# How to manage coverage and open shifts as an admin Spot sessions that still need a coach, check for shift claims awaiting approval, and open a coverage request when a coach needs time off — without a single phone call. Canonical URL: https://gigpie.com/docs/how-tos/admins/manage-coverage-and-open-shifts --- ## Overview Use this guide to run the coverage side of the shift marketplace: see which sessions still need a coach, check for shift claims awaiting your approval, and open a coverage request when a coach needs time off — the admin half of a two-sided system that replaces phone-tag with a real queue. ## Before you start - You have at least one coach on your roster. ## Why this matters Sessions can be marked "needs coach" instead of assigned to someone specific — an open shift that any qualified coach can claim from their own Available Shifts tab. On your side, **Shifts** is where those claims land for approval once a coach picks one up, and **Coverage** is where you manage the other direction: when a coach requests time off (or you need to flag one as unavailable yourself), Coverage shows every session that request affects and lets you assign — or bulk-assign — a substitute coach to each one. Both screens are real queues, not calendars you scan by eye. Shifts shows exactly the claims waiting on your decision; Coverage shows exactly which sessions in an unavailability window are covered and which still need someone. A coach's time-off request is what typically starts a coverage request, but you can also open one yourself — useful when a coach calls in sick and can't submit the request themselves. ## Tips - The Sessions table's "Coach" column header is sortable — click it twice (once for ascending, once for descending) to bring every session still missing a coach to the top of the list, regardless of how many sessions you have scheduled. - Coverage's "Bulk Assign All Uncovered Sessions" button (visible once a request has uncovered sessions) assigns one substitute to every open session in that coach's unavailability window in a single action, instead of one-by-one. - The coach picker in a coverage assignment shows each candidate's conflict status (Available vs. Has Conflict) right in the list, so you're not guessing who's actually free. - A claimed shift only shows up in "Pending Shift Claims" after a coach claims it from their side — if Shifts is empty, it means nobody has claimed an open shift yet, not that the feature is broken. ## Steps ### Step 1: Sign in as an admin Use your admin account credentials to access the dashboard. ![Company Dashboard after signing in as an admin](https://gigpie.com/how-tos/admins/manage-coverage-and-open-shifts/01-sign-in-as-an-admin.png) ### Step 2: See which sessions still need a coach Open Sessions, switch to the Upcoming tab, and click the Coach column header twice to sort unassigned sessions to the top. ![Sessions list sorted to show upcoming sessions with a Needs coach badge in the Coach column](https://gigpie.com/how-tos/admins/manage-coverage-and-open-shifts/02-see-sessions-that-need-a-coach.png) ### Step 3: Check pending shift claims Click Shifts in the sidebar to see any coach claims on open shifts awaiting your approval. ![Shifts page showing the Pending Shift Claims panel for reviewing and approving coach claims](https://gigpie.com/how-tos/admins/manage-coverage-and-open-shifts/03-check-pending-shift-claims.png) ### Step 4: Open Coverage Click Coverage in the sidebar to see active coach unavailability requests and their coverage status. ![Coverage page listing coach unavailability requests with a Create Unavailability button](https://gigpie.com/how-tos/admins/manage-coverage-and-open-shifts/04-open-coverage.png) ### Step 5: Start a coverage request Click "Create Unavailability" and pick the coach who needs time off from the coach picker. ![Create Coach Unavailability dialog with the coach picker open showing a real coach roster](https://gigpie.com/how-tos/admins/manage-coverage-and-open-shifts/05-start-a-coverage-request.png) ### Step 6: Set the coach, dates, and reason With the coach selected, pick the start and end dates for the unavailability window and choose a reason. ![Create Coach Unavailability dialog filled in with a coach, start date, end date, and Vacation reason selected](https://gigpie.com/how-tos/admins/manage-coverage-and-open-shifts/06-set-the-coach-dates-and-reason.png) ### Step 7: Review and hover Create Unavailability Review the details, then click "Create Unavailability" to open the request — you'll be able to assign substitute coaches to each affected session next. ![Completed coverage request form with the Create Unavailability button ready to submit](https://gigpie.com/how-tos/admins/manage-coverage-and-open-shifts/07-review-and-hover-create.png) ## What you'll accomplish - You know how to find every upcoming session that still needs a coach assigned. - You can check Shifts for coach claims awaiting your approval. - You can start a coverage request for a coach's time off, picking a substitute and a reason. ## Related Guides - [How to claim available shifts from the marketplace](/docs/how-tos/coaches/claim-marketplace-shifts) - The coach side of the same open-shift marketplace - [How to request time off as a coach](/docs/how-tos/coaches/request-time-off) - What starts most coverage requests - [Scheduling](/features/smart-scheduling) - How availability, recurring series, and open-shift coverage fit together