Housekeeping Operations - Task Assignment

Once you generate the tasks for the day, they are initially 'Unassigned', i.e. they are not assigned to a specific person or team. You have the option to manually assign them or use the Auto-assign.

Manual assignment

• Open the screen with housekeeping tasks, from the navigation menu select Housekeeping Assistant->Housekeeping tasks;
• Click on the pencil icon next to each task and assign a housekeeper to complete it. If you have a pre-defined list of housekeepers, the system will suggest selecting from those who are on shift, otherwise simply enter the name of the respective housekeeper or team.

You can also assign multiple tasks at once:

• From the list, mark the tasks;
• Select the "pencil" icon button  and choose one of the housekeepers who are on shift. If you don't have a defined list of housekeepers, simply enter the name of the respective employee and confirm.
• From the list, mark the tasks;
• Select the "person" icon button and choose one of the housekeepers who are on shift. If you do not have a defined list of housekeepers, simply type the name of the employee and confirm.

Auto-assign

Obviously, assigning tasks one by one can be quite time-consuming, thus we have added an option for Auto-assignment.

You can choose among how many housekeepers the tasks to be distributed.

Assignment Algorithms

There are two algorithms which will determine how will the tasks be assigned among the housekeepers:

• Optimal: This is an algorithm letting you take an advantage of the equal assignment of tasks among housekeepers, however, sometimes they may receive tasks in different housekeeping sectors.
• Stable Order: This is an older algorithm prioritizing the order of housekeeping sectors, however, sometimes housekeepers are not equally assigned tasks.

Test both methods of distribution and select the more suitable for you.

You can choose which of the methods to be the default one by going to Settings-> All Settings-> Housekeeping AssistantHousekeeping Credits-> Housekeeping task assignment algorithm field.

Here is a little more info on how the automated task distribution works:

• The unassigned tasks are ordered by room number following the room sorting order set by you. If the rooms have Housekeeping Sectors assigned - the tasks will be distributed by sectors.
• When distributing the tasks, the system aims at evenly distributing the workload among the given number of housekeepers while accounting for the set number of credits.
• If there is more than one task for a room, all of these tasks are given to one and the same housekeeper.

Automatic Assignment with Housekeeper List

• From the list, mark the tasks you want to be assigned automatically. If these are all tasks, use the button at the top of the list to select them all at once;
• Select the "Auto Assign" button;
• In the "Housekeepers" field, the system will automatically select all housekeepers who are marked as on shift. You have the option to exclude a housekeeper if you deem it unnecessary for the selected tasks to be distributed among all employees on shift;
• If needed, change the assignment algorithm and confirm.

The system will use the housekeepers you selected and generate a list of tasks assigned to each employee.

Automatic Assignment without Housekeeper List

If you have not defined a list of housekeepers, you can still use the automatic assignment option. In this case, follow these steps:

• From the list, mark the tasks you want to be assigned;
• Select the "Auto Assign" button and in the window click on the "Anonymous" option;
• Enter the number of housekeepers among whom you want the tasks to be distributed;
• If needed, change the assignment algorithm and confirm.

The system will use the housekeeper number given by you to distribute the tasks and create a list of tasks for each of these housekeepers. The system will also assign a consecutive number to each list: 1, 2, 3, etc. You can afterwards change the list number to a name of a housekeeper. Please note, this is simply swapping a number with a text (name). These are not real users in Clock PMS+ and you will not get a list of employees.