Program reports and permissions issue

Question

I have an issue with program reports requiring users to be shared to ALL source sheets in order to view any content. For example, I have a program report set up for VP level reporting, filtered on their specific sub-program of the portfolio.  If I add a new sub program and VP they can't see content as they are not shared to all existing project folders (CC build has "new workspace per project" setting - otherwise I could add them to the workspace). Also the VPs are able to see data about sub-programs they are not a part of which is not ideal.

Other than painstakingly adding the new VP to all existing source sheets within the blueprint, does any one have a better way? I am leaning towards requiring PMs to share their workspaces to a VP email Group but just hate adding post-provisioning tasks and the headache of a single owner for an email group.

Any one else frustrated with this requirement see if you agree with my project enhancement request and add any comments!

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/144985/program-reports-editable-based-on-sharing-permissions-of-source-sheet?utm_source=community-search&utm_medium=organic-search&utm_term=program+report

K.Candela.KCS · Answer

I hear you CoHiker78! There needs to be a much more robust ownership transfer process that eliminates the re-work. The biggest headache is when a user leaves and all the dashboards they built, despite being transferred to a new owner, break when the original user is unshared. The new owner has to go  take ownership of widgets or re-create them. What?!? 100% non-value added work. I keep hoping the new platforms (table, board, etc.) will fix this, but I'm not confident at all that will happen.

I have been using Collections to share parts of a Workspace, which does the job, but if I want to give them access to drill down information using a report I need to grant access to the source sheet. Splitting that access is what I loved about WorkApps, but they told me at Engage that WorkApps was being retired so I am not using it. Dynamic View is a costly alternative, and doesn't give the same feel as a report - especially when you have a lot of data the user can sift through using groups.

CoHiker78 · Answer

YES! I am very frustrated with permissions right now. I feel like I'm always working to create a work around or solve for things like your example above. I just tried using published reports and linked them to charts on a dashboard. I had an intern do the actual work of creating the published links. Good job for an intern, right? Well, not if the user who creates the published reports is temporary. As soon as the intern was removed from access to the workspace, it broke the links, and I'm about to fix it all.

Publishing reports and dashboards started as a work around, so that I don't need to share entire workspaces with everyone who just needs access to a dashboard or a dashboard with clickable charts.

Following.