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| Subscription | Any plan |
| Also required | Workforce Management |
| Access | Admin |
Approving and declining absence in Zendesk WFM. How quickly you answer matters more than the decision itself.
Handle them
- Open the time off requests.
- Check coverage for the period.
- Approve or decline, with a reason.
- Regenerate the schedule if it was already built.
Answer quickly
People are waiting to book something. A request sitting for weeks is worse than a no, because they cannot plan around either answer.
Set an expectation, such as within three working days, and keep it.
Check coverage, not just the balance
Whether they have days left is one question. Whether the team is covered that week is the one that decides it, and it is the one people find fair.
Say why when you decline
"Two people are already off that week, can you take the following one" is a decision somebody can work with. A bare no produces resentment and another request.
Watch the popular weeks
School holidays and the end of the year. Everybody asks for the same fortnight, and the third request is the one where an unwritten rule suddenly matters.
Agree how you decide before that week arrives, and say so.
Regenerate afterwards
Approving absence for a period already scheduled leaves a gap. Regenerating or adjusting is part of the approval, not a separate task for later.
Be consistent
People compare. Approving on the same basis every time is what makes the process feel fair, and fairness here is worth more than optimal coverage.
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