Getting started with ShiftChores

ShiftChores hands out the right chores to whoever is actually working each shift — in a salon, a plant running three shifts, a restaurant, a hotel, a care home, a warehouse or a store. You set up the workplace once — where, which teams, when they work and what needs doing — and, separately, the people and when they’re scheduled. Each day the two meet: someone checks in, and their shift’s chores appear on their phone.

What it looks like in your industry

The same setup works for any business that runs on shifts. A few examples:

On the Shift Editor you can start from a ready-made set — Day parts (Morning, Mid-shift, Evening, Double), Three shifts (1st, 2nd, 3rd, including overnight), Day and night (12-hour) or One shift — then rename them and change the times to match yours.

The Getting started checklist on your Today page follows these same steps and ticks each one off as you go. Pages that need an earlier step say so and link you to it.

1. Locations

Back office → Locations. Owners add each location with its address and, optionally, a logo. Tick Primary location on your main one: its name and logo stand for your organization wherever ShiftChores shows it. Every team member works at one or more locations; managers can be limited to the locations they look after.

2. Groups / Roles

Back office → Groups / Roles. A group is a team or role with its own shifts and chores — Line 2 or Maintenance in a plant, Housekeeping in a hotel, Kitchen in a restaurant, Front Desk or Stylist in a salon. You don’t put people into groups: whoever works one of a group’s shifts is in that group for the day, so an operator covering Shipping on 2nd shift gets Shipping’s chores. Optionally, list a group’s regulars — people who always get its group chores. The order you set here is the order groups appear everywhere.

Don’t have teams? You can skip groups and use shifts for “Everyone”, but most businesses find it clearer to make at least one group.

3. Shifts

Back office → Shifts. Three tabs:

• Shift Editor — each group’s shifts (start from a ready-made set or add your own — a 3rd shift or night shift that runs past midnight is fine), their order, and a color. The color follows the shift everywhere: Today, the schedule, chores, approvals and the employee’s screen. Two groups can share a shift with the same name and times; someone working it still works it for one group.
• Weekly Schedule — which shifts run on each day, and their times that day. A day with no shifts is closed.
• Holiday Schedule — closures and special hours for particular dates, for any year.

4. Chores

Back office → Chores. Set each chore up once and ShiftChores hands it out on its own. For each chore choose:

• Shifts — one or several (pick them group by group), or Any shift. A chore on several shifts is done once on each.
• Days — every day, or certain days of the week (Friday’s deep clean of Line 1, Saturday’s bank deposit).
• Who does it — see How chores are handed out.
• Points, minutes (an estimate), priority, a description (you can speak it instead of typing), and whether it needs a photo or video.

5. Team

Back office → Team. Add each person with their email (that’s how they sign in), phone, employee ID, job title and the locations they work at — one, several, or all. They don’t need a password: ShiftChores emails a one-time sign-in link. Managers are added separately, under Settings → Managers & access.

6. Schedule

Three ways to tell ShiftChores who’s working:

• Schedule — add shifts by hand: the person, the day, the shift and which group they’re working it for.
• Schedule import — upload a CSV or spreadsheet export from your scheduling system.
• Integrations — connect your scheduling app so shifts flow in on their own.

No schedule yet? People can still check in: they choose their group, then their shift, and are added to that day’s schedule.

7. Choose how you run it

Settings → Programs (org admins). Each can be switched on or off at any time:

• Require approval of finished chores — a manager checks each one on the Approvals page. Off: finished chores count straight away.
• Rewards program — points toward a reward you set under Points & rewards.
• Gamification — Clean Sweep streaks, badges, a leaderboard and a team goal.
• Time tracking — employees tap Start and Finish, so each chore is timed.
• Photo or video proof — off, only on chores that ask for it, or on every chore.
• Shift-end emails — managers are emailed when a shift is ending with chores left.

8. Check it, then go live

1. Open Employee view and pick someone on the schedule: you’ll see their chores exactly as they will.
2. Ask your team to sign in on their phones (see Using ShiftChores — you can send them that link) and add ShiftChores to their home screen.
3. On day one, keep Today open: you’ll see who has checked in and every chore’s progress.

Using ShiftChores at work

ShiftChores shows you the chores for the shift you’re working, on your own phone. Check in when you arrive, work through your list, and earn points along the way.

Signing in

1. Go to ShiftChores on your phone and enter the email your manager added you with.
2. Open the sign-in link we email you (it works for 15 minutes). No password to remember.
3. Tip: add ShiftChores to your home screen (your browser’s Share or menu button → Add to Home Screen) so it opens like an app.

If you work for more than one business that uses ShiftChores, you’ll choose which one; Switch changes it later.

Checking in

• On the schedule? You’ll see your shift. Tap Confirm & check in.
• Not on the schedule (covering, picking up a shift)? Tap I’m working today, choose your group, then your shift. You’re added to today’s schedule.
• Work at more than one location? Choose Where are you working today? first.

Your chore list

Your list is grouped and color-coded by shift. Each chore shows its priority, about how long it takes and its points. Tags say why it’s yours:

• Yours every shift — it’s always yours.
• Shared today — the shift’s chores are shared out among who’s on; tomorrow it may be someone else’s.
• Everyone does their own — each person on the shift does it.
• Group chores — done once for your group. Anyone in the group can do it, and its points are split among the group still on shift.
• Extras — optional chores for extra points. Tap Pick up to take one.

Doing a chore

1. If your workplace times chores, tap Start (and Pause if you’re pulled away).
2. If it says Photo or video required, add one or more with + Photo or + Video.
3. Press and hold Hold to finish until it fills — that stops accidental taps. The card turns green, with the points next to the check.

• Undo — tapped finish by mistake? Undo it while it’s waiting for approval (or, where approvals are off, the same day).
• Sent back — your manager may send a chore back with a note saying what to redo. It returns to your list.
• Swap — ask someone on your shift to take one of your chores before you start it. It stays yours until they accept.

Points and rewards

Approved chores earn points toward your workplace’s reward. Your total, what’s waiting for approval and how far you are from the next reward show at the top. Some workplaces also have streaks, badges and a leaderboard — they reward doing chores well, never rushing.

End of your shift

You’ll get a reminder 30 and 10 minutes before your shift ends if chores are left. When you’re done, tap Ready to leave: your manager is told and signs you out. Sign out signs this phone out of ShiftChores.

Running the day

• Today — who’s scheduled, checked in, late or gone, and every chore in a section per shift and role, in the shift’s color. Reassign a chore to someone else on the shift, sign people out, or correct the group someone checked in to. Shift ending soon lists people with chores left near the end of their shift.
• Approvals — finished chores with their photos and videos. Approve awards the points; Send back asks what needs redoing and returns it to the employee. Approve all clears the list.
• Reset Today — clears today’s chores and hands them out again. Owners can do it straight away; other managers send a request the owners approve.
• Employee view — see anyone’s chores exactly as they do.
• Reports — completion and timing by date range, a monthly report per person, and an approval audit.
• Points & rewards — balances, and rewards ready to hand out.

Managers see only the locations they look after.

How chores are handed out

When someone checks in, ShiftChores gives them the chores for their shift, their group and their location that day. Each chore’s Who does it decides how:

If someone leaves early, their unfinished chores go back to the others on the shift.

Who can do what

Set access under Settings → Managers & access.

Getting more help

• Ask Abby — where it’s switched on, the Ask Abby button answers questions about your work and how to use ShiftChores, using only what you can already see.
• Feedback — the Feedback button on every screen sends a message straight to the ShiftChores team.
• Email support@shiftchores.com.