Why You Should Stop Using an Excel Weekly Schedule Template

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Why You Should Stop Using a Weekly Schedule Template Excel Offers

Microsoft Excel is perhaps the most widely used software in every business around the world, and it makes sense why managers prefer the weekly schedule template Excel provides over the other spreadsheet software. It can do tons of cool things like calculating pay, totaling the number of workdays in a specific timeframe, sorting and filtering of data, etc. These functions are just the tip of iceberg. Excel can perform thousands of logical, financial, statistical and engineering functions.

Most businesses instruct their management team to use specialized Excel templates for scheduling and time-tracking purposes. They do this because almost everyone knows their way around in the program user interface. Managers use the weekly schedule template Excel provides to schedule appointments and shifts, record billable hours and track their employee roster. The software is undoubtedly easy to use, but there is a fundamental problem with using this software platform as a main source in employee scheduling. Simply put, it is a spreadsheet program, and its capabilities are limited. It was not originally designed for automated scheduling, automatically log worked shift times, or even compatible on a mobile device.

Reasons Why You Should Stop Using Excel for Scheduling

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1. No Automated Entries
Let's assume that you have about 100 full-time employees. If you are using Excel, you will have to manually enter and categorize each employee's name, position/role, shift, etc. for reporting purposes and to meet each employee's availability. This is a time-consuming task that will take at least an hour out of your precious time every day. Since Excel is not a scheduling application, you cannot automate the categorization process. A scheduling app would let you automate the whole process for easier reporting.

2. Lack of Communication
For any business to function, effective communication between the top brass and lower level employees is a key. Hundreds of studies have shown how important communication systems are in every successful business. When you use the weekly schedule template Excel offers as a scheduler, you will have to update the schedules on a daily basis, then save it on your computer, upload the file into an email and then forward the email to every employee. Once that task is completed, then you can finally move on with the rest of your daily management duties. In a proper scheduling application, all you will need to do is schedule the tasks accordingly and the app will automatically inform every employee of their tasks for the day. This communication system works both ways. Employees can also submit working shift requests, and the app will automatically notify the manager of the request. Excel lacks this communication system.

3. Contributes to Scheduling Conflicts
In Excel, you can't see the real-time availability and requests made by employees. You can't update your employees of changes in real-time. Instead, it will take hours to process the information. This all contributes to scheduling conflicts, which in turn reduces the productivity amongst your staff. It also causes rifts and can hurt the overall morale of the workplace.

4. Does Not Provide Labor Tracking or Forecasting
As a manager, it is important to see the big picture. You need to be able to anticipate future scenarios and learn from missteps made in the past. In scheduling, you need to make sure that you have enough staff support during peak time, while avoiding overstaffing during slower business hours. This is especially true for restaurant managers. This technique saves a lot of money, but the weekly schedule template Excel offers does not have the technical capacity into labor tracking tools or forecasting features.

5. Does Not Protect Against Labor Law Violations
You always need to be aware of the most current labor laws according to your state or geographic location, both for minors and adults. Labor laws protect employees from working an excess of hours that they are not legally allowed to work. The weekly schedule template Excel offers does not have the ability to track how many hours an employee has worked. If you are not in accordance with your labor laws, then you business will be in violation of not abiding to the law, therefore subjecting your business to costly fines.

6. Complicates Work Hour Records
Data entry in Excel often leads to discrepancies between actual and registered hours. This in turn gives rise to office disputes about the actual hours worked. The result? Payroll and productivity both get a huge hit.

The Solution

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It is time to replace the weekly schedule template Excel provides as your main method of schedule creation with a scheduling app that will simplify day-to-day scheduling tasks for you. Now the question is -- Which app should I choose?

The answer is quite simple Zip Schedules. With this software, you can say good-bye to all the stress and headaches caused by scheduling conflicts, time-consuming data entry, and the many other tedious tasks that accumulate, due to outdated Excel data entry. This application is a one-stop solution for all your scheduling needs. With Zip Schedules, you have access to forecasting, real-time communication, labor tracking, time record keeping, and much more

Streamline your business operations, make your life easier, and choose Zip Schedules. With a free 30-day trial, you have literally nothing to lose and everything to gain.

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