Re: [NOOP] 24x7 NOC..

[Aaron <aaron () ten net>]

I've no experience in scheduling for a NOC, but have managed support
organizations that operate 24/7.  My general conclussions are that not
everything works for everyone AND you will get burnout regardless of the
schedule.

However some things I've learned about 24/7 schedules --

1.  People tend to be better able to deal with 10 hour shifts.  Some
people can deal with 12 hours shifts but people get more surly and the
burn out is higher.

2.  Some overlap is good.  You need a time to relay implicit knowledge
(we all wish everything was written down, but reality dictates
otherwise).  In fact a Wednesday overlap is probably really not that bad
at all - It provides a great time for any kind of triage or department
meetings that might need to occur.

 

Jamie Rishaw wrote:
>   We're in the process of developing a 24x7 NOC, and can agree upon about
> everything except scheduling.
>
>   We have a few ideas, all of which have really bad downsides:
>
> - 4day, 10hour rotation. 2-hour overlap.
>   - Downside is overlap, and the fact that nobody will have a regular
>     schedule.. they'll be M-Th, then T-Fr, W-Sa, Th-Su, Fr-Mo.. bleh.
>
> - M-F 9-hour shifts, Sa-Su 2x12-hour shifts
>   - Downside is the Sa-Su people are just "extras".
>
> - Su-We, We-Sa 10-hour shifts.
>   Alleviates "skewing" schedules one day every week, but creates a 14.5%
>   labor increase on Wednesday when you have a complete overlap.
>
> Anyhow,, we're looking for information on how other NOCs around the world
> do it.  We're trying to give good coverage without killing/burning out the
> NOC team members.
>
> TIA.
>
> Jamie Rishaw