Every small team pays for software to answer three boring questions: who's doing what, did anything get missed, and what's it costing us. You don't need a $200/month ops platform to answer them. You need a handful of disciplined templates.
We run our own ops on a stack of free Google-Sheets-grade templates. Below are the 10 that carry the most weight, with the one rule that makes each actually work.
1. Shift Handover Log
The ten-minute sheet that stops the next shift paying for this one's surprises. Rule: nothing gets closed until it's written down in one line — status, next step, owner.
2. What to Automate First: The 4-Question Filter
Before automating anything, run the filter: Is it repetitive? Is it rule-based? Does it run daily? Would a mistake be cheap? Four yeses means automate it today.
3. Restaurant Daily Sales Report
One page, same time every day. If the daily report takes more than five minutes, the template is wrong, not the team.
4. Food Cost Percentage Tracker
The Friday count that tells you where the money actually goes. Rule: count the same day, the same way, every week.
5. Par Level & Ordering Guide
Turns Friday's count into Monday's order. Rule: par levels get reviewed monthly, not negotiated daily.
6. Annual Leave Coverage Checklist
The thirty-minute ritual that stops one holiday breaking the whole rota. Rule: coverage is named, never assumed.
7. Walk-In Cooler Maintenance Checklist
The Sunday hour that keeps the cold chain alive. Rule: the checklist signs off on temperature, not vibes.
8. Staff Scheduling Template
Rule: publish the schedule at least a week out; changes after that are exceptions, not edits.
9. Customer Feedback Loop
Rule: every piece of feedback gets either an action or an archived reason why not.
10. Restaurant KPI Dashboard
Rule: five numbers max. A dashboard with fifteen numbers is a filing cabinet.
Get the full pack
All ten templates, ready to copy, are in the Ops Notes Starter Kit — free to start:
→ https://hive80-lab.github.io/ops-notes/
And if you want the automation side — the four-question filter in depth, plus the first 30 minutes of setup — check our Automation Starter Pack on Gumroad.
Which one would save your team the most time this week? Tell us in the comments.
Top comments (0)