Maintaining Sheet Parent-Child Relationships on Reports?

Guy Behanna

Is there a way to maintain the Parent-Child task relationships from a sheet on a report? I am trying to create a Gantt view to use as a timeline on a report so that users do not have to access the actual project plan to see this update, and to focus the users on specific information. Unfortunately, the Parent-Child relationship/indentation is lost when using the Gantt view on a report. Is there a creative way to maintain this relationship/indentation on a report?

Andrée Starå

Hi @Guy Behanna

I hope you're well and safe!

There are some possible workarounds.

You could add a so-called helper column(s) to show the Parent name or/and the hierarchy.

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic weekend!

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!

Guy Behanna

Hi, Andrée!

I am afraid that adding a column or columns may make reading the report a bit more difficult for my end users. The best option would be to retain the structure exactly as it appears on the sheet.

Thanks!

Guy

Andrée Starå

@Guy Behanna

Happy to help!

My idea would be to use the Grouping feature in the report to structure it similarly.

Make sense?

Guy Behanna

Andrée,

I appreciate the quick response, and your willingness to help brainstorm a solution!

I tried using grouping on the report, however, the grouping feature requires a sort order. As a result, the groups will not follow the "flow" of the project phases on the report. So, the Initiate, Plan, Execute, Close phases will display as Close, Execute, Initiate, Plan, when sorted in ascending order (reverse for descending order). I could add a prefix to each parent activity (ex. 1., 2., 3., etc.), however, that could get messy with multiple parent levels.

I decided to add an indicator for the highest parent levels on the sheet and then filtered by this indicator on the report. The report looks ok, but it would look much better if displayed in the same manner as the sheet.

Thanks again,

Guy

Andrée Starå

@Guy Behanna

You're more than welcome!

Yes, you'd need to add helper columns to make it sort correctly, and yes, it would be great to have the feature to keep the structure intact from the sheet(s).

Please submit an Enhancement Request when you have a moment.

✅Remember! Did my post(s) help or answer your question or solve your problem? Please support 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!

Guy Behanna

@Andrée Starå,

Thanks again for brainstorming this with me! I submitted an Enhancement Request.

Take care,

Guy

Andrée Starå

@Guy Behanna

Excellent!

I'm always happy to help!