Cross Project Dependencies

Hi SmartSheet Community!

I have built a portfolio of projects and I want to create an additional project within the portfolio to capture action items that need to be completed before some of the tasks in the related projects could complete. Example, I'm making ice cream and I have three projects in the portfolio:

  • Vanilla
  • Chocolate
  • Strawberry

I want to buy ONE ice cream freezer that each of the projects will use. I want to make sure the freezer acquisition and installation completes before the first batch of ice cream completes in any of the individual projects. I know silly example, but hopefully helpful.

Is there a way to create cross project dependencies so that I can align the key components (i.e. Uber Critical Path) across the entire portfolio? I don't have many interdependencies, just a few, but critical all the same. Thanks in advance for your advice!

Best Answer

  • Genevieve P.
    Genevieve P. Employee Admin
    Answer ✓

    Hi@PattiL

    Currently in Smartsheet dependencies and predecessors are specific to each sheet and cannot be linked across multiple sheets. (Please submit your feedback about thisto the Product team, here!)

    However you could potentially create your fourth sheet, thenuse a Reportto bring together the specific critical tasks from all four sheets, Sorting the Report by the Start Date and looking at it in a Gantt view. Although the tasks wouldn't be directly linked or able to automatically adjust across sheets, this would offer you a condensed view across all your projects. I hope that helps!

    Cheers,

    Genevieve

Answers

  • Genevieve P.
    Genevieve P. Employee Admin
    Answer ✓

    Hi@PattiL

    Currently in Smartsheet dependencies and predecessors are specific to each sheet and cannot be linked across multiple sheets. (Please submit your feedback about thisto the Product team, here!)

    However you could potentially create your fourth sheet, thenuse a Reportto bring together the specific critical tasks from all four sheets, Sorting the Report by the Start Date and looking at it in a Gantt view. Although the tasks wouldn't be directly linked or able to automatically adjust across sheets, this would offer you a condensed view across all your projects. I hope that helps!

    Cheers,

    Genevieve

  • PattiL
    PattiL ✭✭

    Thanks, Genevieve!!

    I was afraid of that. I did submit my feedback to the product team and I think your idea of a report is the way to go. Thanks for your input!! Have a great day! Patti

  • LPelser
    LPelser ✭✭

    @Patti LI have the same problem. Did you receive any feedback from the product team in the meantime?

  • PattiL
    PattiL ✭✭

    Hi@LPelser!

    No, they did not. What I did was create a task "Ice Cream Freezer Acquisition Complete" in each of the other projects and then used the "link to another sheet" to pull in the completion date from my Ice Cream Freezer project.

    I have the completion tasks in the other projects depending on the created task mentioned above. Almost too simple, but it works. What I can't see though is the uber critical path via Smartsheet. I have Visio drawings that I refer to to help identify the impact of slippage risk. I hope this helps!

  • LPelser
    LPelser ✭✭

    Thanks you@PattiLI will try this workaround for one of our programmes.

    It is shocking to see that there have been enhancement requests for cross-sheet dependencies as far back as 2018, and yet nothing has come of that. It is impossible to manage project programmes without considering inter-project dependencies.

Hi Candace,<\/p>

The answer is YES. You can use \"Send as Attachment\" feature in the File menu of your sheet to setup the schedule for your need. You should be a licensed user to use this feature as well (I remembered that). <\/p>

Hope this works for you.<\/p>

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<\/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":268,"urlcode":"Attachments","name":"Attachments"},{"tagID":300,"urlcode":"Email Notifications","name":"Email Notifications"},{"tagID":334,"urlcode":"automations","name":"Automations"},{"tagID":440,"urlcode":"project-management","name":"Project Management"},{"tagID":445,"urlcode":"importing-and-exporting","name":"Importing and Exporting"}]},{"discussionID":108213,"type":"question","name":"How to spread costs evenly across months, if they fall within those dates","excerpt":"I have various financial line items that span different dates. I'd like the costs to be spread per month automatically based on the date and cost entry. I've tried various functions already, IF, AND, and it says Unpearsable. I'd like to spread out the costs in the Cost column to the months on the right, based on the start…","snippet":"I have various financial line items that span different dates. I'd like the costs to be spread per month automatically based on the date and cost entry. I've tried various…","categoryID":321,"dateInserted":"2023-07-27T19:03:42+00:00","dateUpdated":null,"dateLastComment":"2023-07-27T19:36:58+00:00","insertUserID":164209,"insertUser":{"userID":164209,"name":"AshwiniBiotech2023","title":"Sr. Director, Project Management","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/AshwiniBiotech2023","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/defaultavatar\/nWRMFRX6I99I6.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-07-27T19:37:39+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭"},"updateUserID":null,"lastUserID":45516,"lastUser":{"userID":45516,"name":"Paul Newcome","title":"","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Paul%20Newcome","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/082\/nQPUTVFKKWDJ2.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-07-28T04:02:46+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭✭✭✭✭"},"pinned":false,"pinLocation":null,"closed":false,"sink":false,"countComments":7,"countViews":34,"score":null,"hot":3380975440,"url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/108213\/how-to-spread-costs-evenly-across-months-if-they-fall-within-those-dates","canonicalUrl":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/108213\/how-to-spread-costs-evenly-across-months-if-they-fall-within-those-dates","format":"Rich","lastPost":{"discussionID":108213,"commentID":387659,"name":"Re: How to spread costs evenly across months, if they fall within those dates","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/comment\/387659#Comment_387659","dateInserted":"2023-07-27T19:36:58+00:00","insertUserID":45516,"insertUser":{"userID":45516,"name":"Paul Newcome","title":"","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Paul%20Newcome","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/082\/nQPUTVFKKWDJ2.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-07-28T04:02:46+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,"image":{"url":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/IBAVVE3YLO8D\/image.png","urlSrcSet":{"10":"","300":"","800":"","1200":"","1600":""},"alt":"image.png"},"attributes":{"question":{"status":"accepted","dateAccepted":"2023-07-28T09:38:32+00:00","dateAnswered":"2023-07-27T19:21:12+00:00","acceptedAnswers":[{"commentID":387646,"body":"

