Lead signifies that the forecast for a future time should be used. Lead evaluates the forecasted information for a period in the future and then applies that requirement to a period in the past. For example, if a staffing requirement for 11:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. is two servers, the staffing requirement will suggest that two servers be scheduled at 11:00 to compensate for the activity that leads up to that requirement. Lead is typically used when the location needs to plan ahead.
Lag operates in the opposite manner of lead. Lag evaluates the forecasted information that happens in the past to predict for the future. For example, take the job category of dishwasher. If an average dinner rush is between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., the restaurant may not need dishwashers from 5:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., since there are not that many dishes to wash. Perhaps the staff requirement for dishwashers is only one dishwasher from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.. However, when the system evaluates the period of time from 5:15 p.m. until 5:45 p.m., it may detect a considerable jump in sales which usually signifies a considerable jump in dirty dishes. Therefore, the system determines that at 6:00 p.m., one or two more dishwashers are needed to compensate for the increased need for clean dishes and flatware.
Parent topic: Staffing