A shared rota in Google Sheets™ that people can't break
Staff, volunteer and cover rotas get edited by everyone, from phones, in a hurry. The usual breakages: a shift typed as “early” instead of choosing Early, someone's hours typed over the total, a filter left on so half the week disappears, and the name column sorted on its own.
What the guardrails add
- A dropdown for each shift, refusing anything else
- Hours totals locked (or warned) so nobody types over them
- The header frozen and explained, cell by cell
- A Sheet rules tab telling volunteers who to ask
Everything is a native Google Sheets™ feature, so it works for everyone on every device — nobody else installs anything. Take it all off in one click, free.
Start from a template
Make a copy of the rota template — guardrails already on: the shift dropdowns refuse anything else, the day and hours formulas warn before anyone types over them, problems highlight in red, and each header explains its column. Or open your own rota and choose Extensions › Shared Sheet Guardrails › Check this sheet.