I built a Google Sheets labor matrix that auto-fills positions by hour based on forecasted covers; it took OT to zero in June and held labor at 22.4% on weekdays… If anyone wants the template, I’ll scrub our store info and post it — also curious what other low-cost tools are helping you keep labor tight without burning out the line?
OT to zero in June is killer. I did a similar Google Sheets setup that ‘auto-fills positions by hour’ and the big win was adding a simple cap on hours per person + skill tags per station, enforced with the Solver add-on (https://workspace.google.com/marketplace/app/solver/582363526838), so the sheet stops piling on the same two people, . @OP are you pulling covers from Toast/Square or typing them in?
Love the “auto-fills positions by hour” — I layered a Google Form + Apps Script so crew update availability/skills and the sheet pulls yesterday’s actual covers from Toast to nudge next week’s staffing, which killed most of our variance. Small caveat: add a prep/cleaning block tied to menu mix so you don’t create “ghost hours” the line can’t cover. Do you already bake in break compliance so the auto-fill doesn’t play 2 a.m. shift Tetris?
Quick add: bake in a ‘burst buffer’ — when the forecast spikes >15% from the prior hour, pull a flex in 30 minutes early and keep them 30 after; it flattened our rush without inflating the base schedule. I cap that to one person per zone so labor doesn’t creep; anyone running a different % or window, @amanda_b96?