Microsoft StaffHub Helps Companies Organise Shift And Deskless Workers In The Cloud

Microsoft says its StaffHub application will make it easier for organisations with significant numbers of ‘deskless’ workers, such as bars and restaurants, to disperse information to staff and organise shifts.

StaffHub is available as a public preview on iOS, Android and on the web for Office 365 subscribers and is one of a plethora of Office announcements made by Microsoft at its Ignite conference in Atlanta.

“There are hundreds of millions of deskless workers around the world working in hotels, restaurants, retail stores, on construction sites and in manufacturing and other service-related industries,” said the company.

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Microsoft StaffHub

“These team members are often the public face of the company—interacting with customers and making things happen. While critical to the company, deskless workers typically don’t have a dedicated work space or computer. This makes it difficult to get the information they need for their job. Microsoft StaffHub makes this all easier.”

Using the app, managers can easily see and edit a team schedule via a calendar with colour-coded cells. Shifts can be edited and ‘published’, an action which pushes the updated calendar to employees via a notification.

Workers can request changes and see who is also working at the same time as them. This means they can make plans or request a shift swap. Such requests are reviewed by the manager, who can also add notes to any shift.

Training manuals and other documents can also be sent via the app so staff are always up to date, even when on their feet.

Microsoft has also detailed a series of security and productivity enhancements for its cloud-based office suite, including the news that Outlook for iOS and Android will be fully powered by the Microsoft cloud.

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