“If I move mine to Wednesday, no one covers Friday.” Lena pulled a blue magnet from the wall.
The work plan took up most of the board. It had seven names and five days. Red marks showed client calls. Gray marks showed time people couldn't work.
Some gray marks were for school pickup. Some were for care for an older parent. Each gray mark meant someone at home was part of the work plan too.
The company had let people pick their own hours. They could care for family as long as they got their work done.
Now the holes were hard to miss. One client had to wait because the one worker who knew the job was off. Two people went to the same meeting because they hadn't talked first.
Friday was worse. The same few people kept taking the calls and fixing the handoffs.
The boss asked the team to move each blue magnet to Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Those would be the three days when all seven people came in.
The red marks lined up with names. Each call had a person near it. Each handoff had two people in the room.
Then the gray marks hit the blue ones.
“That fixes Friday,” Lena said. “It breaks my school pickup on Tuesday.”
A man at the end of the table tapped his own mark. He and his sister took turns caring for their mom. A set work plan would change her week too.
Three shared days would make work easier to plan. Talks could happen fast. New staff could learn in the same room. Clients would know when the team was there.
The same three days would take away some of the time people used to care for those at home.
The boss looked at the board. No one wanted clients to wait. No one wanted the same workers stuck with Friday. No one wanted a job to push care at home out of the way.
Lena put her magnet back where it began. The boss had to pick what should bend. The work plan, or the people on it.