How to Make a Schedule for Employees in Excel (3 Types)

Scheduling employee work can be a daunting task for managers and business owners, especially when dealing with a large workforce. Creating a schedule manually can be time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to manage. Fortunately, Excel provides a simple and effective solution for creating employee schedules that are accurate, organized, and easy to manage. Have you ever tried to make a schedule for employees in Excel? If you want to make a schedule in Excel, you can go through the article. In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to make a schedule for employees in Excel, including tips and best practices to ensure that the schedule meets the needs of both the employees and the business.

Watch Video – Make a Schedule for Employees in Excel

We have attached an overview of the schedule for your better visualization.

The Advantages of Making Schedules for Employees in Excel

Making a schedule for employees in Excel has several advantages, including:

i) Time-saving: Creating a schedule in Excel can save time, as it allows you to quickly and easily input employee information, availability, and shift times. You can also use pre-designed templates to further speed up the process.

ii) Improved organization: Excel’s ability to sort and filter data makes it easier to organize employee information and create schedules that are clear and concise.

iii) Better communication: A schedule in Excel can be easily shared with employees, either by printing it out or sending it via email. This can improve communication and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

iv) Reduced errors: Excel’s built-in formulas and error-checking features can help reduce errors in the scheduling process, ensuring that shifts are correctly assigned and conflicts are avoided.

v) Enhanced flexibility: Excel allows you to easily make changes to the schedule, even at the last minute. This can be especially helpful when unexpected changes occur or when employees request time off.

vi) Improved productivity: By creating a schedule in Excel, you can ensure that all shifts are covered and that work is completed efficiently and effectively. This can help improve productivity and reduce downtime.

Overall, using Excel to create schedules for employees can help improve organization, reduce errors, and enhance communication and productivity in the workplace.

How to Make a Schedule for Employees in Excel: 3 Types

You can create different schedules for your company’s employees in Excel. There are daily, weekly, and monthly schedules. All you need to do is track down the date and time of your work. We have tried to show you all 3 types of schedules here.

1. Daily Schedule

A daily schedule is a plan or outline of activities that an individual intends to carry out on a given day. It serves as a guide to help people manage their time efficiently and accomplish their daily tasks and goals. In your company, you need to keep track of your employee’s daily work schedule. You can make a daily schedule quite easily by following the below procedure.

First of all, enter your Shift Start Time and Shift End Time for individual employees. then in Cell G5 write up the following formula.

=E5-D5

Here, E5 is the Shift End Time and D5 is the Shift Start Time. We want to know how much time he/she spent in the office.

Generally, the shift is about 8 hours a day. So, you can use Conditional Formatting to differentiate which employee works less than 8 hours. To do that,

Hover over the Home tab >> pick Conditional Formatting from the Styles group >> choose Highlight Cells Rules>> Less Than.

A window named Less Than appears. Select the blank box to 8 and choose the with box to Light Red Fill with Dark Red Text, and Lastly, hit OK.

The Total Hours less than 8 will be highlighted.

Now, we want to put the work list through Data Validation.

To do this, select the cells where you want to put the Tasks. Move to the Data tab >> from the Data Tools group and choose Data Validation.

A Data Validation window appears. Choose List from the Allow box and write up your daily routine work for the employees in the Source box. Then press OK.

Finally, apply the task for specific employees in your Tasks column from the dropdown list to make the schedule for employees in Excel.

When you enter all the fields of your Tasks your schedule will look like the image below.

2. Weekly Schedule

Creating a weekly schedule in Excel can be a great way to stay organized and ensure that you make the most of your time. You can make a weekly schedule for employees in Excel by following the above method. In the weekly schedule, you need to insert the 7 days of the week and the day-wise work just like the image below. You can input the work list through Data Validation like we used before.

3. Monthly Schedule

Monthly schedules are used to maintain the workflow throughout the month. Follow the step-wise procedure to make a monthly schedule for employees in Excel.

Firstly, insert a Schedule Start date which should be the start of a month.

