Completing Tasks, and Marking Progress

Tony Platts

In many other project management systems e.g. Microsoft Project, task completion is handled efficiently with a simple checkbox. When a task is marked as complete, it's immediately set to 100% complete. You can also choose 25%, 50%, or 75% completion directly from the ribbon, or manually adjust the percentage as needed. This process is seamless and responsive.

In contrast, Smartsheet's current approach feels more restrictive and complicated. To drive completion in the Gantt chart, I have to create a separate % complete column, requiring users to manually set the percentage to 100%. This setup is cumbersome compared to simply ticking a box to mark completion. While I could use a dropdown menu for "Not Started," "In Progress," and "Complete," and use a column formula to drive the %age from there, this sacrifices the granularity of completion tracking. On longer tasks I might want to set a very specific completion %age and column formulas prevent this.

Alternatively, adding a checkbox that sets the % complete to 100% involves automations, but these often run with noticeable delays, frustrating users.

I suggest introducing a designated "Complete" column where ticking a box automatically sets the task to 100% complete, and conversely, marking a task 100% complete ticks the box. An additional interface should also be included to allow for granular adjustments. This would greatly improve usability and make Smartsheet more intuitive for task management. This could look something like the attached image.

Completion.jpg

Bill in Ohio

I believe this can be done using automation. You would need to have a "Complete" field set to a symbol (the Harvey Balls are more descriptive, but you can use the progress line one as well.

I created a test with Set to Zero, Set to 25, Set to 50, Set to 75, and Set to 100. Each automation triggered on the change of the Complete Field, and changed the Completion % field to the appropriate value. I also added setting the Status Column to In Progress for 25, 50, and 75, Not Started for 0, and Complete for 100. You can then hide/show whatever fields you want the users to see/update.

Will this work for you?