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Use the Visual Assignment Scheduler

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Use the Visual Assignment Scheduler

[The Visual Assignment Scheduler set to Weekly view, displaying 2 assignments.]One of TSM’s main functions is to aid scheduling of jobs. After a job has been logged, it needs to be slotted into somebody’s schedule for follow-up and completion.

The Visual Scheduler logs assignments not jobs. A common misconception is that a job not represented on the Visual Assignment Scheduler is “lost”. This may simply mean that either that the job does not have an assignment for it of the Visual Scheduler is configured in such a way as to not display that assignment. Assignments not attached to jobs, commonly referred to as “notes” by TSM users can be used to block out periods of unavailability or for planning future jobs.

A detailed description of Visual Scheduler functionality can be found in the TSM Manual.

Adding an Assignment

There are 2 ways to add an Assignment, using the Visual Assignment Scheduler.

Note: Pressing the “i” icon in the bottom right of the module also displays this information.

Adding and assignment in the Visual Scheduler

  1. Open the Visual Assignment Scheduler. You will find it in Action → Visual Scheduler or in the task bar.<
  2. Select the view you require. There are 3 views available from the drop down menu at the top of the module – Weekly, Daily and Employee.<
  3. Position the view at the correct date. It is displayed at the top left of the module and can be entered using the keyboard, or adjusted using the arrow buttons next to it. Note that the date refers to the first day of the week if the view is set to Weekly.<
  4. The Select Users dialogue. Set the Employee view. The top right corner of the module displays the employees whose assignments will be visible in the scheduler. If the list is blank or the employee you are interested in is not visible there, press the looking glass icon to evoke the Select Users dialogue. Double-click on the Employee IDs required to be added to the list. Double-clicking on an ID moves it between lists. Press OK to return to the Visual Scheduler. The amended user list will be displayed in the top right of the Visual Assignment module.

The Employee view operates in 2 modes: all employees unticked – assignments for all employees listed will be displayed and one employee ticked – assignments only for the ticked employee will be displayed.<

  1. Set the Interval (bottom right of the module) – this determines the length of time a cell represents – 5, 10, 15 etc minutes.<
  2. Make sure the filtering options for department, status, etc above the interval dropdown are blank. The new assignment may not display otherwise.<
  3. Press and hold down the mouse in the cell where you want the assignment to begin. The selected cell will be highlighted.<
  4. Drag the highlighted area to the cell where you want the assignment to end.<
  5. Release the left mouse button. The Assignment Maintenance module will appear with the date, employee and start and finish times already.<
  6. Enter the assignment. Note that the assignment does not have to be attached to a job at this or a later point. Assignments with no job number are called “notes” and can be used to block out periods of time on an employee’s calendar. These will not be visible on any job, only here in the Visual Scheduler or in Assignment reports.<
  7. Save the assignment – this will return you to the Visual Scheduler, where you will see the resulting time-span blocked out.<
  8. To adjust or move the assignment, click on it to highlight it. You can drag its edges to adjust the start and finish times and drag and drop it between columns.<
  9. To edit the assignment double-click it or right-click and select “Edit Assignment”.<

This concludes the basic workflow for creating an assignment using the Visual Assignment Scheduler.

Adding an assignment from the Job Centre

Visual Assignment Scheduler and the Job Centre are designed to work together though a drag-and-drop function. In TSM, this feature is unique to these 2 modules.

To create an assignment from the Job Centre, bring up the Visual Scheduler (you can use steps 1-6 above) and bring up the Job Center, which you will find in Action → Job Centre.

Note: The Job Centre needs to be open alongside the Visual Scheduler.

  1. Press and hold down the left mouse button on the job number in the Job Centre. The mouse cursor will change to an icon of a hand holding a piece of paper.<
  2. Drag the icon over to the Job Centre and position it over the timeslot you wish it to begin in.<
  3. Release the mouse button. The Assignment Maintenance screen will come up. Follow steps 10-13 above to enter the assignment.<

Assignment Options

Right-clicking on an assignment in TSM produces a menu with a number of options.

