Best Work Scheduling Templates: Time to Put Scheduling on Autopilot

Last Updated on August 29, 2025 by Ewen Finser

Countless businesses succeed or struggle on the ability or inability of owners to forecast staffing needs, manage unexpected absences, or balance employee preferences with peak demand. 

Some operators start with a simple piece of paper, and then move to the trusty Excel spreadsheet. However, if you’ve had one too many “I didn’t know I was working” excuses, it often means you are better off getting a work scheduling template. 

These tools provide you a ready-made, organized way to build, share, and optimize schedules to keep your team on track. Below, I’ve curated my favorite work scheduling templates for business owners like me looking to simplify the scheduling process, reduce stress for managers, and keep their business operating smoothly and efficiently.

#1. Employee Scheduling Template by Smartsheet

Smartsheet is a brand you’ve probably come across on the interweb and is one of my favorite “fancy” spreadsheet tools to use. They offer many free templates that make managing my team’s schedule a breeze and can be downloaded as an Excel sheet or from the Smartsheet platform.

Smartsheet’s employee scheduling template is one of my favorites. It gives me a clear weekly view of all my employees’ shifts and automatically calculates paid hours and labor costs, so we can stay on top of our budget. I can choose which day the week starts and highlight different shifts to show day or night schedules, vacation time, and any other type of work hours. 

With this template, I find planning my team’s schedule has become faster and easier than ever (also far less stressful).

#2. Bi-weekly Work Schedule Template by Smartsheet

If you’re a Type A like me, you’ll enjoy Smartsheet’s bi-weekly work schedule template. This template is great for seeing two full weeks at a glance, weekends included. 

Each day is laid out in hourly slots from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., which gives me plenty of detail to organize shifts without missing anything. I can adjust the dates or time intervals to fit exactly what I need. And when I’d rather work with pen and paper, I just print a blank version and fill it in by hand. It’s such a simple way for me to stay organized and keep my team moving in the right direction.

#3. Employee Shift Schedule Template by Smartsheet

Sometimes I just need a clearer picture of everyone’s day, and Smartsheet’s employee shift schedule template really helps. It breaks down each team member’s shifts by the hour and even gives me space to assign tasks or specific work areas. I love how simple and easy to read it is—it cuts down on confusion and makes it easy for both me and my team to see who’s doing what and when. It’s tops for helping me make sure everything is running smoothly.

#4. Employee Shift Schedule Template by Microsoft

Another work scheduling template that I’ve tried out is Microsoft’s employee shift schedule template. I think the Smartsheet’s version is simpler, so I’ve stuck with it since I switched. But this Microsoft scheduling template is great at helping you plan a full week of work for my team. 

It lays everything out from Monday through Sunday and even calculates the hours, which really simplifies the whole scheduling process. I like that it’s fully customizable. You can adjust the text, add images, or tweak the details to fit exactly what you need. If you want to get creative, you can switch up the template with pre-installed fonts, photos, or graphics. Sharing the schedule is quick and simple, too, which makes it helpful for keeping your team organized and on track.

#5. Work Shift Calendar Template by Microsoft

Another Microsoft template I really like is their work shift calendar. I love how it makes it so simple for me to manage schedules and keep track of shifts throughout the year. I can plan for up to three jobs in the calendar I choose, and it automatically highlights the days with color-coding, which makes it super easy to reference at a glance. 

I also like that it’s fully customizable, where I can adjust the text, add images, or personalize it however I want. 

#6. Employee Shift Schedule Template by TemplateLAB

I really like TemplateLAB because they offer such a wide selection of employee scheduling templates in Word, Excel, and PDF. It gives me plenty of options to choose from, depending on what works best for my team. 

The one I like the best is their employee shift schedule template. Having a clear, structured schedule makes such a difference as it keeps you organized, helps you assign shifts easily, and gives your team a reliable reference for when they’re working. And if you’re ever unsure about something, they even provide step-by-step instructions, which makes the whole process so much smoother.

#7. Employee Scheduling Template by When I Work

When I Work is another tool that I like to use that offers an employee scheduling template in Excel. It’s an easy starting point for planning and organizing staff shifts. With just a few quick steps, you can add your team members, set up their shifts and roles, and then assign them to each day of the week. I especially like how flexible the template is with its date adjust function for whatever week you’re scheduling.

And if you ever need to start fresh, just clear it out and begin again, which makes it really practical for ongoing use. Once you’ve got the schedule ready, either print it for your staff or share it digitally, which makes it so easy to keep everyone on the same page.

#8. Employee Scheduling Template Buddy Punch

Buddy Punch offers a variety of free templates for Google Drive that can be helpful for creating and managing employee work schedules. Their employee scheduling template is a super handy one I’ve used now and again when I just need something that’s straightforward, and is site and job-specific. This makes it great for assigning people to particular projects or roles.

#9. Weekly Schedule Template by Homebase

Homebase is designed with small businesses and hourly workers in mind, and offers a platform that brings everything together in one place. You don’t need to build any schedule from scratch because they’ve got a ton of ready-made weekly schedule templates. Depending on whether you’re looking to keep the staffing workflow consistent, cut down on common mistakes, like accidentally overlapping shifts or repeating schedules, there’s a template for you.

The fact that it’s an app is one reason I am strongly considering dumping most of my Excel-based templates for this in the coming weeks. I can manage shift schedules, track availability hours and time off, manage payroll, and keep in touch with my team. All from the app. 

That’s definitely a more organized and less stressful workflow. My managers spend less time on administrative tasks, and employees always know where they need to be at the click of a button. 

#10. Restaurant Scheduling Template by Toast

I’m in the restaurant business, and Toast’s free restaurant scheduling template, provided via their employee management platform, is another that keeps popping up when I talk to fellow restaurant owners. 

They swear by its ability to simplify planning and organizing team shifts. You can update the schedule each week directly on your computer, making adjustments as needed, and then choose to share it digitally with your staff or print out copies to distribute in person. This flexibility ensures that everyone on the team knows where they need to be and when. And in turn, you get a smoothly run restaurant.

Choosing a Work Scheduling Template

Managing a busy team doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. I’ve learned that firsthand. There are a lot of great and free scheduling templates and tools out there, from Smartsheet and Microsoft to TemplateLAB, When I Work, Buddy Punch, Homebase, and Toast. You can always find something that fits your preferred work style or business context. 

For example, sometimes I want digital schedules I can share online, probably because I have a project I’m working on that takes me out of the restaurant and has me working with a lot of volunteers. Other times, I print out templates to post on the wall. 

However, I’ll be honest, the idea of an app that combines scheduling with payroll, time tracking, and team communication is tempting. And that’s probably going to be my go-to going forward.