Best Practices for managing 60+ projects in Smartsheet

Hello,

I am a fairly new user of Smartsheet and have recently started at a construction company as a project manager where we design manufacture and erect large steel buildings for rural and industrial use. (From farm sheds through to aircraft hangers and fabrication workshops.)

We have up to 70 projects active at any one time in various stages from initial contract signing and council approval through to coordinating our erection teams on site.

We currently run each project on a single sheet with the dates for each milestone as indented dependencies but run the actual task management on a separate excel workbook.

I am looking at how we can run the entire project and tasks in a single system and would like to know what your ideas or experiences are for setting this up in smartsheet and best practices.

i.e. do we run all the projects on a single sheet and make our indent list longer or is it sensible to have 70 separate sheets based on a template and use reports/dashboards to get an overall schedule view?

One of the main things we use smartsheet for currently is organising the projects in gantt view to schedule the fabrication dates inside our factory. Each fabrication duration is dragged back and forwards on the schedule so we have each project running one after the other through the factory. all other dates are linked to the fabrication date and are linked so they move accordingly. How could we do this if we have each project on a separate sheet?

Screenshot 2021-01-31 135816.png
Screenshot 2021-01-31 140011.png

If we were to combine our excel sheet with smartsheet it would also mean bringing in approx 70 tasks that relate to each project across different sectors of the business from drafting and invoicing to purchasing etc.


Ideas and help please!! :)

Answers

  • Bassam Khalil
    Bassam Khalil ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    edited 01/31/21

    Hi @Charles Thorncroft

    Hope you are fine, you can use many useful templates already created in smartsheetsolutions center

    also, smartsheet has a Professional application forproject & resource management called 10,000ftyou can use to manage your work

    PMP Certified

    [email protected]

    www.mobilproject.it

    ☑️Are you satisfied with my answer to your question? Please help the Community by marking it as an( Accepted Answer), and I will be grateful for your "Vote Up" or "Insightful"

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    Hi@Charles Thorncroft

    To add to Bassam's excellent advice/answer.

    It depends on a couple of things.

    • Preference
    • Sharing (security, who should have access to what?)
    • And more...

    I'd recommend creating an intake process and then a templatized structure for each project with Sheet(s), Reports, Automation, Dashboards, Portals, and more.

    Regarding tasks, I'd try to add them to the Project Sheet because it's easy to see the whole picture for the project, but it could also be in a separate sheet.

    What do you think?

    I hope that helps!

    Be safe and have a fantastic weekend!

    Best,

    Andrée Starå| Workflow Consultant / CEO @WORK BOLD

    了我的帖子(s)帮助或回答你的问题吗tion or solve your problem? Please help the Community bymarking it as the accepted answer/helpful. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

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  • If there was ever a use case for Control Center, this would be at the top. Run these projects as separate sheets and use Control Center to automate the deployment and maintenance.

  • Thanks for the comments... I have done a bit more research since I posted this and I am thinking the same.

    Use a separate sheet for each project and use dashboards and reports to organise and schedule.

    What sort of costs are we going to be looking at to implement control centre and/or 10,000ft?

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    @Charles Thorncroft

    You're more than welcome!

    Yes, I agree with Casey. Control Center would probably be a perfect solution.

    How many new projects do you have on an annual basis?

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    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.

  • We run about 70 projects concurrently at the moment and each project can vary from 6 weeks to 6 months duration.

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    edited 01/31/21

    @Charles Thorncroft

    Ok.

    Feel free to reach out to me, and I'd be happy to discuss the premium add-ons and more,

    I'd be happy to schedule a free discovery call to discuss.

    How does that sound?

    Please e-mail me at[email protected],and we will take it from there.

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    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.

  • Charles, I have a very similar scheduling request. I work at a manufacturing company that builds custom equipment for the mining industry. We have 20+ jobs on our manufacturing floor at one time and are managing up to 100+ other jobs at the same time that is in various stages (before the manufacturing floor). The time to complete these jobs vary alot, depending on complexity of the equipment and amount of new design needed. I want to schedule our manufacturing floor time depending on when projects get ordered and the availability of the parts to build the equipment so communication and collaboration of different departments within the company is very important. I was wondering what system you used and how it has worked for you. Thank you.

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    Hi@Marc Endicott

    I hope you're well and safe!

    Have you explored using the Premium Apps, Control Center, Calendar, or/and 10,000ft?

    Is that an option?

    I hope that helps!

    Be safe and have a fantastic week!

    Best,

    Andrée Starå| Workflow Consultant / CEO @WORK BOLD

    了我的帖子(s)帮助或回答你的问题吗tion or solve your problem? Please support the Community bymarking it Insightful/Vote Up or/and as the accepted answer. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    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.

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":45,"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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