Workflow assignment question

Sean Richards

Hi, I am new at automating in SmartSheet so forgive the simple question: I created a Workflow which is a reminder email that needs to go out to several people 3 days prior to a Finish date if not 100% completed. The conditions part of this workflow is straightforward, but I am unsure how to connect and activate it.

From what I can see these Workflows are generic, meaning they still need to be associated to a Row or Field somehow. There seems to be no obvious way to do that, so I am confused. How do I take the reminder workflow and connect it to the Finish date in the particular Row I am trying to get people notified on?

If I am mistaken and it's not generic, the same question applies, but how do I know what Row I have associated it with? In the Workflow editor there is nothing to indicate this.

thanks for any assistance on this, its the only baffling part of setting all this up I have so far

Heather Duff

Hi Sean,

So, the great thing about automations is that they are generic, but will apply to specific rows based on the triggers and filters you set.

For example, you can set a reminder to be sent 3 days before the finish date (trigger), if the completed box is not checked (filter), and it can send it to the person assigned to that task (action - send reminder to a contact field). It will ONLY send a reminder for a row when it's met all of the criteria, and if you've got a contact column set, then you can set it to ONLY send it to the person to whom that task is assigned.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have more specific questions. I have found that, especially with automations, I do lots of testing and retesting to make sure I understand how the automations flow.

Best,

Heather

Sean Richards

Hi Heather, this part I understand completely. What I don't see anywhere is how I know what an automation workflow is using as the actual trigger.

Sure I can set Finish Date, but of what row? Do I need to have that Finish Date field highlighted when I edit the workflow? The whole row? What is the process to ensure that Finish Date in Row xx is the trigger?

I know there are many ways to automate things, but in my scenario can I only use the workflow once in this instance, to trigger just the one field in a Row?

I am not seeing anywhere in the summary of the Workflow editor what the trigger actually is, so is the only way I am able to track what fields I am using as trigger (or what rows), the titles I am giving it? I would expect a bit more information in the summary of the workflow so I know what I have linked it to, that's all. If I am missing something let me know. thx

Sean Morgan

Hello @Sean Richards !

I thought I'd give a breakdown of how the Workflows work.

With regards to "Sure I can set Finish Date, but of what row?", this is all dependent if you have conditions set:

Lets say I have a basic Workflow that will send an Alert when a date is reached.

This will trigger for both of the below rows as they each have a date

If I were to add in a condition of "Checkbox is checked" like such:

It would only trigger the first row, as it has met the initial trigger of the date, as well as having a checkbox checked to meet the purple condition requirements:

In conclusion, if you were to use the first Workflow, of having 1 trigger and no conditions, it would trigger for every row that has a date. if you were to use the second Workflow of have 1 trigger, and 1 condition being the checkbox, it would trigger for every row that has a date, as well as a checked checkbox.

You may wish to see more on Triggers and Conditions here:

Trigger: https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2479236-trigger-blocks-define-when-your-workflow-is-executed

Conditions: https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2479251-condition-blocks-filter-what-your-automated-workflows-send

Let me know if you have any questions!

Regards

Sean