Restaurant Kitchen Schedule Template Using Excel
Below you’ll find that I’ve created a downloadable restaurant kitchen schedule template in Excel and made a video demo on how to use the form. Every Chef knows that although writing a schedule for your crew can be tedious, having a schedule posted ultimately makes your life easier. A good schedule will tell the crew not only what days and shifts they are working, but also which station/position they are working. A good schedule may also include notes about events which may increase or decrease business on any given day. This is especially true if you are a large resort and have concerts, comedians, or other public events which draw people to your restaurants.
Here are some of the features of this schedule form.
6 Weeks Worth of Schedules to Cover 1 Month
This Excel schedule form is intended to cover up to 90 employees for one full month so it has 6 weeks worth of schedules (some months like Dec 2017 span 6 weeks). This way you can have 12 months worth of schedules easily organized in yearly folders on your computer. I would recommend naming them by venue or schedule name, year and month like this “Blackfish 2018-07” not like this “Blackfish 2018 July”.
By using the numeric version of the month rather than the name of the month they will be organized Jan – Dec in your folder and be easy to find. And even though you may be saving them in the “2018” schedule folder it is still a good idea to put the year in the name as indicated above because that way you can compare the same month from 2 separate years.
In and Out Times with Total Hours Worked per Person
The restaurant kitchen schedule template is set up with “In” and “Out” time selections spanning 24 hours by 15 minute increments and specifies “AM” or “PM”. For instance, times between 2:00 – 3:00 include 2:00 pm, 2:15 pm, 2:30 pm, 2:45 pm, and 3:00 pm. At the end of a person’s work week the form automatically gives a total for total hours scheduled.
Easy to Designate Station or Position Worked
The video demo shows the entire process of using this schedule form, including 2 different ways to indicate which station or area crew members are assigned to work. It isn’t necessary to do this, but it is an option if it’s something you prefer to do on your schedules.
Video Schedule Demo Index of Topics by Time
Here is a timeline index of the topics covered in the video. If you are a seasoned Excel user then the last section labeled “Excel Tips” is probably info you already know and therefore unnecessary to watch.
- 0:54 remove yellow warning bar in Excel
- 3:06 setting up schedule name and days of week as template for entire schedule
- 4: 29 setting the dates for the month
- 6: 25 entering start and end times for staff
- 9:07 color coding by station
- 11:10 how to copy and paste to a new week
- 13:05 how to enable Macros
- 14:56 alternate color coding ideas
- 15:48 how to set the Print Area
- 17:19 how to set Page Margins
Rules of Etiquette for Restaurant Schedules
Here are some general guidelines which I’ve learned when writing kitchen schedules. If you have additional suggestions leave them in the comment section below.
- Try to post schedules 2 weeks in advance, especially during holidays or other events which change the “normal” schedule
- this allows your crew to have a life and make plans, which leads to happier staff and fewer call-outs because they made plans for next week before you posted the schedule
- Try to accommodate requests for days off
- let the crew know that it’s first come first serve if asking for a Saturday or other busy day off. This means they need to plan ahead and lets them know that perhaps you can let 1 (or a few) have the day off, but beyond that the answer is “no”.
- Talk with the crew, be sure that they are willing to pick-up the extra work if you choose to allow a shift to be occasionally short staffed in order to accommodate requested days off. Often the staff will rally together and work harder if they know that they also have to the opportunity to get a Saturday (or other busy day) off occasionally. But don’t allow this to be the norm…occasionally is the key word here.
- Once the schedule is posted both the management team and the crew need to honor it!
- It is too late for the Chef or management to change the schedule!
- things happen and sometimes a schedule may need to change after it is posted, and in most states (perhaps all states) the business has the legal right to change schedules, but doing so doesn’t show respect for your crew. Work with your staff and get their permission to make changes.
- It is too late for a cook to ask for a day off if the schedule is posted.
- They will have to change their plans to accommodate work, or negotiate with other cooks to swap days.
- If team members change their days/shifts then ALWAYS enforce:
- that it MUST be approved by the Chef, a supervisor, or manager. This ensures that you approve of the change and that the needs of the business are met (you don’t want the Grill guy conning the Pantry cook to work for him!)
- post the changes on the schedule and have each person initial the schedule, accepting responsibility for showing up for the different shift.
- If team members change their days/shifts then ALWAYS enforce:
- They will have to change their plans to accommodate work, or negotiate with other cooks to swap days.
- It is too late for the Chef or management to change the schedule!
Other Useful Links
- How to Unprotect an Excel Sheet
- Using Excel for Event Planning
- Chef Prep Sheets
- Chef Recipe Templates
Restaurant Kitchen Schedule Template in Excel
This form is only available to Premium & Corporate Subscribers (get more info)
Note: Microsoft Excel required (not included)
Clicking the button will bring you to the master download page.
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Thank you Chef for this wonderous resource! It is already making my life easier. As to rules of etiquette, apparently the filleting of staff who “meant to ask for” a particular day off is frowned upon in most countries. Go figure.
Thank you Chef David
Thanks you chef how could I add sick please, there is off and leave I need to add sick pls.
Thank very much
May i ask for the pass unlock sheet
Click on the “Info” tab near the bottom right of the sheet. The password and other info is on that tab.
hi Chef how can I remove the 15 minutes, and just have it for every hour? tks
You would have to do some minor re-coding to do that. But, once you have entered schedules with hourly times you can then simply copy and paste those times to everyone who works the same shift, rather than having to use the drop down selection for each day.
Hi Chef why when I put off does it result in #VALUE! ?
It must be an unresolved error. Try simpy typing off into the cell rather than using the drop down box.
Hi chef, I cannot download it. I have already paid? it keeps asking me to pay again and again to download. Why???????????????????????????????
I would like to ask if it would be possible to add split shifts into the cells?
Also when choosing the OFF or LEAVE options it shows VALUE, is there a way to fix this issue?
Many thanks
It might be possible to modify the cells to allow for split shifts by using 4 rows instead of 2 for each person’s in/out time and then modifying the Total formula to encompass the new range…but that’s a lot of work! It might be easier to just enter a person’s name twice and then schedule their split shifts on the existing form, and then total the 2 versions of their name. As for OFF and LEAVE showing a #VALUE I’ll have to do some research…don’t know how to fix it at this time. And alternate way to show LEAVE or… Read more »
when i put off i get a #value error in the hours section , how can i fix this as im new to excel.
thanks in advance
Unfortunately there isn’t a workaround for this. Excel does not recognize “off” as a time so you get an error message. One solution could be to fill the cells with a color. Tell your staff that the color represents your days off. Use the Fill Color on the Excel tool ribbon.
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