Can a “successors” column be displayed?

Norbert Van Der Neut

@Travis - Where is Smartsheet with this development?  Much like Steve's issues, it is causing extra work for me to be able to trace the successors in large sheets.  It would also help make working backwards from a fixed deliverable date that much easier.

Steve Johnson

Jennifer - Isn't it crazy to lack this feature?  I think it is even more evidence that the Smartsheet developers must feel that project management is a smallish portion of their users' needs.  Unfortunately, it is the majority of my needs.

Roland Horwood

+1

 

Roland

Wade Harshman

You may be on to something, Steve, especially since the relationship data is already there in the "Predecessors" column and graphically displayed in the Gantt View.  A "Successors" column wouldn't have to support new data, it would just display the already existing relationships from a backward looking point of view.  

 

I don't mean this to diminish the work of the SmartSheet developers; I know development is never as easy as users think it should be.  But it does suggest, as you said, that this simply isn't a priority.

CanadaJim

Now that this topic is 1.5 years old, Steve is probably right that it's low priority.  I also think you're right Wade, in that the data is there already.

The data needs to be presented and enhanced so that when you edit Successors, Predecessors will automatically be updated as well (in the data and visually).  Another option is to make Successors read only, which would be okay for a start in my opinion. "Knowing is half the battle." --G.I. Joe

I suggest anyone interested in this feature open a ticket with support to let them know how important the feature is.  With enough tickets it'll have a higher chance of getting noticed.

Jim

nwrico

+1 for successor column

Sean M

+1 for a Successor Column.

Additionally CanadaJim, I did go ahead and open a Support ticket.

Currently (and I understand not everyone will have this option), If I need to troubleshoot I do an 'Export to MS Project (XML), then suck it into MS Project Professional.

After I import it to MS Project Pro, I can see the Successor Column there.

The workflow I've described isn't conducive to 'sole selection' of Smartsheet as a PM tool.

 

Thanks,

Sean

JimPM

I would love to have Successors - to me SmartSheets is a wonderful tool, but it really needs the Successors column. 

Can someone from SmartSheets just let us know if that is even on the roadmap and when this could be there? 

This doesn't seem like a large ask, but to those of us that use it, this is a really big deal.  When dates slip, we want to easily be able to see what tasks are impacted.

Thanks,

JIm

wowmonkey

Agreed!  This is a critical piece of functionality for anyone in project managment!

 

Lee T.

+1 from me too!

 

I find it amazing that this functionality has not been implemented yet after so many people have voiced the need for it, not even an acknowledgement from the Smartsheet team!

 

Lee T.

I do have a part solution that may help some people here - a column that identifies whether the row is a predecessor or not:

 

1.

Right click on the heading of the last column you have

Select Insert Column Right

 

In the dialog box that has opened, write Row Number under Name

Then select Auto-Number/System... 

(See attached screenshot)

Click OK

Save the project to see the numbers populate

 

2.

Right click on the heading of a column next to where you want the Successors column to go

Select Insert Column Right or Insert Column Left

In the dialog box that has opened, write Successors under Name

(You can name this anything you like if you want)

Then select Text/Number

Click OK

 

3.

In the first cell of the Successors column, enter this formula:

=IF(FIND("," + [Row Number]@row + ",", SUBSTITUTE(JOIN(Predecessors:Predecessors, " ,"), " ", "")) = 0, "", "YES")

 

This formula will only work if your Predecessors column is named 'Predecessors' and the new column is named Row Number 

 

Drag this formula down to the last cell

 

The Successors column should now show YES for each row that has successors

 

Hope this helps someone!

Janelle Azevedo

Please add my vote to make Successors available in Smartsheet.  Having Predecessors only is like offering just one half of a solution to project managers.  Thanks!

Jeff Clegg

The above will work, if the predecessor type is "Finish to Start", if it is anything else, it will fail the search (as written).

ScottMcBride

I am following the thread on having a "successors" column that is updated automatically.

The initial request was made in 2015.

Has this feature been added to the product?

I am not seeing any support for it.

wsguerin

This thread is about three years old and STILL no Successors Column? I get the bare bones logic of Predecessors only but I agree with many of the comments above, a true "SMART SHEET" would have the capabilities of typical PM software like the hateful Fastrack or wonderful MS Project.