Duty roster challenges in case of limited number of staff members
If you assign many (almost all) staff members at a time aiming to reduce workload per individual staff, then they will have to work for the whole day and become exhausted due to working for a long duration of time. This will lead to low efficiency especially in late hours.
But also, if you distribute them into different shifts (AM, PM, NIGHT) they will be few in numbers per shift hence high workload per person and this will affect efficiency.
Which one is the best option?
Is there any other alternative(s) apart from the two mentioned above?
Comments
Hi @Musa Shija ,
I think..., in times where we have limited resources, it best to work smarter with the available resources and there are factors we have to consider in preparation for the roster like the workload, staff competence and expected lab output.
I suggest that you try both options and evaluate what works best for your lab. On week one, arrange all staff to work for the whole day and week two distribute staff in shifts then evaluate the output of both arrangements. Additionally consider factors that may be compromised during these shifts such as staff efficiency and laboratory output.
All the best!!
Hello @Musa Shija ,
I think putting staff at one section to finish the workload will create a backlog at each of the other stations, in simple terms we may have issues of Increased TAT in addition to fatigue and burn outs.
@Musa Shija Try and look at the tasks that may be administrative that non-technical staff can assist with and see if that will help. We find often when we analyze the actual work that is being done, is not always the work that is productive.
You could ask each staff member to write down what they do and how much time it is taking and then review that to see if you can shift some of the tasks to others.
Look if people are being interrupted while they work e.g do they need to phone out results for instance mid-way in processing samples.
It may be painful for you to change the processes but in the end it will be worth it. I like Salome suggestion to try it out.
All the best, just keep testing the changes.