Here’s a quick and easy way of creating a work schedule in Excel from scratch.
Step 1: Enter the Employee Names and Dates
The vertical X-axis is for your employees. The horizontal Y-axis is for days of work. Enter the information as shown below. Leave an empty row below each employee. This row will be used for employee positions.
💡 Quick tip: Click the bottom right corner of a cell containing a date, hold the left mouse button, and then drag the cursor over adjacent cells to create a logical series of dates.
Step 2: Create the Work Shifts
Enter the hours of work and relevant employee positions under each day of work. The end result should be bare yet functional work schedule.
Step 3: Customize the Excel Work Schedule
To make your work schedule easier to read, customize it by bolding key information or editing the borders, cell size, text position, and fill colors.
Since there’s a near-limitless number of ways of customizing your Excel schedule, you could easily spend a couple of hours tweaking everything. Keep things simple.
If you’re still planning on using Excel for your schedule, feel free to download our free work schedule Excel template, which will let you get started quickly and save time.
Why Create a Work Schedule for Your Staff?
Work schedules are an important if not essential tool for any manager. Their main purpose is to inform workers about their work hours and tasks (or position). Many managers also use their work schedules to check whether their personnel requirements are adequately met for a given time period.
What Information Should Work Schedules Include at a Bare Minimum?
In its simplest expression, a work schedule is a list of employees that includes work hours. Typical work schedules cover a one- or two-week period to allow staff members to adapt their personal schedule. For companies where employees have different positions, schedules should also include said positions.
How to Improve Work Schedules?
Many managers add relevant management information to their work schedules, including leaves and special events. Job sites and the necessary equipment are also useful to note, as needed.
How to Communicate Work Schedules?
For companies where the employees work on site, work schedules are usually printed out and displayed in the employee lounge. Some managers also take the time to send the schedules by email.
Why do people use Excel for scheduling?
The Microsoft Office productivity suite includes a number of widely known business software such as Excel. By force of habit, many people naturally stick to the free tools they’ve been using for years even if they’re not entirely appropriate.
