How Catered Creations Keeps Event Staff Scheduled, Informed, and Ready With Connecteam
With rotating event crews, shifting delivery windows, and no fixed operating hours, Catered Creations needed a better way to manage scheduling and communication. Connecteam gave the team one place to build event-based schedules, send real-time updates, confirm who saw each message, and onboard new hires before their first shift.
Industry
Location
Michigan, United States
Products used
Scheduling Time Clock & Timesheets Team Chat Updates & Announcements
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“Connecteam seemed to be the one platform that was closest to what we needed. Scheduling, time clock, and communication, all in one place. Your onboarding far exceeds any other platform we’ve tried.”
Key Results
- Event-based scheduling moved off paper – complex catering shifts are built, published, and updated digitally instead of planned by pencil and shared manually
- One reliable place for team communication – texts, emails, and phone calls were replaced with one platform staff know to check for schedules, updates, and announcements
- Clear visibility into who saw each update – read receipts help managers confirm that policy changes, shift updates, and team announcements reached the right people
- More consistent onboarding for new hires – employees get logged into Connecteam on day one with access to the handbook and key information before their first shift
The Challenge: Event Staffing Was Too Fluid for Paper Schedules and Scattered Messages
Catered Creations provides corporate catering, weddings, and full-service staffed events across Michigan. Unlike a restaurant with set operating hours, its schedule changes around booked events, delivery windows, staff availability, and the number of roles needed for each job.
On busy weekends, the team may need to coordinate more than 50 people across different event roles, locations, and timing needs. When that planning lived on paper and communication was split across texts, emails, and phone calls, it was too easy for updates to get missed.
- Scheduling took too long: managers built event schedules by pencil and paper, then had to manually communicate shifts to the team
- Messages were scattered: updates were sent through texts, emails, and phone calls, leaving no single place to check what had been shared
- Prior tools did not solve communication: platforms like 7shifts and Deputy did not give Catered Creations the reliable team communication it needed
“It could take a long time to build the schedule. It’s not like a restaurant where they have set operating hours. Ours is completely based off booked events. Putting it on pencil and then communicating that to the team took even longer.”
How Catered Creations Uses Connecteam to Keep Event Teams Aligned
Catered Creations adopted Connecteam to bring scheduling, time tracking, communication, updates, and onboarding into one place. The goal was simple: make sure every employee knows where to be, when to be there, what changed, and where to find the information they need.
- Schedules are built and shared digitally: managers can create event-based shifts, publish them in the app, and update staff when details change
- Team chat became the main communication channel: shift changes, internal events, and day-to-day updates now live in one searchable place instead of separate text and email threads
- Updates are used for formal announcements: policy changes and important team messages are sent with visibility into who has read them
“Our goal is to keep everything in one platform so there is just this history log you can go back to, and the team is not confused about how they communicate with us.”
The Results: Faster Scheduling, Fewer Missed Messages, and More Reliable Onboarding
Scheduling Works Around Events, Not Fixed Operating Hours
- Event shifts are easier to build: managers can create and update schedules digitally instead of relying on pencil-and-paper planning
- Last-minute changes are easier to manage: shift edits are logged in the app, giving the team a clearer record of what changed and when
- Staff know where and when to show up: schedules, locations, and updates are available in one place, helping reduce confusion on busy event days
Communication Is Easier to Track and Confirm
- The team has one source of truth: Connecteam replaced the mix of texts, emails, and phone calls that made it harder to know which message staff had seen
- Managers can confirm who read important updates: read receipts show who saw policy changes, announcements, and other formal messages
- Communication history is easier to find: managers can go back to previous messages instead of searching across disconnected channels
New Hires Get the Right Information From Day One
- Employees are added to Connecteam during onboarding: new hires get access to the platform before they begin working shifts
- The employee handbook is available in the app: key policies and information are easier to share consistently with every new employee
- Managers know new hires received the essentials: onboarding information is no longer dependent on scattered emails or one-off reminders
“With the updates function, I can see who read it, which is very nice. And onboarding new employees through Connecteam is helpful because our handbook is in there. I know they got all the pertinent information because they got logged in.”
Before vs. After Connecteam
| Aspect | Before Connecteam | After Connecteam |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduling | Pencil-and-paper schedules that took hours to build and communicate. | Digital event-based shifts built, published, and updated in the app. |
| Communication | Texts, emails, and phone calls with no single source of truth. | One platform for team chat, updates, announcements, and searchable message history. |
| Shift Changes | No reliable audit trail when event times or staffing needs changed. | Shift updates logged in Connecteam with a clearer history of changes. |
| Team Updates | Ad hoc announcements with no way to confirm who saw the message. | Formal updates with read receipts showing who viewed important information. |
| Onboarding | Documents and policies shared through less consistent manual processes. | New hires get logged into Connecteam with access to the handbook and key information. |
Why Connecteam Worked for Catered Creations
Catered Creations needed software that could handle the reality of catering: shifting event schedules, rotating staff, last-minute changes, and communication that has to reach people quickly. Previous platforms handled parts of the process, but communication still fell short.
Connecteam gave the team one place to manage schedules, time tracking, chat, formal updates, and onboarding. That made it easier to coordinate event crews, reduce missed messages, confirm who received important information, and give new hires the details they need before they step into their first shift.