About Flow Patterns

A flow pattern is a 24-hour pattern of guest demand. Guest demand can be represented by the actual number of guests visiting the front desk for service, dining at a restaurant, visiting a lounge, or checking out at the bellstand. In a restaurant, guest demand is the number of new guests who require service each half hour throughout a specific meal period. At the Front Desk, guest demand is the number of guests visiting the front desk for service (arriving, departing, seeking information, etc.) each half-hour during a specific time period.

Flow patterns enable the system to dynamically schedule staff according to the customer demand for service, rather than a fixed shift basis. In other words, the start and end times of shifts could potentially vary by day if the customer demand for business varies. Watson fills this need automatically when scheduling by looking at the peak service times and making sure there is sufficient staff for these peaks and then works to fill all other requirements, while sill adhering to the established work rules for the position. It is important to remember that flows need to be periodically reassessed for accuracy, as business needs change.

It is possible to have flows for each day of the week, as well as for particular periods of the day. The Watson Administrator can guide you thru the process of deciding which method, if any, would be helpful to the operation. If you only have 1 to 4 employees in the operation, it is not beneficial to use flows for staffing purposes.

To develop flows for Watson, it is necessary to track customer demand for a period of time (usually 6 to 8 weeks minimum) to determine, by half hour, when the customer requirement for service begins. Many electronic Point of Sale (POS) and front desk systems provide this information, however it is important to be aware that often times servers do not open tickets until after the guest has been seated for a period of time. The flow must record when the need for service first appears.

These tallies of customer demand are manually entered into the corresponding flow pattern and saved. For a restaurant, you may create several flow patterns for each period within every revenue center. These flow patterns correspond to a specific meal period and are attached to a flow plan that corresponds to the same meal period for an entire week (see Creating Flow Plans).

Over time, flow pattern historical data helps you identify the percentage of a KBI that ordinarily occurs at any time, on any day. Watson uses this data to determine demand.

Based upon labor standards, requirements are calculated and employees are assigned to work at the right time to meet the demand.

The data is displayed in graphical format. If you wish to view the data in table format, click the Edit button.

Terms & Definitions