What You Wish You Knew When Starting Your Smartsheet Journey

Hi Community 👋

Just some afternoon coffee chatter! I wanted to open up a thread for advice and tips to Smartsheet newcomers!

When you first started using Smartsheet, what do you wish you had known that could have made your journey smoother? Whether it’s a hidden feature, a time-saving formula, or even a strategy for managing complex projects, what’s your best insight for those just starting their journey?

I'll start! When I discovered helper columns for Levels, =COUNT(ANCESTORS()), and Children, =COUNT(CHILDREN()), it was a total game-changer. I felt like all my future formulas and conditional formatting experiences became so much easier.

Looking forward to hearing your tips and tricks that was game changing when you were a newcomer. 😊

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Comments

Trang Turtletraxx

Although a lot of work to get it established sort of like doing manual coding, the URL Query String function was a game changer for approvers to see what was submitted during intake in an organized and standard format. It also allows them to make changes to specific fields without needing a license since the pre populated query was still in a form. Once you understand what is needed and how to structure the formula for the URL query string, it's pretty straight forward. You have to remember to do test if out before you publish it. It can get a bit finicky when you get into the CHAR() parts.

MCorbin

Index/Match instead of VLookup. When I learned Index/Match at Engage, I skipped all my remaining sessions for the day, sat in a corner and updated all my sheets from VLookup to Index/Match

Julia Rumburg Price

As someone who started using Smartsheet nearly 15 years ago (wow, time flies!), here's my biggest 'I wish I knew this sooner' moment was understanding that Smartsheet isn't just about the sheets - it's about the workflows. I initially approached it like a fancy spreadsheet, but once I started thinking in terms of end-to-end processes and how information flows between teams, that's when the real power of the platform clicked for me.

For newcomers starting their Smartsheet journey today: invest time upfront in learning about report builders and automated workflows. They might seem daunting at first, but they'll save you countless hours down the road. And don't be afraid to reimagine your existing processes - Smartsheet often has a better way of doing things than your old methods!

rebecca.collins

I wish I had used the templates right away! Starting a new sheet from scratch was intimidating!

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