How to set up different projects + intake with same resources

mobylovr

Hi there!

I am hoping that Smartsheet will prove to be the solution I am looking for, but I need a bit of help to get set up correctly.

I currently manage a Design team in a tech org, and I resource two types projects with my group:

- Long ongoing projects (these typically have one to two people assigned to them for 3 months at a time)

- Intake projects (these typically have one person assigned to each intake request once reviewed and assigned)

The resource pool is the same across both types of projects.

The way I am setting it up right now is:

- I have my resources/names in Smartsheet

- For the long ongoing projects I have created a sheet for each project and assigned resources to them for a duration of time. There are currently 4 ongoing projects.

- For the intake projects, I have a form set up where I added a few more columns, one of which is assigned to. 

 

My question is whether I have this set up correctly. And how can I report out things like:

- which resource is working across multiple projects

- which resource is overallocated

- what resource is free in 6 months or even 6 weeks from now

- how many projects am I resourcing my team on

- how can I see what projects come in but _need_ resources, requiring me to kick off a hiring process

 

The other way I was considering doing it was to have my intake form sheet be the source of truth, and add the long-term projects to that intake form sheet, but that doesn't seem right. 

Please help!

Thanks.

 

Paul Newcome

From the sound of it, your setup seems pretty solid. 

 

For all of the tracking you are looking to do, you have a couple of options.

 

1. Turn on the dependencies and enable resource management. This should be able to provide you with the tracking you are looking for.

2. Create "Metrics" sheets where you use cross sheet formulas to build out tables containing your needed data points.

 

Do either of these sound like they might work for you?