Dynamic Filtering based on a few columns

Jamie Welky

I'm creating an onboarding template that a hiring manager would copy each time they hire someone to serve as a checklist of what needs to be done.

I'd like the manager to be able to select a few parameters - FTE or Contingent, which location, which team, alternate instructions if Covid 19 applies - and have the sheet they've copied filter to only show the rows/tasks that need to be done based on the information for this new hire.

The template would hold all possible tasks that need to be done and have columns indicating which parameters the row applies to (see table below for an example).

e.g. I'd like a manager to be able to select FTE, New York, Designer and have the rows that apply to that filtering show up. Note that some rows would apply to all possibilities. So, though New York was selected, rows that have Any and New York should display. I'd like to hide the first four columns to keep the sheet from getting cluttered - there are more columns than shown. Would hiding the columns affect the filtering?

Or if someone has a different idea for solving this I'd be open to hearing that as well.

Thanks,

Jamie

SoS | Dan Palenchar

I'd recommend adding a multi-select dropdown column to your Sheet and selecting which tasks apply to FTE, New York, etc. You can then create a shared filter to show only those rows that contain the value you select. Alternatively, you can produce a report to limit the data without filtering.

Certainly other ways to do this, with what you've provided this is the first and easiest thing that comes to mind. Another option is creating template sets for each employee type and simply using the appropriate one for a new employee.

Jamie Welky

Dan,

Thanks for your reply. Could you please expand on the first option and how this would function? Is this a column the user could select once and have it filter across all rows? There are a pretty fair number of rows. Some apply to all/most everyone, some to large segments, some to a more specific combination of selections.

I'm trying to put the burden on logic within the sheet to reduce the amount of reading, thinking and clicking for the end user.

Unfortunately, Option 2 isn't feasible because between the four columns there are over 100 possible combinations and even by major grouping puts me at far too many to create and maintain effectively.

Thanks,

Jamie