How to Set Up an Employee Schedule in Excel

Properly setting up a schedule for employees is a vital step towards establishing and maintaining an efficient workplace. When you set up an employee schedule, it is important to make sure that all shifts have sufficient coverage, that each employee is working the appropriate amount of hours and that employees receive adequate time off, as well. You can use Microsoft Excel to set up an employee schedule that is effective and easy to use as well.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Microsoft Excel 2000 - 2007

1. 
   Insert Header

   Open a blank Excel worksheet. Go to the "Insert" tab in Excel 2007 or the "View" menu in Excel 2003 or earlier and select "Header & Footer." Select "Custom Header" and enter "Employee Schedule."

2. 
   Set Up Orientation

   Go to the "Page Layout" tab in Excel 2007 and click on "Orientation." Select "Landscape." In Excel 2003 or earlier, go to the "File" menu and select "Page Setup." Select "Landscape" on the "Page" tab. Enter "For the week of:" in cell "A1." Select cell "A4."

3. 
   First Scheduled Day of the Week

   Set up the cell by changing the font size to "12" and select "Bold" in the "Font" group of the "Home" tab in Excel 2007 or on the "Formatting" toolbar in Excel 2003 or earlier. Type in the first day of the scheduled workweek for employees.

4. 
   Set Up Schedule Times

   Select cell "B4." Type in the first scheduled time for employees to start work. Enter increments of time in the remaining cells of "Row 4." These may be hour or half hour increments, or you might want to only enter shift change times.

5. 
   Set Up Employees in the Schedule

   Select cell "A5." Enter the name of the first employee by alphabetical order. In cell "A6," enter the next employee alphabetically, and so on until all employees are set up in the schedule.

6. 
   Set Up the Rest of the Schedule

   Skip a row and repeat steps 3 through 5 with the second day of the workweek. Repeat with the remaining days of the workweek. Add color to the cells containing days, times and employee names by using the "Fill Color" button in the "Font" group of the "Home" tab in Excel 2007, or the "Formatting" toolbar in Excel 2003 or earlier.

7. 
   Save the Schedule as a Template

   Save the employee schedule as an Excel template. Click the "Office Button" in Excel 2007 or the "File" menu in Excel 2003 or earlier and select "Save As." Enter "Employee Schedule" under "File Name." Select "Excel Template (*.xltx)" under "Save as Type" in Excel 2007 or "Template" in Excel 2003 or earlier and click "Save." This will allow you to reuse the schedule without having to set it up again.

References

• Excel Shift Schedule Template