Option Purpose
Assign Employee In the Day/Week view, select the assignment you want to assign an employee to and then select the employee from the Selected Employee list. Press the Assign button at the top of the module or select Assign Employee from the Local Menu and the employee will be assigned to the selected assignment. The assignments left column colour will change to match the colour of the assigned employee.

In Employee view, the employee is automatically assigned to whichever employee's column you drag the assignment to.
Unassign Employee In the Day/Week view, select the assignment you want to unassign the employee from. Press the Unassign button or select Unassign Employee and the employee will be unassigned from the assignment.
Delete Assignment To delete an assignment, select the assignment you want to delete and press the Delete button or select Delete Assignment and the assignment will be deleted.
Acknowledge Assignment An employee can acknowledge that they have seen the assignment by acknowledging it. Select the assignment you want to acknowledge and press the Acknowledge menu option.

The Acknowledged By fields on the assignment will be populated with an Employee ID and date/time.
Complete Assignment An employee can note the completion of an assignment (not the linked job) by completing it. Select the assignment you want to complete and press the Complete Assignment menu option.

The Completed By fields on the assignment will be populated with an Employee ID and date/time.
View Job Select the job linked assignment you want view the assigned job for and either select View job or double click on the assignment. The linked job will be displayed.
Print Job Pops up the print Destination screen.
Edit Assignment If you want to change any details of an assignment, select the assignment in the calendar and select Edit Assignment from the local menu. The Assignment Maintenance Screen will be displayed.
Current Assignments Displays the Current Assignments screen to display all assignments currently in progress. This is also accessible from the Assignments tab of the job card.
Send iCalendar mail to Employee This option is not used at the moment.
Send SMS Send an SMS message to the assignee.
Set Job Status Select the Status Code to assign the linked job and press the Save button to confirm.

Note: This option is only available when the assignment is linked to a job.
Create TimesheetPops up the Time Sheet screen already populated with the relevant date, time, and labour information for this assignment. Once the timesheet is saved, the assignment is marked with a bell icon.

This icon will also appear if the timesheet is created using the button on the Assignments Maintenance module but not if it was added using the button on the Job Card. It is there as a visual aid.
Set Assignment Colour Allows the assignment colour be set to something other than that of the job.
Set Primary Assignment Flags this assignment as the primary one for the job.

Why does an assignment not appear on the visual scheduler ?

Make sure the date setting in the top left actually points to the date where the assignment is expected to appear.

  • The assignment does not exist. Create the assignment and it will appear.
  • The assignment is new and has not appeared in the module yet. Press “Refresh” and the assignment will appear.
  • The Visual Scheduler is configured in such a way as to not display this assignment. This can be due to several reasons: The employee this assignment is for is not in the list of employees at the top right of the screen. The filter settings at the bottom right such as department are set to filter the assignment out. You might want to double-check if the assignment is meant to appear in the weekly, employee or daily view you are on. If the assignment belongs to a job, you can go to the job and click on its assignment tab to verify this. To clear Visual Scheduler filtering settings and display all assignments that can be displayed for the selected time period, follow these steps:
    1. Ensure the correct date is selected in the date field.
    2. Ensure the employee is actually in the list on the right. The simplest way to address this is to add all the employees to it. To do this; click the looking glass icon above the employee list, double-click “ALL” in the Group List and press “OK”.
    3. Set the three dropdowns underneath the Employee list to “All Assignments”, “Both” and “Both”.
    4. Tick the three options underneath the three dropdowns.
    5. Set the Dept., Status, Job Type and Location dropdowns to blank.
    6. Press “Refresh” at the top of the screen.

Any assignments that exist for the selected time period should now appear in the module. If this is not the case, this means that it does not exist.

Assignment colours and notes

The assignment colours can be set by right-clicking the assignment block and selecting the “Set Assignment Colour” option. The main body of the assignment block will change colour from white to the selected shade.

TSM allows some flexibility as to the sort of information is displayed on the assignment block in the Visual Scheduler. These settings are located in Miscellaneous Setup under the Visual Scheduler heading. In particular, the user can select what information is selected in the first line of the assignment block – such as the job number, the customer, etc…