Free guide · works with ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini

Cafes Wellington New Zealand

In 15 minutes, generate a one‑week staff roster tailored to your location, hours, and wage bands, plus printable timesheets your team can use immediately. Built for New Zealand conditions with public holidays and basic compliance checks.

Step 1, free.

Copy this, paste it into your AI, and swap the [BRACKETS] for your own details.

Setup & Context: Capture the business snapshot

Provide: [BUSINESS NAME] [SECTOR: CAFE/RETAIL/TRADES/CLEANING/OTHER] [NZ LOCATION: TOWN/CITY + REGION] [SITES/ADDRESSES (ONE PER LINE)] [WORKWEEK START DAY (MON–SUN)] [TIMEZONE (E.G., PACIFIC/AUCKLAND)] [CONTACT PERSON] [CONTACT EMAIL] [NUMBER OF STAFF] [SERVICE STYLE & KEY TASKS (1–3 LINES)] [PEAK PERIODS BY DAY/TIME (E.G., MON 7–9, FRI 11–14)] [KNOWN CONSTRAINTS (E.G., LICENCE HOURS, SITE ACCESS, NOISE CURFEWS, DELIVERY WINDOWS)] [NOTES]
Act as an operations analyst and roster designer to capture a crisp snapshot that anchors later rules, coverage and costs.
Work through it like this:
1) Confirm the scope: business, sector, NZ location(s), week start and timezone that all later steps will use.
2) For each site, note what happens there (service style/tasks) and any site-specific constraints that affect shifts.
3) Capture demand cues: peak periods by weekday/time bands we’ll target with coverage.
4) Record compliance or operational constraints that shape opening/closing windows and staff mix.
5) Sanity-check completeness for shift rules: if anything essential is missing, call it out.
Give me the output as:
Business Snapshot Card with sections: A) Header: Business, Sector, Contact. B) Locations: list of sites with address. C) Week Settings: Workweek Start Day, Timezone. D) Operating Context: Service style/tasks. E) Demand Cues: Peak periods by day/time. F) Constraints: Licence/access/noise/delivery/other. G) Team Size: Number of staff. H) Notes.
Quality bar: Clear enough that another manager could set opening hours and shift rules without clarifying questions.
If information is missing, ask once for it; if not available, mark MISSING and proceed.

How to get a good answer.

01Fill every [BRACKET] with real detail. Vague in, vague out.
02Read the answer, then reply with what's wrong or missing. The AI fixes it in seconds.
03Check facts, prices and anything legal or safety-related yourself before you use it.

The rest of the workflow.

Step 1 gets you started. The full Simple Roster & Timesheet Kit takes you all the way, 14 steps in order:

01Setup & Context: Capture the business snapshot (free above)
02Setup & Context: Define roles and wage bands
03Setup & Context: Pull NZ public holidays for location
04Rules & Inputs: Set opening hours and shift rules
05Rules & Inputs: Build the staff register
06Rules & Inputs: Record availability and preferences
07Rules & Inputs: Set weekly budget and cost targets
08Roster Build: Generate the one‑week draft roster
09Roster Build: Assign breaks and coverage checks
10Review & Handover: Detect conflicts and compliance issues
11Review & Handover: Optimise roster to coverage and budget
12Review & Handover: Finalise and export roster (PDF/CSV)
13Review & Handover: Create printable timesheet pack
14Maintain & Reuse: Save a weekly refresh checklist and data pack

Get the full kit · NZ$39.50

Pay once, keep it. Delivered instantly with a copy button on every prompt.

Questions

Does this work with the free version of ChatGPT?

Yes. The prompt works in the free versions of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, on a phone or a computer.

What do I put in the [BRACKETS]?

Your real details: notes, numbers, names, whatever the bracket asks for. The more specific you are, the better the answer.

Is the AI's answer always right?

No. Treat it as a strong first draft: check facts, figures and anything legal or safety-related before you use it.

What's in the full Simple Roster & Timesheet Kit?

14 steps run in order, a system prompt that sets the AI up for the job, worked examples, fix-it prompts and a quality checklist. It's NZ$39.50 once, no subscription.

Know someone who'd use this?

Send them the free prompt:

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