Creating WFM automations to manage agent activity

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">Zendesk Workforce management (WFM) automations allow you to manage certain agent activities automatically, such as ending agents' days when they forget to clock out. You can create multiple automations in your account to manage and perform actions for different types of agent activity. When you create automations, they can apply to all agents in your account or to only specific agents or teams.</p>
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<strong>Add-on</strong>
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<td>Workforce Management (WFM) or Workforce Engagement Management (WEM)</td>
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<p id="docs-ai-summary-toggle">Summary: <span id="up-triangle">◀</span><span id="down-triangle">▼</span></p>
<p id="docs-ai-summary-content">You can create automations to manage agent activities like ending shifts when agents forget to clock out. Automations can target all or specific agents and trigger based on clock-in events, adherence to schedules, or early/late shifts. Actions include shifting tasks or sending notifications to agents, managers, or teams. This helps maintain accurate agent activity tracking and improves workforce management.</p>
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<p class="p">Zendesk Workforce management (WFM) automations allow you to manage certain agent
activities automatically, such as ending agents' days when they forget to clock out. You
can create multiple automations in your account to manage and perform actions for
different types of agent activity. When you create automations, they can apply to all
agents in your account or to only specific agents or teams. </p>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="creating-a-wfm-automation">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Creating WFM automations</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You must be a WFM admin or <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443374440090" target="_blank">have permission</a> to create an automation. Make sure you
understand how automations work before you start creating them. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443314435610" target="_blank">About WFM automations</a>.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To create a WFM automation</strong></p>
<ol class="ol">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838272410" target="_blank">Workforce management</a>, click <img class="image" id="creating-a-wfm-automation__d8e157" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wfm_admin_icon.png" width="16">
<strong class="ph b">Settings</strong> in the navigation bar, then select <strong class="ph b"> Automations</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Create automation</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Enter a unique <strong class="ph b">Automation name</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Select a <strong class="ph b">Run event</strong>. <p class="p" dir="ltr">The default event is <strong class="ph b">Clocked
into</strong>, but it can be changed to <strong class="ph b">Early to</strong>, <strong class="ph b"> Late to</strong>, or
<strong class="ph b">Out of adherence</strong>.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">The Clocked into event means
that the automation will run after a specified duration since an agent
clocks into a task or workstream.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">The Early to and Late to
events consider the agent’s adherence to their scheduled start and end
times. The Early to event runs on a specified duration before an agent’s
scheduled start or end time. The Late to event runs on a specified duration
beyond an agent’s scheduled start or end time. The Out of adherence event
checks if an agent’s activity deviates from their schedule for a set
duration. To learn more, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443314435610#structure-of-wfm-automations" target="_blank">Structure of a WFM
automation</a>.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">(Optional) If you selected <strong class="ph b">Clocked into</strong>, click the <strong class="ph b">Task</strong> field and
choose the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7069811858586" target="_blank">general tasks</a>, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10114746509978" target="_blank">agent statuses</a>, and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443314489242" target="_blank">workstreams</a> it applies to, or select
<strong class="ph b">Any task</strong> for all.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="creating-a-wfm-automation__image_jkx_1ny_tfc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wfm_automation_create.png" width="400"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">(Optional) If you selected <strong class="ph b">Early to</strong> or<strong class="ph b"> Late to</strong>, click the
<strong class="ph b">Condition</strong> field and choose between <strong class="ph b">End day</strong> or <strong class="ph b">Start
day</strong>.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="creating-a-wfm-automation__image_xwk_dhz_tfc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wfm_automation_early_late.png" width="400"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">In the <strong class="ph b">Duration</strong> field, specify the minimum time, in minutes, that the
agent must be clocked into a task or workstream before the automation runs, or
the minimum time the agent is <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443376913818-WFM-custom-report-metrics#topic_xwv_3n4_52c__out_of_adherence" target="_blank">out of adherence</a> before a message is
sent. The Early to event runs on the specified duration before an agent’s
scheduled start or end time. The Late to event runs after a specified duration
beyond an agent’s scheduled start or end time.</li>
<li class="li">Select the <strong class="ph b">Actions to perform</strong> from the predefined list. To learn more,
see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443314435610#structure-of-wfm-automations" target="_blank">Structure of a WFM automation</a>.
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="creating-a-wfm-automation__image_gv3_4fm_5fc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ts_auto_actions_eap.png" width="300"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">(Optional) If you selected to shift a user to a general task, select the task
from the <strong class="ph b">General task</strong> menu that appears. <div class="p">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Changes in activity related to <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443329426330" target="_blank">general tasks</a> run by
automations do not affect your <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408829114138" target="_blank">agents' talk states</a>.</div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="li">(Optional) If you select <strong class="ph b">Send a message</strong>, choose who to send the message
to.<p class="p" dir="ltr">You can select from the following options: </p>
<ol class="ol" id="creating-a-wfm-automation__ol_amk_jxr_r3c" type="a">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">All team members in your scope</strong>: Send the notification
to everyone in your defined scope. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443374440090" target="_blank">Understanding WFM roles and
permissions</a>. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Affected agent:</strong> Send the notification directly to the
impacted agent.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Manager:</strong> Send the notification to the manager of the
impacted agent.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Specific users:</strong> Send the notification only to the WFM
users you select.</li>
</ol>
<p class="p">The users you select will receive a push notification in their <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408821259930" target="_blank">Agent Workspace</a> in Zendesk
Support.</p>
<img class="image" id="creating-a-wfm-automation__image_xdz_51m_wfc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wfm_push_notification.png" width="300">
</li>
<li class="li">Click the <strong class="ph b">Agents</strong> tab, then select which agents the automation applies to.
You can apply the automation to all agents in your account or specify certain
agents.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Create automation</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<div class="p">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Currently, there is no set limit on the number of automations that can be
created. However, creating more than 50 automations may lead to performance
issues.</div>
</div>
</div>
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