A weekly roster template, Monday to Sunday

Reading across and down

Read across a row and you see one person’s week. Read down a column and you see who’s in on Tuesday. That double view is why this layout lasts: staff check their own line, and whoever opens up checks the column. The Shifts column on the right is a quick count, so nobody needs to ask whether the week was shared out sensibly.

Leave a box blank for a day off rather than writing “off”. Blank boxes are easier to scan, and it’s obvious at a glance when a day has only one person on.

A weekly routine that holds up

1. On Monday, ask everyone to tell you any days they’re away the following week.
2. On Wednesday, write the fixed shifts first: the people who always open, the student who only does weekends.
3. Fill the remaining gaps from whoever has the fewest shifts in the right-hand column so far, not from whoever is standing nearest.
4. Check each day’s column has the cover you need at the rush. For a café, that usually means two on from 7:00 to 9:30 and again at lunch.
5. Post it on Thursday, a full four days before the week begins.

At Saltwater Espresso in Cronulla, the rule that made the biggest difference was the Thursday deadline. Before it, the roster went up on Sunday afternoon and people found out on Sunday night they were opening Monday.

One week at a time, or the whole season?

Weekly paper rosters suit places where the pattern changes week to week. If most of your shifts repeat (Kofi opens Monday to Thursday, every week), you’re rewriting the same sheet every Wednesday.

A FairTurns roster sets the repeating shifts once, as finished sentences like “Every week on Monday, 6:30–14:30”, and keeps them months ahead. Fill handles the shifts that move around, giving each to whoever has had the fewest turns, and leaves out anyone marked away. The week view in the calendar looks much like this sheet, and the team checks it on their phones from a single link. It’s free for any team size.

Questions