Multiple Approvals

Stephanie Wood
Stephanie Wood ✭
edited 12/09/19 inSmartsheet Basics

I'm looking for a clean, efficient way to handle multiple approvals for a row which contains comments without having a large number of columns. Up to 20-30 different people will be reviewing, sometimes 5+ for an individual row.

First thought was to create child rows and add the approvals there and I would only have to have the reviewer and approval status column. The parent row contains comments and I don't want to have to copy those comments over and over for each reviewer every time and I don't want to have them required to log into sheet to see the comments.

I can't add multiple reviewers in one cell because the first person to approve or decline prevents others from answering.

I tried setting up individual Reviewer and Approval columns but that is going to get real messy if I have a larger number of people reviewing one item (reviewer 1/reviewer 1 status, reviewer 2/reviewer 2 status, etc).

I can't seem to figure out the cleanest way to do this without copying the comments multiple times.

Does anyone have advice on how best to accomplish?

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  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    edited 05/18/19

    Hi Stephanie,

    我能想到的几个方法s to set this up. Here are a few ideas.

    • One contact column and status column for each that you then could hide. Collect the status from all in another column with a formula with the JOIN function.
    • One contact column and status column for each that you then could hide. Add checkboxes for each contact and then add a formula that checks them when they approve.

    Would any of those options work/help?

    Can you maybe share some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help. (share too,[email protected])

    Have a fantastic weekend!

    Best,

    Andrée Starå

    Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    https://workbold.com/

    Andrée Starå| Workflow Consultant / CEO @WORK BOLD

    W:www.workbold.com| E:[email protected]| P: +46 (0) - 72 - 510 99 35

    Feel free to contact me about help with Smartsheet, integrations, general workflow advice, or something else entirely.

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  • Stephanie Wood
    Stephanie Wood ✭

    Thank you, hiding the columns and indicating elsewhere makes sense. I will likely try scenarios around that to see how it works out.

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  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    Excellent!

    Happy to help!

    Let me know what you decide.

    Best,

    Andrée

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    https://workbold.com/

    Andrée Starå| Workflow Consultant / CEO @WORK BOLD

    W:www.workbold.com| E:[email protected]| P: +46 (0) - 72 - 510 99 35

    Feel free to contact me about help with Smartsheet, integrations, general workflow advice, or something else entirely.

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  • Kari Barratt
    Kari Barratt ✭

    Hello, I'm looking at the same solution for our workflow process, we have multiple columns due to how the approval work flow is created and it has expanded the sheet and makes it difficult to keep track of where the approval is waiting etc. What formula can be used for the checkbox that is mentioned above?

    Thanks,

    Kari

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Fixed, needed to add \"Value\" before the formula to remove the apostrophe.<\/p>


<\/p>

=VALUE(IFERROR(JOIN(DISTINCT(COLLECT([Customer PO Amount (USD)]@row:[Customer PO Amount (Local Currency)]@row, [Customer PO Amount (USD)]@row:[Customer PO Amount (Local Currency)]@row, <>\"\"))), \" \"))<\/p>"}]}},"status":{"statusID":3,"name":"Accepted","state":"closed","recordType":"discussion","recordSubType":"question"},"bookmarked":false,"unread":false,"category":{"categoryID":321,"name":"Smartsheet Basics","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/smartsheet-basics%2B","allowedDiscussionTypes":[]},"reactions":[{"tagID":3,"urlcode":"Promote","name":"Promote","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":5,"count":0},{"tagID":5,"urlcode":"Insightful","name":"Insightful","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":11,"urlcode":"Up","name":"Vote Up","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":13,"urlcode":"Awesome","name":"Awesome","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0}],"tags":[{"tagID":254,"urlcode":"formulas","name":"Formulas"}]},{"discussionID":109460,"type":"question","name":"IF \/ OR formula then Check a Box","excerpt":"I need a formula that IF a specific column has either 1 of 2 specific choices, then a BOX in another column is checked: =IF(([Study Status]@row = \"Active\/ Open to Accrual\", 1) OR([Study Status]@row = \"In Start-Up\", 1))","snippet":"I need a formula that IF a specific column has either 1 of 2 specific choices, then a BOX in another column is checked: =IF(([Study Status]@row = \"Active\/ Open to Accrual\", 1)…","categoryID":321,"dateInserted":"2023-08-25T13:30:39+00:00","dateUpdated":null,"dateLastComment":"2023-08-25T16:21:27+00:00","insertUserID":9250,"insertUser":{"userID":9250,"name":"Susan Swisher","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Susan%20Swisher","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/defaultavatar\/nWRMFRX6I99I6.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-08-25T16:23:49+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭✭✭✭"},"updateUserID":null,"lastUserID":161714,"lastUser":{"userID":161714,"name":"Carson Penticuff","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Carson%20Penticuff","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/B0Q390EZX8XK\/nBGT0U1689CN6.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-08-26T01:04:51+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭✭✭✭✭"},"pinned":false,"pinLocation":null,"closed":false,"sink":false,"countComments":9,"countViews":46,"score":null,"hot":3385956126,"url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/109460\/if-or-formula-then-check-a-box","canonicalUrl":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/109460\/if-or-formula-then-check-a-box","format":"Rich","tagIDs":[254],"lastPost":{"discussionID":109460,"commentID":392616,"name":"Re: IF \/ OR formula then Check a Box","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/comment\/392616#Comment_392616","dateInserted":"2023-08-25T16:21:27+00:00","insertUserID":161714,"insertUser":{"userID":161714,"name":"Carson Penticuff","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Carson%20Penticuff","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/B0Q390EZX8XK\/nBGT0U1689CN6.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-08-26T01:04:51+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭✭✭✭✭"}},"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/"},{"name":"Get Help","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/get-help"},{"name":"Smartsheet Basics","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/smartsheet-basics%2B"}],"groupID":null,"statusID":3,"attributes":{"question":{"status":"accepted","dateAccepted":"2023-08-25T15:13:03+00:00","dateAnswered":"2023-08-25T14:14:39+00:00","acceptedAnswers":[{"commentID":392575,"body":"

