AUTOMATIC Weekly Reminders

Laura

I've created a Meeting Agenda sheet that will be used during our weekly meetings. I'd like everyone shared to that sheet to receive a weekly reminder. How can I set this up to automatically send out?

Brad Jones

If you have your formatting bar open, and click on the mail icon, you have the option of sending the sheet.  Once that dialog is open, you can change the timing for delivery of the sheet to a recurring schedule.  You can also choose ,pdf or .xls.

 

There are also just plain old reminders.  You could pick the first row of the sheet and set that to remind a group on the set interval.

Laura

Thank you. Will this work if I'm using this as a template or will I have to reset the auto send every week?

J. Craig Williams

Laura,

 

Templates do not store Alerts or other email related functionality.

In cases like these, I typically just use a "master sheet" as a template (Sheet vs Template), but that won't work for you because you only want active sends to occur and not for the master/template.

 

If the meeting is recurring, here's my process:

1. Create agenda sheet

2. Share with attendees and key stakeholders for the meeting

3. Set up Alerts and other email related functionality.

4. Hold meeting

5. Document meeting minutes in same sheet.

6. Attendees given time to review or update minutes.

7. Export sheet to PDF.

8. Store PDF on agenda sheet.

9. Clean up agenda for next meeting.

Repeat 2-9

 

Hope this helps.

 

Craig

 

 

Laura

Thanks Craig!

Laura

I think this might also solve my issue with having to add (non-smartsheet)  people to the sheet each week (i just posted a discussion on this). I'm just trying to weigh out the pros and cons of having ONE sheet and exporting weekly to PDF. 

J. Craig Williams

For me, the benefits of one sheet vs many for a recurring meeting were:

 

1. same link

2. data from previous meetings readily available.

3. can also serve as an action item list with visibility on history of the action (using Discussions / Attachments)

4. next meeting agenda available as soon as minutes approved and sheet up dated for following week -- which puts a spotlight on meeting preparation or lack of same.

 

Probably others.

I've also experimented with mixed results on copying part of the sheet contents to the row where the meeting will be attached - this allows searching for content from the previous meetings (between step 6 and 7 ) above. I'm stil trying to figure out what I need to capture in this part.  

 

Craig

 

Laura

Craig - 

Thank you for sharing. I like this idea.

 

Do you save the previous weeks as PDFs to refer back to? 

If so, do you save them at a location avaliable for others to also refer back to OR just for your personal reference? 

 

Referring to your Item 8 above --- "Store PDF on Agenda Sheet" Do you attach the previous weeks to the current week agenda? 

J. Craig Williams

I save the meeting minutes as a PDF.

I attach them to the sheet at the bottom so that anyone can refer to them if necessary.

 

This also means they get archived together when the project is closed.

 

Craig

sandmur

Do you copy the action items from the meeting to your action items list or just use the agenda as the "action items"?

I have sheets for Issues, Risk, Decisions related and was trying to think how those that are open could be combined  in to the agenda. 

J. Craig Williams

I use the meeting sheet as a task sheet, since all tasks roll up via reports. This also makes the action items from previous meetings part of the next agenda. I delete them after they are completed and discussed and archived (as part of the prep for the next meeting).

I use hyperlinks to sheets / reports of concern to jump to them during the meeting. If you use a URL hyperlink, it opens a new instance of Smartsheet, so it is easy to jump back and forth if necessary.

Craig