How can I create a Task/ To-Do List for each team member?

Hello,

Looking to develop a task list for team members from our Project Tracker.

Our sheet runs left to right and uses Column Headers to organize information rather than using Parent/Child row hierarchy.

Currently, each step of the project has an expected completed date (automated by formula), an actual date column (manually entered when completed), and a Contact column (selecting which team member is responsible for completing that step).

Within each project row there are multiple different steps/tasks to different team members on that project making it difficult to sort.

I experimented with creating an assign workflow, but that requires you to pre-assign people rather than assign whichever contact was selected in the contact list column to trigger the automation.

I also changed the view to board/card and tried filtering. These are only filtering vertically.

Lastly, I tried creating a separate report with filtering, but again this only filtered vertically.

Please let me know if this is feasible.

Thanks!

Answers

  • Brian_Richardson
    Brian_Richardson Overachievers Alumni
    edited 5:55PM

    With a layout like that it's going to be essentially impossible to unpivot all that information into a working sheet that lists every assignee+subtask combo on a row and then try to pivot the data updates back into your source.

    Instead, under the existing layout, you could create a report that has all the columns in it and have a series of filters for Current User. Users can then open the report and see tasks where they are assigned to one or more steps, and make their updates directly in the report, which updates the sheet. They will still see all the other columns too, so they'll need to look for their name in the assignment columns to know what to work on, but at least the list will be shortened to only the tasks where they have something.

    So for filters it would be something like:

    CD Decor (P) HAS ANY OF Current User OR

    CD Appliances (P) HAS ANY OF Current User OR

    CD Check Set (P) HAS ANY OF Current User OR

    etc

    You can further filter the report to show maybe only upcoming work in the next week, or work that's overdue, by adding a series of OR filters for those conditions as separate filter blocks, then wrapping it all in an AND.

    A different option would be to create a series of reports, one for each subtask like Decor or Appliance that has only the relevant columns. Filter that report for Current User. Then place all those reports on a dashboard and be sure to select "Their own view" for each widget so that the dashboard filters for the Current User also. That way, they have individual subtask lists as a series down the page which they can click and update. Might be easier to see that way.

    BRIAN RICHARDSON | PMO TOOLS AND RESOURCES | HE|HIM

    SEATTLE WA, USA

    IRON MOUNTAIN