Automation Assistance

Natalie11

Good morning Community!

I have created a sheet to keep track of all company board meetings. Each department is responsible for submitting material (attachments) prior to the meeting and automations are to be put in place to remind board members of the deadline to submit.

The issue I'm having is, how can I have each department submit material without them gaining access to the sheet? They also should not have any visibility to other attachments that have been submitted.

I was planning on creating an update request per department so they may add their attachment to submit and it will tie to the specific meeting.. however, if one department already submitted an attachment, and the next department opens their own update request, they will be able to see an attachment already in the sheet. Any suggestions to make this work?

Thank you in advance for any advice to make this work! :)

Hunter Taylor

Hi Natalie11,

To handle this scenario in Smartsheet without exposing attachments from one department to another, you could try the following approach:

1. Separate Rows for Each Department: Create a distinct row for each department's submission in the sheet, so each department's update request is tied to a specific row. This will ensure that each department only interacts with their assigned row and will not see attachments from other departments.
2. Update Requests Linked to Specific Rows: Set up update requests for each department's assigned row, so when they receive their request, they can only add attachments to their designated row without visibility into others' submissions.
3. Automated Reminders per Department Row: Configure automated reminders for each department’s row, ensuring the correct department is prompted without revealing other data.
4. Dynamic View (Optional): If available in your subscription, Smartsheet's Dynamic View add-on allows even more granular control by creating views that limit visibility to specific rows for each department. It’s ideal for situations where collaborators need to update information without seeing the entire sheet.

This approach should help you achieve controlled access to attachments, making sure each department can submit their materials without accessing others' data. I hope this helps and if you need further assistance I'm here to help.

Paul Newcome

My suggestion would be to put each department on its own row and use update requests that way. This will keep departments from seeing things they aren't supposed to and still restricts access to the sheet.