Then in Cell D4 insert =B5 to get the date value. Format the D4 to AH4 cells to Date Format.

In the E4 cell write up the formula D4+1 to get the next date and drag the Fill Handle tool the right side for other cells.

At this moment, we want to know the weekdays of the inserted dates. So, we will use the WEEKDAY function. The function will return you the weekday number of your date.
Enter the below formula in cell D3.

=WEEKDAY(D4)

The function shows the insert value of the date in cell D4 to the number of weekdays. Sunday is the first day of the week and Saturday is the last day of the week.

Press ENTER, and drag it right to the AH3 cell.

Now, we want to highlight the weekends from our schedule. To do this, select the dates and navigate to the Home tab. Choose Conditional Formatting from the Styles group and pick New Rule from there.

A window named New Formatting Rule appears. Select Use a formula to determine which cells to format.
Write up the below formula in the Format values where this formula is true box.

=$D$3:$AH$3=1

Eventually, click on Format.

From the Format Cells window, choose a suitable color from the Fill group, and press OK.

You can also highlight the absent employee field. To do this, select the employee’s attendance sheet and hover over the Home tab >> choose Conditional Formatting >> Highlight Cell Rules >>pick Equal To.

Then, type =0 in the Format cells that are EQUAL TO box and choose Green Fill with Dark Green Text in the “with” box.
Lastly, press OK. So, all the blank cells will be highlighted and you can find out easily the absent list of your employees.

You can also find out the working employees list in the schedule. To do this, move to cell D12 and enter the formula.

=COUNTIF(D5:D11,"x")

The function counts for the text “x” in the D5:D11 cells.

Now, drag it right for the other cells after pressing ENTER.

The absent employees on a certain day can be easily found from the result of the Working Employees list. You can subtract this value from the total number of employees. Then you will get the number of Absent Employees.

In cell D13 write up the following formula.

=7-D12

In our dataset, we take a total of 7 employees. So, we subtract the value of D12 from 7.

Finally, your monthly schedule for employees will look like the image below.

Things to Remember

Consider using color coding to make it easy to differentiate between shifts and identify conflicts or gaps in the schedule.
Keep the schedule simple and easy to read, with clear headings and consistent formatting.
Make sure to include scheduled breaks or any overtime that may be required.
Review the schedule regularly and make any necessary adjustments to ensure it meets the needs of both the employees and the business.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why should I make a schedule for employees in Excel?

Creating a schedule in Excel can help you manage employee availability, avoid conflicts, and ensure that work is completed efficiently and effectively.

2. What is a good timeframe for creating an employee schedule in advance?

It is recommended to plan the employee schedule at least a week in advance to give employees sufficient notice and time to make any necessary arrangements.

3. How can I organize employee information in Excel for scheduling purposes?

You can organize employee information such as names, job titles, and availability in a clear and concise manner by using a spreadsheet in Excel. You can also consider using pre-designed schedule templates that include fields for this information.

4. How can I ensure that the schedule meets the needs of both the employees and the business?

To ensure that the schedule meets the needs of both the employees and the business, it is important to take into account employee preferences and availability, as well as any business requirements or deadlines. It may also be helpful to review the schedule regularly and make adjustments as necessary.

5. What are some tips for creating an effective employee schedule in Excel?

Some tips for creating an effective employee schedule in Excel include using a template, organizing information in a clear and concise manner, considering employee preferences and availability, factoring in breaks and overtime, using color coding, keeping it simple, and reviewing and adjusting the schedule regularly.

Download Practice Workbook

Download the following practice workbook. It will help you understand the topic more clearly.

Making Schedule for Employees.xlsx

Conclusion

That’s all about today’s session. Hope you understand the steps and methods to make a schedule for employees in Excel. It helps you to maintain a proper routine and organize your company easily. Whether you’re a small business owner or a manager of a large organization, this article will provide you with the tools and knowledge you need to create an effective employee schedule using Excel. If you find any kind of difficulties while making the schedule you can contact us through comments.

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