Is there a way to generate an alert/block on Smartsheet, in case a schedule causes overallocation?

hilalt

Hello everyone,

On Smartsheet, I have a workspace containing a series of sheets (one for each active project) where various resources are planned.
Both on Smartsheet and Resource Management, each resource has 8 hours/day available (i.e., 1 day = 8 hours).

If I schedule a resource on two different sheets, assigning it to two different activities planned for the same day, the sum of the planned hours exceeds 8 hours/day, and in Resource Management, I correctly see the overallocation (red bar at 100%).

Is there a way to generate an alert and/or a block directly on Smartsheet, for example through automation, in case a schedule causes resource overallocation?

Isaac A.

Hi @hilalt!

After researching our resources, there isn’t a direct feature to generate an alert or block when a schedule causes overallocation. However, you might be able to create a workaround using advanced reports in Resource Management.

What you could do is set up a report to show utilization by team member across all projects.

Once you've set up the report in Resource Management, be sure to click Advanced Report, give it a name, and select the destination so that it creates the assets in Smartsheet.

After generated, you can open the source sheet and create an automation. The automation can check the Utilization column, and if any value exceeds 100%, it can send an alert indicating overallocation. Just note that the alert will require the percentage to be in decimal form (range of 0 to 1).

Alternatively, you can use the "Met Utilization" column, which will show if a resource is over-utilized.

More details on advanced reports can be found here: Advanced Reports.

I know this isn’t exactly what you were looking for, but in case this workaround doesn’t fit your needs, I found an existing product idea you might be interested in: Resource Management: To notify managed users in Resource Management if they get overallocated. Be sure to add your vote to the idea!

I hope this helps!

Cheers,
Isaac.

hilalt

Hi Isaac, thank you so much for your detailed guide, I will try it!