The 7 Best Crew Scheduling Software for 2025

Looking for crew scheduling software for your construction business? We’ve reviewed 7 of the best apps on the market to help you!

FAQs
What is crew scheduling software?

Crew scheduling software is a tool designed to help businesses manage their employees’ schedules efficiently. It automates the process of scheduling. 

By automating the difficult aspects of workforce management, it enables companies to improve their efficiency, productivity, and customer experience.

What features should good crew scheduling software include?

Good crew scheduling software should include features such as:

Automated Scheduling: The ability to assign shifts to employees based on predefined rules, such as employee availability, skill set, and seniority. This ensures the right employee is assigned the right task, increasing productivity and efficiency.

Real-time Communication: Facilitates real-time communication between employees and management, allowing employees to check schedules and request time off or shift changes, with managers able to quickly approve or deny requests. This helps businesses respond to employee needs quickly, increasing job satisfaction and employee retention. 

Real-time updates and notifications ensure that everyone is informed of any changes, helping to manage unexpected events or emergencies efficiently.

Mobile Accessibility: Compatibility with mobile devices, providing field teams access to critical information and tools while on the go. A mobile app can sync with field service management software, sharing time tracking, job progress, invoicing, and signatures.

Duty Hour Monitoring: Tracks the number of hours remaining for the week, month, and year, increasing transparency on the crew’s actual duty hours.

Reporting and Analytics: Offers analytics and reporting tools to help identify staff strengths and weaknesses, forecast staffing needs, and optimize resource allocation.

Integration Options: Integrates operations in software systems managing scheduling and dispatch, bringing together various aspects of field team activities into a cohesive and synchronized system].

Flexibility: Giving the workforce better options regarding trading shifts or work locations.

Error Reduction: Auto-scheduling software can help reduce human errors, as many processes are automated. It also uses historical data on productivity levels to create a well-balanced schedule.

What’s the best free crew scheduling software?

While “best” can be subjective depending on specific needs, here’s a summary of highly-regarded free crew scheduling software:

Connecteam: This is considered a top free employee scheduling software and an all-in-one solution, offering automatic and drag-and-drop shift scheduling. It includes a manual scheduler with shift templates and recurring shift options, as well as an auto-scheduling feature. A free plan is available for businesses with up to 10 employees.

Sling: This crew management app combines multiple features of other HR tools into one. The free plan allows for up to 50 users and includes all of the scheduling and employee communication features.

Homebase: This offers employee scheduling, shift feedback, timesheets, and integrations for free and is suitable for integrated GPS time tracking. Homebase allows you to drag and drop team schedules, make changes from your mobile phone, easily copy last week’s schedule, or use automatic scheduling.

What’s the difference between crew scheduling software for construction and crew scheduling software for other industries?

Crew scheduling software for construction is tailored to address the specific challenges and requirements of the construction industry, differing from generic crew scheduling software used in other industries. These differences include:

Versatile Scheduling Options: Construction crew scheduling software is capable of managing various types of crews, such as concrete, drywall, electricians, and painters.

Resource Allocation: Construction scheduling software offers advanced construction resource scheduling capabilities, making it easy to assign the right resources to the right tasks.

Job Tracking: Construction scheduling software provides detailed reports on crew performance, helping businesses make informed decisions and improve efficiency.

GPS Time Tracking: Construction scheduling software often includes GPS time tracking to monitor worker locations in real-time.

Integration: Construction scheduling software can integrate with construction-specific systems like estimating software or DOT line items from the Unit Price Billing Module.

Communication: Construction scheduling software provides features for text message scheduling, allowing businesses to send SMS schedule notifications to their crew.

Customization: Construction scheduling software offers customizable solutions, from simple job scheduling software to complex construction job scheduling software.

Mobile Time Tracking: Construction scheduling software provides accurate time and labor information for any size crew with live field data accessible from any device.

Task Management: Construction scheduling software allows you to assign tasks to individual workers, attach checklists to job assignments, and add photos and notes to each job.

Real-time Updates: Construction scheduling software offers real-time visibility, providing live updates on your crew’s locations and location history via a map view, enabling better routing and instant dispatch decisions, especially for urgent jobs.

Recurring Tasks and Emergency Assignments: Construction scheduling software supports recurring tasks, large projects, work orders, and emergency assignments.

Equipment Management: Construction scheduling software is designed to manage project resources and timelines to avoid conflicts, limit delays, and keep jobs running smoothly.

Document Management: Construction scheduling software centralizes project documents for convenient access and timely action.

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