Get started with Planning
Start Planning, add your people, roles and places, plan your first week and publish it - in about fifteen minutes.
Ellibo Planning is where you plan who works when: shifts for your team, and for things you plan like people - vans, rooms and machines. You plan on one board, publish, and each person sees their own shifts on their phone.
1. Start Planning
Open Planning from the apps menu. The business owner starts it once; every new business gets a 14-day trial of every feature, with no card. You become the first Admin and the first planned person (you can take yourself off the plan later). Home then shows a short Set up Planning list with the next steps.
2. Name your roles and places
- Roles are the jobs on the floor: Cashier, Chef, Server, Technician, Nurse. Planning starts you with "Team member" and "Supervisor" - change them or click Add role in People & set-up > Roles.
- Places are where people work: a shop, a kitchen, a site. Go to People & set-up > Places and click Add place. If you use Ellibo POS or Ellibo HR, Add from your POS shops or Add from HR locations makes them for you.
3. Add the people you plan
In People & set-up > People & resources, click Add person. Only the name is needed. Add their email so they get their shifts, their main role, their usual place and their contract hours a week if you want a warning when they go over. A person does not need a sign-in: they can get their shifts by email.
Vans, rooms and machines are added with Add resource. Resources, and sign-ins that never get shifts, are free; only people who get shifts count for your plan.
4. Make your usual shifts
In People & set-up > Shift templates, click Add template for the shifts you use most, such as "Morning 07:00 to 15:00, Cashier". You can then pick or drag them instead of typing times. See Shift templates and repeats.
5. Plan your first week
Open the Planning board in Week view and click a day in a person's row (or + Shift) to add a shift. Drag shifts to move them. Everything you add is a draft: nobody sees it yet. See The planning board.
6. Publish
Click Publish on the board, check the summary and publish. Each person is told about their own new and changed shifts, and the shifts show in My shifts. See Publish and tell your team.
Next steps
- Let people take open shifts and switch: Open shifts and switching.
- Set your rest and hours rules: Rules and warnings.
- Invite planners and employees: Planning users and roles.