Looking for a good, reusable schedule template? Use this flexible 12 hour shift schedule template for Excel to build a staff schedule for your business. To help you get started, we include step by step instructions directly in the template. The only thing you need is Microsoft Excel or a similar program, like LibreOffice Calc or Google Sheets.
What is the 12 hour shift schedule template for Excel?
It’s a scheduling template created and edited using Microsoft Excel, a popular spreadsheet program for Windows. If you’re more comfortable with Google Sheets, you may prefer our Google Sheets employee schedule template. We provide both completely free to visitors.
How to use the Excel schedule template for 12 hour shifts
We made it easy for you by providing a monthly fixed-shift structure with defined shifts inside the spreadsheet. All you need to do is update the names of your staff and change the example shift lengths from 8 to 12. Adjust the times accordingly. At the bottom of the spreadsheet, the schedule will automatically track hours for you based on the new durations. You’ll see this reflected in the “Total Hours Per Week” row. Pretty cool, right?
You can also use the Excel schedule template for 10 hour shifts.
Why schedule employees using Excel?
Excel-based 12-hour shift schedule templates are much faster and more organized than trying to build a schedule by hand. This is why managers have used Excel templates for decades. Many schedule templates, like this one, run in Microsoft Excel or a similar spreadsheet program. In general, an Excel-based schedule requires you to input the data and schedule the time yourself. Then, when you’re done, you print and/or post the finished schedule at your workplace. You can also email it or post it online in a place only your employees can access (like a company intranet).
Limitations of spreadsheet templates
While they do speed things up a bit, spreadsheet templates still take time to set up, use, and reuse – even ones created using Excel. We did most of the up-front work for you, but if you need to update your shift schedule, you must go back into Excel to change the way you’ve assigned shifts. This is just part and parcel of using spreadsheets to track time. Excel can’t make the changes or assign shifts for you. What this means is that you’ll probably still be spending a lot of time building schedules, though probably not as much as if you wrote them down by hand.
Another limitation to Excel shift schedule templates is that they don’t factor in break and meal period tracking, which can get pretty hairy in some cities and states. They also don’t track time off requests, automatically update with shift swaps, or send you alerts when you’re at risk of overstaffing or understaffing.
Other shift schedule template options
When you’re ready to level up your scheduling process and stop spending so much time making schedules, try TimeForge. Our AutoScheduler and RoboSchedules tools can automatically create or suggest shift schedules for you in seconds. Because they live in the cloud, TimeForge schedules can be accessed from anywhere using a mobile phone or one of our labor management mobile apps. And unlike Excel-based templates, our scheduling software will notify employees when a new schedule is posted. This means your team will always know exactly when they work.
Intrigued? Learn more about TimeForge employee scheduling. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy our free 12 hour shift schedule template for Excel!
