The Brád-Cast

Scheduling is where Workforce Management stops being theory and starts becoming reality.On paper, scheduling seems straightforward. You have a forecast, service goals, opening hours, contracts, holidays, meetings, training, and employee preferences. Just put the right people in the right place at the right time. Easy, right?In this episode of The Brád-Cast, Anthony Brady explores why scheduling is often the most misunderstood discipline in WFM. It's a constant balancing act between business requirements, operational realities, employee experience, and customer demand.We'll discuss the trade-offs every scheduler faces, why the "perfect schedule" rarely exists, and how great scheduling is less about filling shifts and more about making smart decisions with the pieces available to you.Whether you're building schedules, managing teams, or wondering why your carefully crafted plan fell apart before the week even started, this episode takes a practical look at one of the most important—and challenging—parts of Workforce Management.Because forecasting tells you what might happen. Scheduling is where you decide what you're going to do about it.

Forecasting: Predicting Demand or Predicting Ourselves?Forecasting is one of the most talked about disciplines in Workforce Management, yet some of the most important conversations rarely make it into the room.In this episode, I explore the fundamentals of forecasting, from historical data and seasonality to normalisation and outlier management. But I also challenge some of the assumptions that sit beneath many forecasting processes.What happens when poor service levels create repeat contacts that become embedded in the data? Are we forecasting genuine customer demand, or simply the consequences of our own operational decisions?I also take a look at forecasting culture, including the overuse of technical language, the dangers of judging forecasts using hindsight, and why organisations sometimes seem to have multiple versions of the future at the same time.We'll discuss:How operational performance can artificially inflate demandThe difference between forecasting and planningWhy two teams can produce different forecasts and both be rightThe role of reforecasting and where it can be misleadingStrategic business decisions that change the future after a forecast has been producedWhy mature organisations focus on trade-offs rather than blameThe real purpose of forecasting in supporting decision-makingUltimately, forecasting isn't about being right. It's about helping organisations make better decisions with imperfect information.Join me as I unpack the realities, frustrations and misconceptions surrounding one of the most important disciplines in Workforce Management.

In this episode, I explore one of the most misunderstood disciplines in Workforce Management: Capacity Planning.Is it simply another name for Budget Planning, or is there something more strategic going on beneath the spreadsheets and staffing models?I discuss the realities of balancing customer demand, operational performance, employee wellbeing, and financial constraints. Along the way, I examine why behaviours such as "padding" can emerge during budget season, the role trust plays between Finance and Operations, and why Capacity Planning often acts as the mediator between competing business priorities.Most importantly, I challenge the idea that Capacity Planning is purely a mathematical exercise. If forecasting and staffing were the only variables, the process could be fully automated. Instead, Capacity Planning remains a fundamentally human discipline because uncertainty, risk, judgement, and organisational behaviour will always need to be managed.Whether you're a WFM professional, operational leader, or simply curious about how organisations prepare for the future, this episode offers a practical and honest look at the art and science of Capacity Planning.

Workforce Management gets talked about a lot, but what does it actually mean in the real world?In this episode, I break down what WFM really is, how it works in practice, and why it’s such a critical (and often misunderstood) part of any operation.No jargon. No theory for the sake of it. Just a practical look at the reality behind the role.

After nearly 90 weekly LinkedIn posts, I realised something ... I had more to say than would fit into a post.In this first episode, I explain why I’ve decided to start a podcast, what you can expect from it, and who it’s really for.I’ve spent over 20 years working in workforce management, building teams, solving operational challenges, and trying to make sense of the reality behind planning, forecasting, and leadership in contact centres.This podcast is an extension of those conversations.No corporate jargon. No theory for the sake of it. Just practical insights, real experiences, and honest discussions about what actually works ... and what doesn’t.If you work in WFM, operations, or leadership, and you’ve ever felt that the reality of the job doesn’t quite match the theory, this is for you.