How to Create an Employee Schedule Using Excel

You can create an employee schedule on an Excel spreadsheet.

Creating an employee schedule on paper can be time-consuming and frustrating. Microsoft Excel's spreadsheet format helps you create and update employee schedules more efficiently. An Excel spreadsheet accommodates a large number of employees, dates and times so it's easier to expand. You can also format the schedule to your taste, reuse it for new schedules and email it to your entire staff.

Instructions

1. Open a new spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel. Type "Employee Schedule" into cell A1 and press "Enter."

2. Type "Week of __________" into cell A2 and press "Enter."

3. Go to cell A4 and type "M" (for Monday) without the quotes.

4. Type an employee's name into cell B4 and press the "Tab" key. Continue adding the remaining employees into separate columns in the same row.

5. Go to cell A5 and type the starting time for the first shift, such as "8-12am." Type the second shift (ex., "12-4pm") in cell A6 and the third shift (ex., "4-8pm") in cell A7 and press "Enter."

6. Type "Tu" (for Tuesday) in cell A8 and press "Enter." Type the first, second and third shifts into the cells below. Repeat this pattern to add "W," "Th," "F," "Sat" and "Sun" and the correct shifts below them.

7. Highlight the schedule from cell A4 to the last shift you entered for the week.

8. Click the "Home" tab and select "Format as Table" from the "Styles" group. Pick a formatting style from the gallery.

9. Highlight the row containing the employees' names and press "Ctrl"+"B" on your keyboard to bold the names. Highlight column A and bold it as well.

10. Highlight cells A1 and A2. Go to the "Home" tab and select a "Font Size" from the "Font" group to enlarge the lettering for the selected cells. Bold the text as well.

11. Click the "Save" button in the Quick Access Toolbar to save a copy of the blank employee schedule. Name the file in the "Save As" dialog box and click "Save."

12. Return to the spreadsheet and type an "X" beside the date and time each employee is scheduled to work.

13. Click the "Office" button and select "Save As." The "Save As" dialog box opens. To save a copy of the filled out schedule, rename the "File name" text field and click "Save."

References

• Microsoft Office: Format Excel Table

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish