ROSTER MANAGEMENT · SCHEDULING
Assigning Shifts to Employees
How to assign shifts one at a time, in bulk, and using rotation patterns — covering every method available in the grid.
FORMAT · How-to guideDURATION · ~5 min readAUDIENCE · Roster admins, shift planners
What you'll learn
The three methods for assigning shifts and when to use each one.
Prerequisites
A draft roster must exist and at least one shift template must be configured.
Method 1 — Click to assign (single cell)
- In the roster grid, click any empty cell for an employee and date.
- A pop-up appears showing your shift templates. Click the desired template.
- The cell fills with the shift name and time. The change saves automatically.
Use this method for one-off assignments or exceptions.
Method 2 — Drag-and-drop
- Open the Shift Templates panel on the right side of the grid (click the ≡ icon if it's hidden).
- Drag a template card and drop it onto one or more cells in the grid.
- To assign the same shift to multiple employees on the same day: hold Shift while clicking cells to multi-select, then drag a template onto the selection.
Use drag-and-drop for filling in a day's worth of similar shifts quickly.
Method 3 — Rotation patterns (multi-week)
- Select one or more employees by clicking their row headers.
- Click Apply Pattern in the toolbar.
- Choose an existing rotation pattern (or create one — see Setting Up Rotation Patterns).
- Set the start date and how many weeks to apply the pattern.
- Click Apply. The grid fills all selected cells automatically.
💡 Pro Tip
Patterns are the biggest time-saver for recurring schedules. Set them up once for a team and you'll populate a month's roster in under a minute.
Removing or changing an assignment
- Remove — Right-click a filled cell and select Remove Shift, or click the cell and choose the X in the pop-up.
- Change — Click the filled cell, then select a different template from the pop-up. The cell updates immediately.
- Move — Drag a filled cell to a different date column for the same employee.
Bulk operations
To clear or reassign a block of cells: hold Ctrl and click individual cells, or click a row header to select the whole row. Then right-click for bulk options: Clear Selected, Assign Template, or Apply Pattern.
Frequently asked questions
Can I assign a shift to an employee who is on approved leave?
Workwisely will show a warning (red border) but won't block the assignment. Resolve the conflict by either removing the shift or cancelling the leave — leaving a conflict unresolved means attendance will show as 'no-show'.
Is there a copy-paste shortcut for cells?
Yes — select a filled cell, press Ctrl+C, then click the target cell and press Ctrl+V. Works for single cells and multi-cell selections.
What's the maximum number of employees I can select for a bulk assign?
There's no documented limit. For very large teams (200+), apply patterns in batches to avoid slow page renders.
Related reading