What it's for
A look-ahead is the short list of work coming in the next few weeks: what is planned, who is doing it and what has to happen first. This 3 week look ahead template puts 25 activities on one landscape sheet, with a bar for each across 21 days.
Use it for the weekly meeting with your subs, where the decisions go in meeting minutes, or to show the owner the next three weeks. It carries your letterhead, so it goes out under your name. It sits beside a construction schedule, and what actually happened each day goes on a daily report.
What's inside
Two sheets, both protected with no password.
Look-ahead has your letterhead (YOUR LOGO, Your Company Name, address and contact lines), the title 3-WEEK LOOK-AHEAD, and WEEK OF and REVISION at the right. A JOB band holds PROJECT and SUPERINTENDENT. Pale yellow cells are yours to fill in; all other cells are locked.
The table has 25 lines under ACTIVITY, RESPONSIBLE, START, FINISH, DAYS, then 21 day columns in three blocks headed Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3, then STATUS and CONSTRAINTS. The yellow cells on each line are the activity, who is responsible, both dates, the status (a drop-down of Not started, On track, Behind and Done) and the constraints. Five things calculate: DAYS, the day dates, the weekday letters, the week headings and the ■ marks that make the bars.
The text and date columns are wide enough that the examples and the m/d/yyyy dates show in full, and the day columns are as narrow as a two-digit day and a bar allow. It is set to print landscape on one page, at 75 percent or more of its natural size, with the three header rows repeated.
About this template holds three steps, the example figures, the version, the license and links.
How to fill it in
- Fill in the letterhead and put your logo where the sheet says YOUR LOGO.
- Type WEEK OF, the first day of the three weeks. It sits at the top right of the sheet. The date shown is an example, so replace it. It does not have to be a Monday; the weekday letters follow the date you type. Leave it blank, or type a word in place of a date, and the day columns stay empty.
- Enter REVISION, PROJECT and SUPERINTENDENT.
- Add one activity per line: the activity, who is responsible, and the START and FINISH dates. Type real dates. A date typed as text leaves DAYS blank and draws no bar.
- Read DAYS. It counts the start through the finish, both included, in calendar days. A finish before its start shows Check dates and no bar.
- Pick a STATUS and write what must happen first under CONSTRAINTS. That column is what makes it a look-ahead rather than a calendar: name the delivery, the inspection or the trade that has to finish first, so the weekly meeting has something to clear.
- Weekends show. To keep a crew off a weekend, leave it out of the dates: one activity has one start and one finish, so split it into two lines.
- Next week, type the new WEEK OF and change REVISION. The dates on your activities stay as typed, so update any that moved.
A bar shows only the days inside the 21. An activity that starts before WEEK OF or runs past the last day still gets its full count under DAYS.
The worked example
The first three lines are labeled Example, and the About tab says to replace them and the week of date with your own. Here WEEK OF is 10/5/2026, so the day columns run from 10/5 to 10/25 and the three week headings read Week 1 · 10/5, Week 2 · 10/12 and Week 3 · 10/19.
| Activity | Responsible | Start | Finish | Days | Bar cells | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example: frame second floor walls | Framing crew | 10/5/2026 | 10/9/2026 | 5 | 5 | On track |
| Example: set roof trusses | Framing crew | 10/12/2026 | 10/14/2026 | 3 | 3 | Not started |
| Example: plumbing rough-in | Plumber | 10/14/2026 | 10/21/2026 | 8 | 8 | Not started |
The trusses line carries the constraint "Example: truss delivery confirmed". The plumbing line crosses a weekend, so its 8 days include the Saturday and Sunday columns, and the bar fills them.
Frequently asked questions
Does it calculate anything?
Yes. DAYS, the day dates, the weekday letters, the week headings and the bars are live formulas. Everything else is yours to type.
Does it work in Google Sheets or Numbers?
Both open .xlsx files. This one has no macros, and its formulas use only IF, OR, NOT, ISNUMBER, AND, MID, WEEKDAY, MONTH and DAY.
Can I add more than 25 activities?
The sheet has 25 lines. To add more, unprotect the sheet (no password), insert a row inside the table and copy DAYS and the day cells from the line above. The page is laid out for 25 lines, so a longer list may print on a second page.
Can I put my logo on it?
Yes. Insert it where the sheet says YOUR LOGO. That row is 36 pt (half an inch) tall, so a logo sized to it fits without dragging the row taller. To remove the YOUR LOGO text, choose Review > Unprotect Sheet (there is no password), then protect the sheet again.
Is it a full project schedule?
No. It shows 21 days from the date you set and does not link activities or track float.