Manager & Admin Reference
Field Guide & Reference

Swift Team Hub
For Leads

Everything you need to run your team from the Manager panel — workflows, permissions, tips, and the thinking behind it all.

Manager
Admin
Owner
Swift Coffee
Lancaster, Penna. Est. 2016
hub.swiftcoffee.com

Your Manager Panel, summarized

The Manager panel is only visible to Manager, Admin, and Owner roles. It's your control center for everything team-related — live status, requests, records, and communications.

First stop every shift
Tasks
Your auto-generated action queue
Who's clocked in now
Who's In
Live view, real-time hours
Approve time off
Time Off
Employee emailed automatically
Set PTO / UTO hours
PTO & UTO
New hires flagged here
Edit employee details
Roster
Dept, role, PIN, status
Fix a clock entry
Edit Entries
Audit-logged, note required

What each section does

Nine panels, each built around a specific management task. Here's what lives in each one.

Tasks

Your auto-generated action list. Pending time-off requests, stale clock entries needing review, new hires missing setup details, and unread feedback all surface here.

Auto-generated

Who's In

A live view of every employee currently clocked in, their clock-in time, and total hours accumulated today. Refreshes automatically.

Real-time

Time Off

Review pending requests showing the employee's name, dates, type, hours, and any note they added. Approve or deny with an optional manager note — the employee is emailed your decision instantly.

Emails employee

PTO & UTO

Set and adjust PTO and UTO balances in hours for any employee. New hires with missing balances are flagged at the top until you enter them.

Editable any time

Roster

Edit job title, department, employment type, role, active status, and PIN for any non-Owner employee. Owner accounts are locked here — use Airtable directly for those.

Full edit access

Timesheets

View any employee's full clock history, filterable by pay period. Entries flagged for manager review (corrections submitted by employees) are highlighted.

Read + review

Edit Entries

Adjust clock-in, clock-out, and break times directly. All edits are marked as manager-adjusted and preserved in the audit trail. Always add a note explaining the change.

Audit-logged

Post Memo

Write and publish announcements to all staff, specific departments, or individual employees. Optional acknowledgment requirement — employees confirm they've read it and the date is recorded.

Targeted audience

Documents

Add policy docs, guides, and forms with a name, URL, and audience. Require acknowledgment for anything that needs a sign-off — track who has and hasn't completed it.

Signature tracking

Common workflows

The seven things you'll do most often in the Manager panel, step by step.

1

Approve or deny a time-off request

Go to Time Off. Pending requests are listed at the top. Tap Approve or Deny, add an optional note for the employee, and confirm. They receive an email immediately with your decision and any note you left.

2

Fix or adjust a timesheet entry

Go to Edit Entries. Select the employee and pay period, find the entry, and tap to edit clock-in, clock-out, or break times. Add a manager note explaining the change. The entry is flagged as manager-adjusted in the audit trail — the original times are never deleted.

3

Onboard a new hire

After digital onboarding the employee appears in Tasks under New Hire Setup. Open the Roster, find their name, and set Department, Employment Type, Job Title, and PTO/UTO balances. Complete in-person steps (W-4, I-9, direct deposit) and co-sign the Confidentiality Agreement.

4

Reset an employee's PIN

Go to Roster, find the employee, tap Edit, and enter a new 4–8 digit PIN in the Reset PIN field. Tap Save. They can log in immediately. Owner accounts cannot be edited here — changes to Owner accounts must be made directly in Airtable.

5

Post a company memo

Go to Post Memo. Write your title and body. Set the audience — All Staff, By Department (pick one or more), or specific employees. Check "Requires Acknowledgment" if you need confirmation. Tap Post and it appears in employee Memos immediately.

6

Upload a document

Go to Documents in the Manager panel. Add a document name, paste the link (Google Drive, PDF, etc.), set the audience, and choose whether acknowledgment is required. Active documents appear in employee Documents immediately.

7

Set PTO & UTO for a new hire

Go to PTO & UTO. New hires with missing balances appear flagged at the top. Enter their hours (e.g. 40 for 40 hours of PTO) and save. Balances update on their Home screen immediately and appear in any future time-off requests.

Who can do what

Roles are set in Airtable and displayed in the Roster. The Manager panel is visible to Manager, Admin, and Owner roles only.

Capability Employee Manager Admin Owner
Clock in / out, view own records
Request & track own time off
Read memos, docs & benefits
Submit feedback (incl. anonymous)
Approve / deny time-off requests
Review & adjust any timesheet
Post memos & documents
Manage roster, set PTO / UTO
Onboard new hires & process payroll
Read Owner Direct messages✓ Only
Modify Owner accountsAirtable only

Making the most of the Hub

📌

Check Tasks first, every shift

The Tasks panel is your action queue. Pending time-off requests, flagged corrections, and new hires needing setup all surface here automatically — nothing slips through if you check it first.

Respond to time-off requests promptly

Employees see "pending" until you act. A quick decision with a note goes a long way — they're emailed the moment you respond, so they're never left guessing about their schedule.

📋

Use audience targeting — don't blast everything to all staff

Posting to "All Staff" when something only applies to Packaging creates noise. Target by department or individual to keep the feed relevant and make acknowledgments meaningful.

✍️

Always note why when adjusting a timesheet

Manager-adjusted entries are audit-logged. A clear note ("Employee reported leaving at 4pm, system showed open entry") keeps the record clean and protects everyone if questions arise later.

🔒

Owner accounts are locked in the Hub — by design

You cannot edit role, department, PIN, or status for Owner-department employees here. Those changes must be made directly in Airtable to prevent accidental lockouts of ownership accounts.

Things managers often ask

An employee says they didn't get their time-off response email. What do I do?
Check that their Email field is filled in on the Roster. If it's missing, add it and re-process. Also confirm the request status was actually changed — "pending" requests don't trigger emails.
A new hire shows up in the roster but their PTO is blank — is that normal?
Yes. Balances are set manually after onboarding is complete. Go to PTO & UTO — new hires with missing balances are flagged at the top of the list.
Can I delete a timesheet entry that was entered by mistake?
No — entries are never deleted, only adjusted. This protects the audit trail. Use Edit Entries to correct the times and add a manager note explaining what happened.
Can employees see each other's timesheets or balances?
No. Each employee sees only their own records. Manager, Admin, and Owner roles are the only ones with access to all employee data via the Manager panel.
How do I post something only one employee can see?
In Post Memo or Documents, choose "By employee" as the audience and select the individual. They're the only one who sees it in their feed.
What's the difference between Manager, Admin, and Owner in practice?
All three have identical access to the Manager panel. The only functional difference is that Owner-department employees can read Owner Direct feedback messages, and Owner accounts can only be modified in Airtable — not in the Hub.
Swift Team Hub wasn't built because we needed another tool. It was built because we wanted a single, honest place where every person on this team, from their first day to their hundredth shift, feels organized, informed, and heard. It's to empower our leaders to help empower our team. — Nate & Eric, Swift Coffee