Image: Postmodern Studio/Adobe Stock Smartsheet is an unique task management service that utilizes a spreadsheet-style grid to hold data while also including key predicting management tools to assist organize that data. This usage of a spreadsheet is handy for groups or projects with comprehensive information that requires to be incorporated.
Things such as complicated budget plans, time tracking or property tracking are all made easier with the spreadsheet foundations of Smartsheet. SEE: Smartsheet vs. monday.com: Project management tool comparison( TechRepublic )Listed below we’ll take a look at how to utilize Smartsheet for project management and discuss its different features and views. Smartsheet overview When logging into Smartsheet, you will be invited by the primary workspace which includes a left-hand menu
that can access all of the significant functions of job creation(Figure A). Figure A Smartsheet’s main work area provides numerous functions for task
development. This left-hand work menu consists of these main products: Home icon: Use this
to return to your primary job overview or to manage work areas. Alerts: This will notify you to notices from tasks or employee.
- projects as a favorite for fast gain access to. Work apps: Launch apps within Smartsheet. Option Center: Access many premade templates for many common project types.
- A great resource to get started quickly and save time. How to create a project in Smartsheet Select the Browse icon from the left-hand menu. In the primary workspace, click the Develop icon on the right-hand
side (Figure C). Figure C From the Sheets dashboard, click Create to start a new project in Smartsheet. You will then see a dropdown menu with the following options: Grid Task List Job Cards Search Design templates These are all options for starting your project in such a way that is
simplest for you. Choosing Grid essentially begins with a minimal quantity of
- columns premade in the spreadsheet. Of course,
- you can then
- add to this as needed. Best
service software application The other options are mostly self-explanatory and begin the job with the view or specifications based upon the option. You can also pick from a number of templates, which permit you to produce a completely premade workspace from a rather thorough list of typical task management situations. For now, choose Job, as this is a good happy medium that has lots of required columns premade but allows for customization. Name your project, and click OK. Your brand-new blank job will now appear and be ready for you to enter jobs and other information(Figure D ). Figure D Smartsheet’s Project template produces a blank Grid view with predefined columns.
Adding tasks 
to a task in Smartsheet With your brand-new task prepared, you can start adding tasks and other related data for your task. This consists of
any reliances or job relationships. Start by producing your parent rows; think of these as the primary phases of your job which will later on contain private tasks.
Click the rows to enter your information(Figure E). Figure E< img src ="https://www.techrepublic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/tr31323-smartsheetpm-figuree-770x348.jpg "alt ="Enter the data for the
primary stages of 
your job into Smartsheet.” width= “770”height=”348 “/ > Enter the data for the main phases of your job into Smartsheet. Choosing the start and surface dates will automatically complete
the duration. With the primary phases included, you can now begin adding your related tasks. Right-click on a parent row you just produced and choose Insert Below (Figure F).
Figure F
Include associated jobs to the main phases of your project
in Smartsheet 
by right-clicking and picking Insert Below. Call the new row, and after that, click the Indent icon in
the toolbar( Figure G). Figure G Once you have actually named the related job, click the Indent icon. You will now see that the task is a child
row and balanced out to reveal the relationship (Figure H). Figure H The associated task is now a kid row. Establishing dependencies in Smartsheet After you have actually added your parent and kid rows as required, you can start to set your reliances for each task if required.
Select a job, and then, choose the Predecessors column. Go into the row of the reliance in the cell to produce the dependency(Figure I). Figure I Submit the Predecessors column to indicate task dependencies in your Smartsheet job board.
How to use different views in Smartsheet
So far we have actually been working in Grid view, which is the primary view of Smartsheet when creating a task. However, you can quickly switch to other project management views. Click on the view icon in the toolbar to pick a different view (Figure J).
Figure J
Use the view icon in Smartsheet’s toolbar to alter the board view. For example, by choosing the Gantt view, you can see that the dependence you created earlier is shown in the timeline (Figure K).
Figure K
The Gantt View shows the dependencies developed in Smartsheet’s Grid view. You can likewise customize specifications from these views, and they will be equated into other views. For example, clicking and dragging the line linking dependencies in the Gantt view will upgrade the cells in the Grid view.
You can also pick a kanban view which is called Card view in Smartsheet (Figure L). Here you can drag the cards between lanes and create new lanes as required. As soon as again, changes here are shown in all views.
Figure L
The Card View in Smartsheet simulates a kanban board, dividing various jobs into
individual cards. How to utilize Smartsheet design templates for job management Smartsheet features numerous powerful design templates that need to fit most forecast management requirements. These templates save substantial time and each can be customized as needed in the exact same method as if you started from scratch.
To access these, click the plus icon in the left-hand menu, which will raise the design template internet browser (Figure M). Here you have a wide range of categories to pick from and the subsets of those categories.
Figure M
Click the plus icon in Smartsheet’s navigation bar to
access its design template browser. How to produce a Smartsheet task from scratch If you have actually chosen the other approaches aren’t sufficient and you wish to begin a project from scratch, that is possible as well. All of the previous instructions apply to developing a job from scratch. The primary difference is you simply create your own columns and information types.
To begin, select Produce from the Workspace view, and after that, select Grid (Figure N).
Figure N
Pick Grid from the Develop menu to develop a job from scratch in Smartsheet. Name your task, and select Next. You will then be shown the default grid view with several blank columns set up. All of these columns can be changed or deleted except for the primary column. It can be renamed or altered however not deleted.
You can double-click on columns to modify them as needed, comparable to a normal spreadsheet.
How to share your Smartsheet jobs
After you create your jobs, you will now wish to share and welcome people to work together on the project. Click on the Share icon in the leading right of the workspace (Figure O).
Figure O
Click Share to welcome others to deal with your job in Smartsheet. This will raise the share and invite menu. Here, you can invite employee and set permissions for each one. You can likewise set a welcome message for each team member.
How to utilize Smartsheet reports
Reports in Smartsheet permit you to pull information from various tasks or sheets and summarize it into one report.
SEE: Asana vs Smartsheet: Compare project management software (TechRepublic)
To access this, click the Create icon from the Browse screen, and this time choose Report. You will get a menu asking what kind of report you would prefer along with alternatives to call the report.
When completed, the brand-new blank report will show in your Browser. Click it to begin creating the report. When opened, you can choose a single job to sum up for a report or different projects to all pull information from.
Final ideas on Smartsheet for project management
We’ve just discussed the crucial elements of Smartsheet and how it can be utilized for project management. Smartsheet permits powerful modification and data company that fits groups with complex information structures within their jobs.
If this sounds like something that would assist make your group more efficient and efficient, look into Smartsheet and utilize this guide to help you get going.
Check out next: Best free and paid Smartsheet alternative tools for job management (TechRepublic)
