Combined Calendar Report - Can I Automate Labels?

Hello!

I am a Project Manager trying to redesign how my company uses Smartsheet internally, and I'm hoping to use Smartsheet to replace several other tools we currently use. My current goal is to create a Dashboard where an individual on my team can see a calendar of all their tasks for the week or month, with multiple projects combined into one calendar view. The way I've managed to do it so far is to create a report that pulls data from multiple sheets and with Calendar View enabled I can see all the tasks in one place. See attached image.

My issue is that there is no delineation between projects. We have similar processes between projects, so there could easily be a "Deliver Final Version" task from multiple projects. I would like for the viewer to be able to see at a glance which project each task is for, but I am not able to figure out how. Ideally, the report would re-label items to be something like "Project A - Deliver Final Version" and "Project B - Deliver Final Version" in the calendar view. I'm not able to figure out how that's possible without going in and editing each entry manually.

One potential solution is to have each task name contain the project title within its original entry, but having several hundred entries that all say "Project A..." within a sheet that is for Project A is redundant, especially if that schedule is client facing.

Is there a better way to combine calendars from multiple sheets in a way that is visually delineated? I'm not attached to using reports, I just would like to have my staff be able to see all tasks assigned to them within their dashboard.

Thanks for the help!

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Calendar View

Reports

Dashboards

Project Management

Accepted answers

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Andrée Starå

Hi @Ethan Moses

I hope you're well and safe!

You can add a so-called helper column or a Sheet Summary field indicating what project it is and then add a second helper column for each row task name.

You'd then combine the two helpers with the JOIN function in the parent column so it would show something like Project name - Task name in the calendar view.

The second option would be the premium add-on, Smartsheet Calenar App.

Would any of those options work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Ethan Moses

Wow, thank you for such a quick reply! I am doing well, thank you. Happy to be employed and healthy.

You mean that these helper columns would be in the original schedule sheets that the report is pulling data from, right? Or can I create these helper columns in the report itself?

My concern is that If the parent column (this is the same as Primary column, right? Or do you mean something different?) contains my joined text, having the full "Project Name - Task Name" written out would be redundant and too much text for client-facing schedules, which utilize the hierarchy functionality of the primary column.

Is there a way for the Calendar View of a report to show another column besides the primary column?

Chris Kaliveas

@Ethan Fairfield Hey Ethan, I'm in similar shoes. In short, the Primary column is the Parent column which will be the value displayed in the Calendar view. My understanding is you can do this in the Calendar App by choosing different column(s) to be displayed. The bugger with the Calendar App is that it does not allow you to 'configure' multiple sources (sheets & reports) into one calendar view which would be brilliant.

Ethan Moses

Bummer, that's a pretty big downside for our needs. We'll keep looking for solutions or alternatives. Thanks for the help!

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