A duty roster format with one column per duty

Why duties go across the top

A duty roster is about jobs that have to be covered every day, whoever is in. Putting each duty in its own column means a glance down that column shows who has had it most. Nobody needs to add anything up: if one name appears four times under Lock up and another never does, you can see it from across the room.

The example is from a small hardware store, Brookvale Timber & Tools, with six staff and four daily duties. Change the headings to suit you: Fire warden, Bins, Opening checks, Visitor sign-in. Put the time in the heading when it matters, so the column says “Lock up (18:00)” and nobody wonders.

Setting it up in five minutes

1. 01

   List the duties

   Write down every job that must happen each day, and drop anything that is really part of everyone’s normal work.

2. 02

   Check who can do what

   Mark who holds a first aid certificate or keys before you write a single name. Only those people go in those columns.

3. 03

   Fill one column at a time

   Rotate the names down each column in turn, rather than filling one day across. It keeps each duty moving.

4. 04

   Avoid doubles

   Nobody should open and lock up on the same day. Scan each row for repeated names.

5. 05

   Pin it up early

   Post it a fortnight ahead and leave a space at the bottom for changes, initialled.

Where a printed duty roster falls short

Paper can’t tell you that Yuki is on leave the week you wrote her in for three lock-ups, and it can’t reshuffle the columns when Dev changes to part-time. That’s the moment most duty rosters become a mess of crossings-out.

In FairTurns, each duty becomes a position with a headcount, and each person can be limited to the duties they’re set up for, so nobody without keys is rostered to lock up. Fill shares each duty out over the next few months, people mark the days they’re away, and when staff change, Redistribute lists every person who gains or loses a date before it changes anything. All free. The duty roster guide covers the wider question of what belongs on one.

Questions