5 Best Crew Scheduling Apps & Software (In-Depth Look)

5 Best Crew Scheduling Apps & Software

Construction businesses that use outdated methods (e.g., Excel spreadsheets) to manage scheduling are all too familiar with the frustration of manually coordinating with crews via text or call. This is extremely inefficient and hurts your bottom line.  

To help you avoid these issues, we created Buddy Punch — a crew management app that is intuitive and easy to use to aid in your business optimization.

As one of our customers mentioned in their review, “The software is straightforward and well-run, and was easily understood by our team of 55+ non-technical staff of all ages.”

In this article, we’ll provide an in-depth overview of how our product works. Following that, we’ll list four other app options so you can find the right crew planning app for your business.

Best Crew Scheduling Apps & Software

  1. Buddy Punch
  2. Connecteam
  3. Sling 
  4. CrewTracks
  5. When I Work  

1. Buddy Punch

In this section, we’ll review our key scheduling & roster features. We’ll show you how easy it is to:

Key Scheduling Features and Functionality

Create a schedule in just a few easy steps

1. The first step to creating a schedule is clicking on an open area in the calendar:

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2. When you click on an open area, it brings up a shift creation pop up. Per the below image, you can enter relevant scheduling information such as:

  • The crew member to whom the employee shift will be assigned to (e.g., Dylan Johnson)
  • On which dates (e.g., Monday and Tuesday from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM)
  • Location, department, or position code
  • And so on
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3. If you’d like to move shifts around, you can do so with ease via our user-friendly drag and drop functionality. (Click here to see a quick visual demonstration.)

4. When you’re finished creating the schedule, hit “Publish.”

This brings us to…

Crew members can receive automatic notifications when their shift schedule is published

Without a work schedule app, you’d have to reach out to crew members manually and alert them of their shift. This is an inefficient, time consuming process.

But with Buddy Punch, crew members can receive real-time updates thanks to automatic notifications (via mobile devices like phones or tablets or email) when their shift schedule is published. Ensure your team members are always on time. 

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Above is a mobile notification alerting a crew member that their schedule has been published. If they were to click on that notification, they could see the dates and times when they’re needed on-site. (This information is always available for easy reference via our crew app.)

Repeat a crew member’s schedule

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What if you wanted to repeat a crew member’s schedule (e.g., every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM)?

Rather than tediously entering this information on a weekly basis, you can simply your scheduling process by setting the shift to repeat.

Use crew availability information when creating shifts

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Your crew members can mark their available and unavailable work hours within the Buddy Punch app.

Per the above image, you can use this information when creating shifts and expectations on who will clock in (e.g., Henry is available every weekday of February, with the exception of Mondays and Tuesdays).

Your crew can request shift trades and covers within the app

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Crew members can initiate shift trade and cover requests to one another without requiring your permission (though an administrator will still have to approve said requests.) Shift coverage and shift swapping has never been easier – and employees can even use the calendar view to flag and fill-in for open shifts. If this pertains to your company, here’s an article with more details.

Easily set up shift reminders

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Above, we show the setup process for a Shift Start Reminder.

  • This alert will be sent if the employee does not punch in within 10 minutes of the start of their shift. (You can also specify a different number of minutes, depending on the needs of your business.)
  • It can be sent to an employee, manager, and/or administrator.
  • You can assign the alert to several crew members at once.

Shift Start Reminder is just one example of a scheduling alert. We also offer:

  • Shift End Alerts
  • Late In and Late Out Alerts 
  • Early In and Early Out Alerts
  • Missed In and Missed Out Alerts
  • And so on

Click here to learn about the above alerts (and others).

Additional Scheduling Features

When we created Buddy Punch, we aimed for it to be an all-in-one workforce management app. As such, there are additional features you can use besides the basics we’ve covered. You can learn more about these other options on this page.

