Recurring tasks

angel_patel75551
edited 12/09/19 in Smartsheet Basics

Is there a way to set up a task that happens every week for several months without having to enter the task every week for the duration of the months?

 

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  • Isaac Jose
    Isaac Jose Employee
    edited 12/15/23

    Hello,

    Thanks for your post! Currently, there isn't a setting for this, but you can submit a Product Enhancement request by voting on the relevant idea, here.. To workaround this, I recommend the following:

    1. On an empty row, enter the recurring task's info with the first date.
    2. On the subsequent row, enter the recurring task's info with the second date (one week later)
    3. Highlight all of the cells on these two rows by click-and-dragging from the top left cell to the bottom right cell
    4. From the bottom right corner of the highlighted selection, drag-fill down. The auto-filled cells will contain dates one week apart. Information about the drag-fill feature can be found here (https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2477471-dragfill)
    5. If needed, sort the sheet by Start Date ascending so that these tasks are dispersed throughout the rest of your project chronologically against the other tasks in the project. Information about sorting can be found here (https://help.smartsheet.com/learning-track/smartsheet-intermediate/sorting-and-filtering)

    I've attached screenshots of this below. I hope this helps!

    Kind regards,

    Isaac J

    Smartsheet Support


  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    edited 12/15/23

    Hi Angel,

    Great news!

    I just got a message that Recurring Workflows are coming soon.

    Customers have requested the ability to set up workflows that repeat on a regular schedule.

    We're preparing recurrence for time-based workflows so you can save even more time on repetitive steps, such as daily due date reminders and weekly status update requests. This automation enhancement will be available this spring.

    Spring can't come soon enough or what do you think?

    Schedule a recurring workflow

    Hope that helps!

    Have a fantastic weekend!

    Best,

    Andrée Starå

    Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    W: www.workbold.com | E:andree@workbold.com | P: +46 (0) - 72 - 510 99 35

    Feel free to contact me for help with Smartsheet, integrations, general workflow advice, or anything else.

  • Isaac Jose
    Isaac Jose Employee

    Hello all,

    Happy to announce that recurrence has been released as part of the Workflow Automation update. More information here: Ensure Continuous Project Execution With Recurring Automation

    Hope this helps anybody who finds this thread later!

    Isaac J

  • There's a template that does recurring tasks.

    You do have to go back into the sheet after you've completed the task and put in a new completion date, and it calculates your upcoming date from that.

     

     

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    Hi @Mitesh Patel,

    Great idea! That would be a great addition to Smartsheet features.

    Please submit an Enhancement Request when you have a moment

    I hope that helps!

    Be safe and have a fantastic week!

    Best,

    Andrée Starå

    Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    Did my post(s) help or answer your question or solve your problem? Please help the Community by marking it as the accepted answer/helpful. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    W: www.workbold.com | E:andree@workbold.com | P: +46 (0) - 72 - 510 99 35

    Feel free to contact me for help with Smartsheet, integrations, general workflow advice, or anything else.

  • I need recurring tasks also. I have several projects that we do annually or quarterly. For instance, we have a quarterly schedule of documents to review and audits to complete. I would like to be able to set up a recurring template that would show on our activities calendar so we can just assign tasks based on the system and available personnel and go. Instead, I have to rebuild it each year. So frustrating!

  • After several years of using this platform I cannot believe we STILL do not have recurring task... this is 2020.....

  • I agree with the frustration expressed.

    I am currently evaluating Smartsheet for our organization. It seems extremely odd that this basic functionality does not exist. I have never seen a task management application without it. The competitive products that tried all had it (as I recall). The Task functionality in Outlook has it. It surprises me, because I (had) viewed Smartsheet as a rather progressive organization, but maybe I need to re-evaluate that opinion.

    Thanks.

  • Kyle Slaughter
    edited 01/27/21

    We’ve been asking for recurring tasks for years. We were told it was coming with the 10,000 ft acquisition. Crickets ever since.

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓

    Hi everyone,

    Depending on the need. The new Record a date action could be used to have a recurring task.


    Would that work/help?

    I hope that helps!

    Be safe and have a fantastic week!

    Best,

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    Did my post(s) help or answer your question or solve your problem? Please help the Community by marking it as the accepted answer/helpful. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    W: www.workbold.com | E:andree@workbold.com | P: +46 (0) - 72 - 510 99 35

    Feel free to contact me for help with Smartsheet, integrations, general workflow advice, or anything else.

  • @Andrée Starå there have been many requests for this feature and unfortunately, all of your posts have expressed that you are not understanding the need.

    The need is, I want to be able to create a task that repeats every week for example. I would then see that specific task in calendar view every week, month, or whatever recurrence I need.

    Workflows does not do this, it triggers an action which is not at all the same thing nor is it helpful for the use case.

    Enhancement request have been entered so I think the community would appreciate acknowledgement as to whether this feature will at any point be considered.

  • If the Smartshet team needs help with requirements... been a feature in MS Project for at least 10 years:

    "Create recurring tasks

    Project Professional 2019 Project Professional 2016 Project 2010 More...

    If you have a task that will happen every couple of days or every month — any regular schedule, really — Project can help you create it as a recurring task, so you only have to set it up once.

    Note: If you have a repeating task that isn’t on a regular schedule, you need to create a separate task for each occurrence.

    Create a recurring task

    1. Click View > Gantt Chart.
    2. Select the row below where you want the recurring task to appear.
    3. Click Task, click the bottom part of the Task button and then click Recurring Task.
    1. In the Task Name box, type the recurring task’s name.
    2. In the Duration box, add the duration of each occurrence of the task.
    3. In the Recurrence pattern section, click DailyWeeklyMonthly, or Yearly.
    4. You can fine-tune how often the task repeats in the area to the right of these options. For example, you can create a task that repeats every Tuesday and Thursday, or one that repeats every three weeks.
    5. In the Start box, add a start date and then decide when the repeating task will end:
      • Pick End after, and then type the number of times the task will repeat.
      • Pick End by, and then enter the date you want the recurring task to end.
    6. Pick an item from the Calendar list, but only if you want the recurring task to have a different calendar than the rest of the project.
    7. For example, the recurring task could happen during the night shift, while the rest of the project happens during daytime business hours.
    8. Check Scheduling ignores resource calendars if you want Project to schedule the recurring task even if it does not happen when any resources are available to work on it.

    More about recurring tasks

    Recurring reminders

    If you need a regular reminder instead of a full-blown repeating task, set the recurring task’s duration to zero. That is, make the recurring task a milestone.

    Find recurring tasks

    When you create a recurring task, Project automatically renumbers the task IDs and puts a recurring task indicator 

     in the Indicators  column."

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-recurring-tasks-88a4d903-38c3-4665-870e-4810b752f2c4