Role
Who must be present
Support agents, nurses, dispatchers, supervisors, or any other role that owns the work.
Staffing requirements
Set staffing requirements.See every coverage gap early.
Define how many people each role, activity, or workstream needs through the day. Add required skills, use manual or forecast-driven values, and compare the plan with the people already scheduled.
Work
Role, activity, or workstream
Time
15, 30, or 60-minute planning
People
Required and scheduled FTE
Eligibility
Skills and minimum levels
One planning model
Define the need at the level where the work happens
A single headcount total is rarely enough. Soon lets planners build a clear hierarchy, then roll the work up without counting it twice.
Activity
What they must cover
Phone, email, front desk, packing, training, incidents, or another activity inside the role.
Workstream
Where the demand comes from
A queue, language, location, customer, service line, or another stream with its own demand and skills.
Required versus scheduled
A daily total can look fine while an interval is short
Soon compares scheduled coverage with required coverage at the same planning interval. Short periods stay red, covered periods stay clear, and surplus coverage remains visible instead of cancelling out a shortage somewhere else.
- See Required, Scheduled, Short, and Over FTE-hours separately.
- Read the exact staffing gap for each interval and line of work.
- Focus on one role, activity, or workstream without losing the complete plan.
Qualified coverage
Headcount is not coverage when the skills do not match
Add the skills and minimum levels that make a person eligible. A French queue can require French at B2. A clinic can require a current qualification. Only people who meet the requirement count toward that coverage line.
Shared workstreams can use the same qualified pool without pretending one person adds several full people. Dedicated workstreams reserve capacity when the work must stay separate.
Flexible sources
Use the right source for each kind of work
Fixed posts, known routines, and demand-led queues do not need the same setup. Keep them together without forcing them through one calculation.
Manual requirements
Draw or enter the exact number of people needed for known operating patterns, fixed posts, opening hours, and planned work.
Forecast requirements
Connect forecast output for demand-led work. When the forecast changes, the required staffing follows the new demand.
Derived totals
Let parent roles and activities total the work below them, so the complete requirement stays consistent without duplicate entry.
From need to plan
Four steps from an empty board to a staffing plan
01
Define the work
Start with a role, activity, or workstream. Keep the requirement at the level where coverage decisions happen.
02
Set people and time
Enter the required FTE for each time range, or draw the requirement directly on the timeline.
03
Add skills and a source
Require qualifications where they matter, then use manual values or connect a staffing forecast.
04
Check the staffing gap
Compare required and scheduled coverage by interval, review exceptions, then save the plan.
Follow the complete process in the staffing requirements setup guide, or use the step-by-step Help Center article while you work in Soon.
Built for operations
One staffing model for different kinds of demand
Customer support
Plan phone, chat, email, and back-office work by language, queue, skill, and interval.
Healthcare operations
Protect role and qualification coverage while demand, breaks, leave, and handoffs change through the day.
Logistics and service desks
Set minimum coverage for dispatch, incidents, field work, and fixed operational posts.
Front-of-house teams
Match staffing to opening hours, service peaks, locations, activities, and required responsibilities.
Planning guides
Continue from requirements to forecast and coverage
Set staffing requirements
A practical setup process for roles, activities, workstreams, skills, sources, and time ranges.
Read the guide →
Forecast staffing needs
Convert demand, handling time, occupancy, shrinkage, and service targets into required staffing.
Read the guide →
Build a shift coverage plan
Turn requirements into a coverage plan with scheduled people, backup rules, and clear gap actions.
Read the guide →
Questions
Staffing requirements questions
- What are staffing requirements?
- Staffing requirements state how many people are needed, when they are needed, what work they must cover, and which skills or qualifications they must have. The schedule assigns real people against those requirements.
- Can staffing requirements change during the day?
- Yes. Requirements can vary by planning interval, so a team can need six people at 09:00, nine at 11:00, and four later in the day. Soon keeps each change visible on one timeline.
- Can Soon use forecast-driven staffing requirements?
- Yes. Forecast output can supply interval requirements for demand-led work. Planners can review the result with the same roles, activities, workstreams, skills, and coverage view used for manual requirements.
- How does Soon show understaffing and overstaffing?
- Soon compares scheduled coverage with required coverage at the same interval. The coverage view marks short, covered, and overstaffed periods and keeps daily FTE-hour totals separate so one surplus does not hide a shortage elsewhere.
- Can staffing requirements include skills?
- Yes. A requirement can state which skills and minimum levels qualify a person to count toward coverage. This separates total headcount from qualified coverage.
- How do staffing requirements connect to scheduling?
- Requirements define the demand side of the plan. Shift scheduling and intraday scheduling assign available, qualified people to meet it while respecting hours, leave, rest, and other scheduling rules.
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