A standby pool (or reserve list) is a ranked group of staff held behind an allocated shift or position, ready to be called on if an allocated person can't make it. It's the overflow from allocation, not a rejection — everyone in the pool bid for the shift but wasn't placed first.

How it works

When there are more bids for a shift than capacity allows, the extra bidders don't simply miss out — they're ranked and held as standby for that specific shift. Typically:

• A top tier of standby is actively notified of their reserve status and may be told where they rank, so they know they're likely to be called if a seat opens.
• A wider, silent reserve exists further down the list, contacted only if needed.
• If an allocated person drops out, the pool is worked in rank order until the seat is filled.

Why it matters

Without a standby pool, a single cancellation becomes a scramble — a manager working down a personal contact list or posting into a group chat hoping someone's free. A ranked pool turns that into a known, ordered fallback, and it also gives unplaced bidders a clearer status than a flat rejection: they know they're still in contention, not out of the running.

Standby pools are the foundation that makes fast dropout recovery possible — without a pre-ranked reserve, there's no fast way to know who to ask next.

In Chronomancer

Every allocated position in Chronomancer carries a ranked standby pool automatically. When a seat is vacated — a self-withdrawal or a live-night dropout — the platform can send a one-time claim link straight to the ranked pool in order, and the first valid claim wins the seat.