How to create and use scheduling templates

Updated

Scheduling templates make it faster and more efficient to create a roster in 7shifts. Use templates to pre-define shifts, roles, and qualifications to allow for automatic scheduling that saves time and reduces errors. A scheduling template serves as a blueprint for repetitive scheduling needs rather than a live schedule.

Things to know

Important: Admins have access by default, while Managers and Assistant Managers require the "Can manage templates" permission.

  • Access to scheduling templates may require an upgrade from your current 7shifts plan.
  • Scheduling templates are specific to a Location and Department.
  • The mobile app is currently limited to saving schedules as templates. To manage these templates or use one to fill your schedule, please switch to the web app.
  • Scheduling templates do not support decimal values and only allow whole numbers for labor targets and sales.
  • Sales projections from scheduling templates do not carry over if your Location has an integrated POS system.
  • Scheduled breaks do not copy over when a template is used to fill a schedule.

Create a template 

Create a template that outlines all the shifts you need to fill, including the required qualifications such as Role and Skill Level for each position.

To create a scheduling template, follow these steps:

Web 🖥️ Mobile 📱
  1. Log in to the web app as an Admin or Manager/Assistant Manager with permissions.
  2.  In the left navigation bar, head to Schedule.
  3.  Click on the Copy icon > select Manage Template.
  4.  Click + Add template:
  5. Name your Template and then select the Location and Department > hit Save.
  6. Click on the Template to expand the template creation page.  

  7. Here, you can enter a Labor Target % and Projected Sales. Please note that these will be designated for the selected location and are not department-specific:


    Scheduling templates do not support decimal values and only allow whole numbers. Decimal values are available in the Labor Budget tool. 

  8. Click + Add shift.

  9. Add shift details including the required shift types: Skill level, a specific person, or Open shift.

    Skill Level - By default, Employees are classified as Skill Level 1 (Beginner), unless specified otherwise within their employee profile.

    Specific Person - If you prefer, you can assign a specific person to a shift, but only employees from the selected Location and Department will be listed.

    Open Shift - If you do not want to autofill shifts with employees, this creates Open Shifts on the Schedules page where you can then drag and drop to manually assign them to your employees. 

    Select a Role, or leave the Role field blank to create a No Role shift which has no specific Role associated with it. (see example in image, step 15)
     

    You can also publish them as Open Shifts so that employees can volunteer to bid for them in the Shift Pool.

  10. Add shift details including the required role, time, and scheduled break, and apply it to days of the week:

  11. Click Create. 
  12. Repeat as necessary. Continue adding shifts to your template as needed. You can also drag and drop shifts assigned to the same Role for better organization.
  13. All modifications will be auto-saved as you work through the template.

Nicely done! Once you have added all of your shifts, a scheduling template will look something like this:

(click on the image to expand it)
 

Fill a schedule using a template

After creating a template, use it to automatically assign available employees based on their approved Availability and Time Off.

Important: Managers/Assistant Managers require permissions Can delete Schedules and Can manage templates permissions to apply scheduling templates to existing shifts or multiple templates.

  1. Log in to the web app as an Admin or Manager/Assistant Manager with permissions.
  2.  In the left navigation bar, head to Schedule.
  3. Use the filters to change the date range, Location, and Department.
  4.  Click on the Copy icon  > select Fill from Template:

     

  5. Select a template and choose whether to include labor percentage targets > click Submit:

  6. If there are pre-existing shifts, you will be prompted to either merge the template with these shifts or delete them:

  7. If any shifts remain unassigned after applying the template, you will see a notification that we were unable to find employees to fill all shifts. Click Review your schedule to view these unassigned shifts in the Unassigned Shifts section:

  8. You can drag and drop unassigned shifts to appropriate employees:

  9. For Open Shift Templates, drag the shifts from the Open Shifts section to the desired employees. You may also publish Open Shifts to the Shift Pool, allowing employees to bid on them:


     

Copy a template

Important: Templates are Location and Department-specific. Sales projections do not carry over for POS-integrated Locations, and scheduled breaks are not included in copies.

  1. Log in to the web app as an Admin or Manager/Assistant Manager with permissions.
  2. In the left navigation bar, head to Schedule.
  3. Use the filters to change the date range, Location, and Department.
  4. Click on the Copy icon  > select Manage Templates:
  5. Click on a Template.
  6. Click Copy Template.
  7. Enter a name for your copied template and click Save to begin making edits.

Delete a template

  1. Log in to the web app as an Admin or Manager/Assistant Manager with permissions.
  2.  In the left navigation bar, head to Schedule. 
  3.  Click on the Copy icon  > select Manage Templates.
  4. Click the More Options icon more-options-ellipses.png next to a template > select Delete:

Related articles

7shifts 101: Schedule

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