Keep Your Crew Accountable & Save Time on Payroll

Beyond scheduling, Buddy Punch offers features to:

1. Keep your crew accountable.

For example:

  • Geofencing: This feature uses automation to limit punches to X feet within the worksite or remote job sites.
  • Photos on Punch: Crew members take a photo of themselves upon each punch submission.
  • And more 

2. Save time on payroll.

For example:

  • Payroll Reports on Demand: All employee hours are automatically calculated and available to export via Excel. You can then hand off this report to an accountant (or whoever handles payroll for your company).
  • Payroll Provider Integrations: Integrate Buddy Punch with QuickBooks and most other popular payroll providers (so you don’t have to manually input information into your payroll software).
  • Time Off Tracking: Buddy Punch can handle all your time off tracking needs, from request and approval, to calculating each employee’s remaining balance, and so on.

Note: For additional information on accountability and payroll features, see our article on the best time card apps for construction companies and field crews.

Online Reviews

As of this writing, we’re grateful to have received 789 reviews and 4.8/5 stars on Capterra.

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When choosing a crew scheduling app, businesses should heavily consider (1) Ease of use for administrators and field service employees and (2) Customer support experience.

As several reviewers have noted, these are strong suits of Buddy Punch:  

“We signed up for the trial period, and our employees were impressed immediately. They were able to start recording their time immediately with zero training or assistance, which was a priority for us… If you do experience any issues or have questions, it’s very easy to place a support ticket and a response is usually given within 1-2 hours at the most. Customer Service definitely seems to be a priority which we appreciate. Once our trial period had concluded, it was a no-brainer to continue with this easy, intuitive solution.”

Click here to read the full review.

“The Customer Support team is super responsive, thorough, and effective. Their support software allows for much quicker response times than you could get on the phone. Their team is knowledgeable about my organization and the way that we use the platform – I have received many helpful suggestions on how we can best leverage the Buddy Punch platform… The software is straightforward and well-run, and was easily understood by our team.”

Click here to read the full review.

Click here to explore additional Buddy Punch reviews on Capterra.

Visit Our Site

To learn more, visit our site. If you feel that it’s the right fit for your construction business:

2. Connecteam

Often considered one of the best employee management apps, Connecteam has a rating of 4.8/5 stars based on 134 reviews on Capterra.

While you can visit Connecteam’s site to explore a full list of features, here are a few:

Here’s a review which showcases why it’s a great employee scheduling software solution:

“The Job Scheduling tool has saved our company time and money and greatly improved on our communication with field crews. Their Support Staff is always right there to answer all questions, offer training, fix issues and even submit ideas for change to their platform.”

Click here to read the full review.

Click here for the full list of Connecteam’s Capterra reviews.

3. Sling

Sling is an employee scheduling app with a good reputation, and has 105 reviews and 4.6/5 stars on Capterra.

While you can visit Sling’s website to explore a full list of features, here are a few:

It’s worth noting that Sling has a free plan, though features are limited due to their terms. Here’s a review which showcases why it’s a great crew staffing software:

“Sling is excellent! I have been using it for several years and it’s getting better every year. I highly recommend it. It allows real time scheduling for team members as well as time off requests, shift notifications and several more options. It’s extremely convenient and easy to use.”

Click here to read the full review.

Click here for the full list of Sling’s Capterra reviews.

4. CrewTracks

As of this writing, CrewTracks has 11 reviews and 5 stars on Capterra.

While you can visit CrewTracks’ website to explore a full list of features, here are a few:

Here’s a review which showcases why it’s a great field crew scheduling software:

“Customer service for me has been outstanding. The guys are always helpful, always return calls and if they don’t know they will figure it out.”

Click here to read the full review.

Click here for the full list of CrewTrack’s Capterra reviews.

5. When I Work

As of this writing, When I Work has 895 reviews and 4.5 stars on Capterra.

While you can visit When I Work’s website to explore a full list of features, here are a few:

Here’s a review which showcases why it’s one of the best crew scheduling apps:

“Overall we have loved using When I Work. It makes scheduling seamless and reduces the amount of time we spend on employee schedules. We also really love the reminders and text alerts as it makes it easy to communicate with our team quickly when things change.”

Click here to read the full review.

Click here for the full list of When I Work’s Capterra reviews.

Learn More About Buddy Punch

To learn more, watch our pre-recorded demo video above and visit our site. If you feel that it’s the right fit for your construction business:

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