Enable and configure shift trades

To configure shift trading for the management unit, perform the following steps:

1. Click Admin.
2. Under Workforce Management, click Management Units.
3. In the Management Units page, do one of the following:
   • Add a new management unit.
   • Open an existing management unit.
4. Click the Shift Trades tab. 
5. To allow agents to trade shifts, enable the Enable Shift Trading toggle. You can access the other fields only when you turn on this toggle.
6. To allow the system to approve shift trades that meet configured constraints automatically, enable the Enable Automatic Review toggle. 
7. To allow agents to request a shift trade with a specific individual, enable the Enable Direct Trade Requests toggle.
   Note: Agents cannot see other agents’ schedules. However, they can request a trade with a specific agent. The request recipient receives a notification of the trade offer in their inbox. Agents can also choose not to receive direct trade offers. For more information, see Navigate the Shift Trades panel.
8. In the Minimum Time Until Either Traded Shift Starts field, use the up and down arrows in the Days and Hours fields to define the minimum shift start time between the traded shifts. The duration you select decides the minimum time until either of the traded shifts start. 
9. In the Minimum Time Between Shifts field, use the up and down arrows in the Hours and Minutes fields to define the minimum time between the shifts. The duration you select sets the minimum required time between shifts. This setting works alongside the Shift Trade Rule that addresses minimum time between shifts violations. 
10. In the Maximum Trade Span Weeks field, use the up and down arrows to define the maximum number of weeks between the earliest and latest date in a trade. When you create a trade, the span between the dates must not exceed the range set by either the published schedule or the Maximum Trade Span Weeks—whichever comes first.
11. In the Maximum Trades per Agent per Week field, use the up and down arrows to set the number of times an agent can start a trade or drop a shift each week. Maximum trades can be set up to 100.
12. In the Agent Matching Criteria Requirements section, select the conditions that apply for shift trades.  
13. In the Shift Trade Rules table, indicate whether you want to set a rule condition to Allow, Disallow, or Admin Review. If you enable the Enable Automatic review toggle, then allow refers to automatic approval of the rule. If you do not enable the toggle, then allow also refers to administrator review.

Under Minimum Time Until Either Traded Shift Starts, use the arrows to define the number of hours before either shift is eligible for trade. Depending on the number set here, agents cannot create trade requests where the first possible trade occurs less than the number of hours in the future. For example, if the minimum is 24 hours, agents cannot request trades for the current shift. Agents can request trades for a shift 24 hours from now.

This constraint gives agents and administrators proper warning about a change to the schedule that results from a schedule trade. 

The Minimum Time Between Shifts rule ensures that agents have enough rest time between shifts after a trade. When active, the rule applies to both single-week and multi-week trades. The system automatically reviews the rule if the shift is not too close to the start or end of the schedule, based on the values that you configure in the Minimum Time Between Shifts field. If the shift is too close to the schedule boundaries, then the system flags the trade for admin review. 

Use the Maximum Trade Span Weeks field in the Shift Trades tab of the Management Units page to control how far trades can extend across weeks in each management unit.

Set the number of times an agent can initiate a trade or drop a shift each week.

Optionally select whether agents can only trade shifts with agents in the same queue membership, language, skills, or (new regions only) the ability to handle the same planning group). Once set, agents and administrators cannot override the criteria to create requests with non-matching agents. Under Agent Matching Criteria Requirements, choose any combination of the following:

• Agents must have the same queue memberships. The agents must belong to the same queue. If agents are in different queues, they do not appear in the same schedule. 
• Agents must have the same languages. Two agents can trade shifts only if they have the same language skills. 
• Agents must have the same skills. Two agents can trade shifts only if they have the same ACD skills. 
• Agents must be able to handle the same planning group. Two agents can trade shifts only if they are able to handle the same planning group. This criteria is based on the composition of the planning group, which can include one or more queues, languages, and skills.

For the following constraints, select whether you allow, do not allow, or require administrator review:

Activity category rules determine what to do with each activity type when a shift trade occurs between agents. Select an action for each activity type. For example, you can choose to keep breaks and meals with a schedule, or you can choose to prevent agents from trading time-off activities. You can choose to replace an activity by another activity, for example, replace a training activity on the first agents schedule with on-queue for the agent receiving the trade.

To specify these rules, perform the following steps:

1. Under Activity Category Trade Rules, locate the activity category you want to configure.
   Note: External activity codes, activities created via Activity Plans, Coaching, and Learning Modules, are not included in the rules. Inclusion can result in employees being unable to trade shifts containing an external activity code, such as Activity Plans, Coaching, and Learning Modules. External activity codes, activities created via API, and third-party services and solutions that provide an external ID, are not included in the rules. Inclusion can result in employees being unable to trade shifts containing an external activity code, such as Activity Plans, Coaching, and Learning Modules.
2. Next to the activity, select one of the following actions:
   • Do not allow trade: An agent cannot trade any shift that includes this activity.
   • Keep with Schedule: The activity given by one agent applies to the schedule received by the other agent.
   • Replace: The activity given by one agent does not apply to the schedule received by the other agent. Instead, the time range receives a selected activity.
   • Replace with: If you select Replace, then choose the activity that replaces the previous activity.
3. Repeat step 2 for each additional activity.