Sheet Setup for large projects

RyanASW

Hey community!

I have a large project made up of lots of complex smaller projects. I am new to Smartsheet having used Excel mostly.

I have created a Overview sheet and then various other sheets with the sub-projects and their tasks. I then linked cells into the Overview sheet to get an overview of the project but it doesn't seem like the most elegant solution. Any other ideas?

Georgie

Hi @RyanASW,

How about creating a row report to consolidate rows from the multiple project sheets? You could also create a dashboard to display an overview with charts, metrics, and report widgets. I’d recommend taking a look at our template gallery to see if there’s a pre-built template that suits your needs - for example, the Simple Project Portfolio might be what you’re looking for. 

For your question about dates automatically populating the Planning (parent) row in your sheet, this can be done by activating dependencies on the sheet - right-click any column header and select Edit Project Settings, then check the box for Dependencies enabled. This will result in the parent rollup functionality being enabled, meaning that Start Dates, End Dates, Duration, and % Complete rows will roll up automatically from child rows to parent rows.

Take a look at the following resources for more information:

• Activate dependencies and use predecessors in sheets
• Parent rollup functionality in sheets
• Gantt Chart with Dependencies

Hope that helps! I appreciate that I’ve provided a lot of links here so it’s a lot to take in - just reach out if you have any further questions!

Georgie

RyanASW

Also when I link this to the overview sheet what I really want is a overview of this section. Is the only way to manually put in the dates for the Planning line or is there a way for the system to do that?

Georgie

Hi @RyanASW,

How about creating a row report to consolidate rows from the multiple project sheets? You could also create a dashboard to display an overview with charts, metrics, and report widgets. I’d recommend taking a look at our template gallery to see if there’s a pre-built template that suits your needs - for example, the Simple Project Portfolio might be what you’re looking for. 

For your question about dates automatically populating the Planning (parent) row in your sheet, this can be done by activating dependencies on the sheet - right-click any column header and select Edit Project Settings, then check the box for Dependencies enabled. This will result in the parent rollup functionality being enabled, meaning that Start Dates, End Dates, Duration, and % Complete rows will roll up automatically from child rows to parent rows.

Take a look at the following resources for more information:

• Activate dependencies and use predecessors in sheets
• Parent rollup functionality in sheets
• Gantt Chart with Dependencies

Hope that helps! I appreciate that I’ve provided a lot of links here so it’s a lot to take in - just reach out if you have any further questions!

Georgie