Home form

When you open ESP, the Home form will be displayed with the PLACES panel open on the left side to the Main group, as shown.

To quickly return Home from any other form select Home on the Main group, click on the Home icon on the toolbar, or choose the menu option FORM | HOME.

Purpose of the Home form

The Home form is designed to help you prepare your weekly schedule and analyze how well your data has been setup.

Form fields

This form is divided into two tabbed screens:

1. To-do list
2. Summary screen

To-do list

The To-do list displays the tasks that you perform each week while preparing your schedule. You can access two different lists:

1. Initial setup tasks to be performed
2. Schedule tasks to be performed

You can switch between these lists from the menu option VIEW.

Initial setup tasks to be performed

When you create a new data set, ESP opens to this initial task list, which includes the steps that you follow to set up ESP to schedule effectively for your location. To begin select the Start button beside the first task, which will move you directly to that form. Review the form and make any changes necessary for your location, then return to the Home form and mark the task complete before moving onto the next step.

Remember, you may return to the Home form from any other form by selecting the Home icon on the toolbar or from the menu option FORM | HOME.

You only need to follow this list when you set up ESP for the first time, once you have finished the initial set up, this list will be closed. To open this list select the menu option VIEW | INITIAL TASKS LIST.

The steps on the initial task list are described in detail in chapter 2 of the Reference Manual. The manual is stored on your computer as part of ESP's installation package. You can quickly access the manual by choosing the computer's START button (in the bottom left of your screen) and then navigate from START to ALL PROGRAMS | THOUGHTWORKS | ESP FOR WINDOWS.

Schedule tasks to be performed

The list of Schedule tasks to be performed displays the information you review each week while preparing your schedule. After you have setup ESP and closed the Initial task list, in future when you open ESP the Home form will open to the list of Schedule tasks to be performed.

This list will help you:

• Stay organized. Simply follow the tasks in order to produce a complete, accurate schedule.
• Never miss a task. By checking off each task when complete you can be sure that you have not missed any steps required to create an accurate schedule.
• Remain focused. By following the tasks in order and checking them off when complete, you can return to the schedule after an interruption and continue where you left off.

Each week you begin a new schedule by selecting the toolbar option, Start a new schedule. This opens a window where you tell ESP if the new schedule follows the previous one or if it begins on a different day. Once you press the OK button ESP stores the previous schedule on file and prepares all the forms for the new schedule.

You are now ready to begin following the steps on the To-do list. The tasks are divided into two sections:

1. tasks that are performed before generating the schedule
2. tasks that are performed after the schedule has been generated.

When creating your weekly schedule, we recommend that you follow the steps in order and mark them as complete as you go. However, you can also access all the forms from the PLACES panel or by selecting FORM on the menu and navigating to the correct form.

Following is a brief description of each task; for a more detailed description see Weekly Procedures.

Tasks performed before generating a schedule

The tasks in the section labeled Before scheduling assist you in updating your ESP data so that you produce as accurate a schedule as possible. It's important, therefore, that you take the time before you generate your schedule to follow these steps.

1. Review hours of operation: Review this chart for changes; make sure you take any holidays or special events into consideration.
2. Enter last week’s volume: Manually enter last week's volume, or verify that the values have transferred accurately from your POS.
3. Make volume projection: Create a new volume projection for the upcoming schedule. It can be based on sales or transactions as defined on the PREFERENCES form.
4. Perform employee time-off requests: Update your employees' information for the next schedule. Enter time-off requests, changes to availabilities, and station qualifications.
5. Review employee fixed shifts: This option takes you to the fixed shift form, where you can review and modify the fixed shifts listed and add any new fixed shifts that are required for the current schedule.
6. Generate shifts: Create all the shifts for the week based on the information entered in the above steps.

Tasks performed after generating your schedule

The tasks in the section labeled After scheduling take you from reviewing the schedule on-screen to backing up your ESP data after you post the schedule.

1. Review and edit schedule: Review each day of the schedule for accuracy and make required changes on screen before you print and post the schedule.
2. Preview reports: Preview the reports on screen before printing them.
3. Backup scheduling data: Backup your ESP data file to a USB drive. This step only takes a minute but will ensure that your data is backed up and then store it in a safe location.

Summary screen

The Summary screen displays information about the current schedule. The form is divided into two sections.

The top section contains information that can help you determine how well your data has been set up. It can also help identify improvements that can be made to your data. For example, if you are adding or deleting many shifts each week it may be a good indication that the Positioning guides need adjusting.

• Schedule initialized: the date and time that the schedule was started
• Projection created: the date and time that the volume was projected for the schedule
• Schedule generated: the date and time that the shifts were generated for the schedule
• Last modification: the date and time that the schedule was last edited
• Schedule last printed: the date and time that the schedule was last printed
• Minutes to generate: the number of minutes ESP took to generate the schedule
• Schedules on file: the number of schedules on file; includes the current schedule
• Schedule warnings: the number of warnings that the schedule produced
• Violations: the number of violations in the schedule
• Editing time: the number of minutes the manager spent editing the schedule
• Shifts added: the number of shifts that were added during editing
• Shifts deleted: the number of shifts that were removed during editing
• Shifts modified: the number of shifts that were changed during editing
• Unassigned shifts: the number of shifts on the schedule that were left unfilled.

The bottom section is divided into two tabbed screens: Warnings and Log.

The Warnings section displays any problems ESP has identified with the schedule; if there are no problems this section will be blank. Additionally, a yellow warning symbol will appear on the Summary tab if there are problems with the schedule. You should promptly review any warnings as the list identifies corrections that need to be made or problems requiring consideration before the schedule is complete. You can double-click on any warning to go directly to the form that is causing the problem. As soon as a problem is correct, it is removed from the Warnings list.

The Log section displays major events of the schedule.

Users can easily review:

• Schedule creation events - create, generate, and edit
• Employee hire/release events
• Projected sales generation and edit
• XML import and export

Features and toolbar options

Places panel

The Places panel appears in the left side bar and provides access to all of the forms used in ESP. ESP's forms have been divided into groups, selecting a group name will expand or contract that group to display or hide its list of forms. You can move to any form in a group by selecting it from the list.

If you have a small monitor you may hide the Places panel to provide more viewing area for the form. To hide it, click on the thumbtack in the top right corner of the panel and then move your mouse away from the panel. The panel will move off the screen and a small tab labeled Places will appear on the left side of the screen; use this tab to display the panel again.

The date of the schedule you are viewing appears on the right side of the title bar on all forms.

Toolbar options

ESP's toolbar is divided into two areas.

1. Left side

The left side includes options that appear on all forms. When you receive ESP the options on this side will include,

    returns you to the Home form from anywhere in the program, and

opens a window with basic Help and Support about the form you are viewing with a link to more detailed information.

2. Right side

The options on the right side of the toolbar are relevant to the form that you are viewing. This side will be different on each form and cannot be changed.

The toolbar options on the Home form are:

• Start a new schedule: use this option each week to begin a new schedule.
• Review past schedule: use this option to open a previous schedule that has been stored on file.
• Go to current schedule: use this option when you are viewing a past schedule to easily switch back to the current week.

Menu options

ESP's menu provides additional features; all forms will display: file, edit, form, tools, and help. Some options under each feature are only active when you are viewing certain forms. For example, the PRINT options under FILE are active only when you can print the form that is open.

Additional choices will appear that relate directly to the form you are viewing. For example, the SCHEDULE option is active when the Home form is open and offers an alternative way to move between the current and past schedules as well as start a new schedule.