You would use the below for Jan 2023 and adjust the month and year numbers accordingly for each of the other months.<\/p>

=IF(AND(MONTH([Start Date]@row)<= 1, YEAR([Start Date]@row)<= 2023, MONTH([End Date]@row)>= 1, YEAR([End Date]@row)>= 2023), [$ per month]@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":[]},{"discussionID":108180,"type":"question","name":"How can I make an approver's view on the message notification field mandatory?","excerpt":"Making it mandatory will not allow approver to approve or decline without acknowledgement. Example creating a column that would say: \"You acknowledged that accounting details have been reviewed?\" Then enters initials. This has to be done prior to clicking approved or decline.","snippet":"Making it mandatory will not allow approver to approve or decline without acknowledgement. Example creating a column that would say: \"You acknowledged that accounting details have…","categoryID":321,"dateInserted":"2023-07-27T14:08:57+00:00","dateUpdated":null,"dateLastComment":"2023-07-27T18:44:32+00:00","insertUserID":157632,"insertUser":{"userID":157632,"name":"Shirley Romero","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Shirley%20Romero","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/6RM6Q0PW4X07\/nLP5DK4J5PI9I.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-07-27T15:36:15+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭"},"updateUserID":null,"lastUserID":45516,"lastUser":{"userID":45516,"name":"Paul Newcome","title":"","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Paul%20Newcome","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/082\/nQPUTVFKKWDJ2.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-07-28T04:02:46+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭✭✭✭✭"},"pinned":false,"pinLocation":null,"closed":false,"sink":false,"countComments":3,"countViews":25,"score":null,"hot":3380952209,"url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/108180\/how-can-i-make-an-approvers-view-on-the-message-notification-field-mandatory","canonicalUrl":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/108180\/how-can-i-make-an-approvers-view-on-the-message-notification-field-mandatory","format":"Rich","tagIDs":[300],"lastPost":{"discussionID":108180,"commentID":387613,"name":"Re: How can I make an approver's view on the message notification field mandatory?","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/comment\/387613#Comment_387613","dateInserted":"2023-07-27T18:44:32+00:00","insertUserID":45516,"insertUser":{"userID":45516,"name":"Paul Newcome","title":"","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Paul%20Newcome","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/082\/nQPUTVFKKWDJ2.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-07-28T04:02:46+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":"2023-07-27T15:38:54+00:00","dateAnswered":"2023-07-27T14:43:11+00:00","acceptedAnswers":[{"commentID":387545,"body":"

This cannot be set up through an Approval Automation. At his point you have a few options (each of which has its pros and cons).<\/p>


<\/p>

You can just include a blurb that says that they are acknowledging by submitting within the Approval automation.<\/p>


<\/p>

You can set up an update request automation as a reminder that they need to enter their initials if they submit but didn't the first time.<\/p>


<\/p>

The last option I can think of that would truly make it required is a bit complex but possible. The first step is to create an \"approval sheet\". This sheet will have the same fields in it that you need to send in the approval request and a form created to match.<\/p>


<\/p>

You would then take the base form URL and drop it into a formula on the original sheet that allows you to basically generate a custom form on each row that will have the row data prefilled when someone clicks on the URL in that row. Since you can make form fields required, this will give you the ability to require their acknowledgement prior to them submitting their approval.<\/p>


<\/p>

Send this custom form URL through an alert and instruct the users to click the link to open the approval form.<\/p>


<\/p>

The form entry would populate the \"approval sheet\", but you can use formulas with cross sheet references to pull the appropriate data back over to your original sheet.<\/p>


<\/p>

If that last option sounds like something you would be interested in, fell free to let me know, and I will try to pull together a few links to help you get started building the formula.<\/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":300,"urlcode":"Email Notifications","name":"Email Notifications"}]}],"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":4890,"limit":3},"title":"Trending in Smartsheet Basics","subtitle":null,"description":null,"noCheckboxes":true,"containerOptions":[],"discussionOptions":[]}">

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