Give this a try:<\/p>

=IF(OR([Study Status]@row = \"Active\/Open to Accrual\", [Study Status]@row = \"In Start-Up\"), 1)<\/p>"}]}},"status":{"statusID":3,"name":"Accepted","state":"closed","recordType":"discussion","recordSubType":"question"},"bookmarked":false,"unread":false,"category":{"categoryID":321,"name":"Smartsheet Basics","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/smartsheet-basics%2B","allowedDiscussionTypes":[]},"reactions":[{"tagID":3,"urlcode":"Promote","name":"Promote","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":5,"count":0},{"tagID":5,"urlcode":"Insightful","name":"Insightful","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":11,"urlcode":"Up","name":"Vote Up","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":13,"urlcode":"Awesome","name":"Awesome","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0}],"tags":[{"tagID":254,"urlcode":"formulas","name":"Formulas"}]},{"discussionID":109457,"type":"question","name":"Conditional Formatting (modified date not in the last 3 weeks)","excerpt":"I would like to use Conditional Formatting (highlight the entire row yellow) if the modified date is not within the last 3 weeks. So any row that has not been recently updated (last 3 weeks) should be highlighted in yellow. Is this spmething that can be done directly within conditional formatting or should I first create a…","snippet":"I would like to use Conditional Formatting (highlight the entire row yellow) if the modified date is not within the last 3 weeks. So any row that has not been recently updated…","categoryID":321,"dateInserted":"2023-08-25T12:33:14+00:00","dateUpdated":null,"dateLastComment":"2023-08-25T12:40:57+00:00","insertUserID":161267,"insertUser":{"userID":161267,"name":"Jef Snyders","title":"Jef Snyders","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Jef%20Snyders","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/4HJAEW33KBD0\/nXEKEZE5EQEV4.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-08-25T13:32:31+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭"},"updateUserID":null,"lastUserID":161267,"lastUser":{"userID":161267,"name":"Jef Snyders","title":"Jef Snyders","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Jef%20Snyders","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/4HJAEW33KBD0\/nXEKEZE5EQEV4.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-08-25T13:32:31+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭"},"pinned":false,"pinLocation":null,"closed":false,"sink":false,"countComments":2,"countViews":26,"score":null,"hot":3385935251,"url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/109457\/conditional-formatting-modified-date-not-in-the-last-3-weeks","canonicalUrl":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/109457\/conditional-formatting-modified-date-not-in-the-last-3-weeks","format":"Rich","tagIDs":[437],"lastPost":{"discussionID":109457,"commentID":392553,"name":"Re: Conditional Formatting (modified date not in the last 3 weeks)","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/comment\/392553#Comment_392553","dateInserted":"2023-08-25T12:40:57+00:00","insertUserID":161267,"insertUser":{"userID":161267,"name":"Jef Snyders","title":"Jef Snyders","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Jef%20Snyders","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/4HJAEW33KBD0\/nXEKEZE5EQEV4.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-08-25T13:32:31+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭"}},"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/"},{"name":"Get Help","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/get-help"},{"name":"Smartsheet Basics","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/smartsheet-basics%2B"}],"groupID":null,"statusID":3,"attributes":{"question":{"status":"accepted","dateAccepted":"2023-08-25T12:40:09+00:00","dateAnswered":"2023-08-25T12:37:47+00:00","acceptedAnswers":[{"commentID":392551,"body":"

There is no direct way to do this. Adding a checkbox helper column with something similar to this and then formatting based on the checkbox is the simplest way. You can even hide the extra column, as there is no reason for it to be visible.<\/p>

=IF([Modified Date]@row < TODAY(-21), 1, 0)<\/p>"}]}},"status":{"statusID":3,"name":"Accepted","state":"closed","recordType":"discussion","recordSubType":"question"},"bookmarked":false,"unread":false,"category":{"categoryID":321,"name":"Smartsheet Basics","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/smartsheet-basics%2B","allowedDiscussionTypes":[]},"reactions":[{"tagID":3,"urlcode":"Promote","name":"Promote","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":5,"count":0},{"tagID":5,"urlcode":"Insightful","name":"Insightful","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":11,"urlcode":"Up","name":"Vote Up","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":13,"urlcode":"Awesome","name":"Awesome","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0}],"tags":[{"tagID":437,"urlcode":"conditional-formatting","name":"Conditional Formatting"}]}],"initialPaging":{"nextURL":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/api\/v2\/discussions?page=2&categoryID=321&includeChildCategories=1&type%5B0%5D=Question&excludeHiddenCategories=1&sort=-hot&limit=3&expand%5B0%5D=all&expand%5B1%5D=-body&expand%5B2%5D=insertUser&expand%5B3%5D=lastUser&status=accepted","prevURL":null,"currentPage":1,"total":4991,"limit":3},"title":"Trending in Smartsheet Basics","subtitle":null,"description":null,"noCheckboxes":true,"containerOptions":[],"discussionOptions":[]}">

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