100, less than 30% of the people are eligible for night shift. In the pool of people for day shift, some has temporary excuses as well. Evidently, the scale is clearly not in favor of night duty, and as the duty planner, I always have work cut out for me.
From chasing people to renew their excuses (if applicable) to reminding them to update their availabilities for the upcoming month, I needed to have constant communication with everyone in the system. To make it easier for me to stay on top of things, certain responsible individuals have always been responsive and active in this information exchange. However, it is the few bad apples which really ruins my day sometimes.
Despite the constant reminders given, they still make my life difficult by not keeping me in the loop for their excuses, and not being responsible enough to renew it before the expiration date. I know my job is not to be judge, jury and executioner (it is just the last role), but I really cannot shake the feeling that these bad apples are gaming the system. Maybe they are, faking their conditions to get an excuse. Maybe they are not, and really have troubling social anxiety, insomnia, etc., which prevents them from carrying out their duties.
Nevertheless, the roster needed to be created every month. So, every month on a Sunday I would carve out a few hours to process their responses and plan the roster (much easier when I have multiple monitors). And as time progressed, I got better at it. But there was still one significant issue: the lack of manpower for the night shift. Not only was it unattractive, but it was also mentally taxing for the person as well. A good night’s rest is almost never guaranteed if you are doing a night shift. And as such, many people who were eligible for night shift started getting their excuse. With the dwindling number, it would mean each person would have to do more night shift per month, which makes night shift even more unattractive. This vicious cycle would continue, and it was not fair for the remaining population. Although I am not eligible for night shift, as the duty planner I can empathize with their concerns and laments.
As such I proposed a change in the number of hours for day and night shift respectively (which was implemented). By reversing the allocation of hours, such that the day shift lasts longer than the night shift, I hope to slow down the trend and even reverse it. Sadly, I would not be around to witness the effects of the change, so I can only hope for the best.
And for that, duty planning is the only thing I am truly proud of, out of the myriad of tasks that comes with my day job. I took a functional system and made it better. Not by leaps and bounds, but by a tad bit. And for that, I am satisfied and content. I am now able to sleep soundly at night knowing that I left the duty system better than I had found it.
