Rock Beats Scissors. Paper Beats Rock. Group Software Beats Paper.

Last week we talked about pen and paper employee scheduling vs. an integrated time clock and scheduling solution.  Most folks we talk to are pretty happy to get rid of their old manual process for scheduling and managing their employees, readily seeing the benefits in time, efficiency, communications and reliability.

So why is it so difficult to give up the party book – that beaten-up binder with the large red letters threatening all manner of horrible things to the soul foolish enough to misplace it?   

Now I will be the first to admit that you will not find a software package that has the flexibility of paper – you can do anything you want with a pencil, but software requires you to be more structured and consistent.  On the surface this often appears to be a less important aspect of an integrated facilities management system. For example, it is easy to see the benefits of a good Point of Sale Application over a cash register, but very often we hear “our book system works just fine” when it comes to scheduling birthday parties and groups.

If this sounds like you, I would encourage you not to underestimate the operational advantages you can gain moving to an integrated, data-driven group scheduling software system.  More than just a calendar, good scheduling packages will integrate with your point of sales system, manage deposits, print tickets, and manage area capacity. It should also interface with your time clock and scheduling software to ensure your parties will be appropriately staffed, allow for open tickets to give your hosts opportunity to upsell during your events, and distribute gratuities equitably.  Finally, a good group management system will tie all these components together with a robust reporting system, where you can compare labor costs to gross revenue, analyze facility capacity utilization, identify peak periods and slow periods, and a host of other reporting metrics that your book simply can’t provide. 

Where we live there used to be a good number of Amish folks nearby.  I would often hear them speak about how well their horse and buggies worked – how they were comfortable with them and happy to just let good enough be good enough.  I also noticed that when they really wanted to get somewhere, they hired someone who drove a car.

Are you ready to get out of the buggy?  Schedule a demo today and let us show you how.

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