Using Formulas in "Assigned to" collumn?

I'm a newbie here so don't be too harsh!

I am trying to determine if if is possible to set up a dependancy to auto-assign a task to a team member. At my law firm I am creating a few templates that assign certain tasks on each case to one of several paralegals or attorneys.

What I'd like to be able to do is designate in a certain part of the sheet which team member is the paralegal/attorney on a case and then have the sheet auto-assign each paralegal/attorney task to that designated team member.

I can do similar functions when setting up date dependancies, but the sheet does not seem to work with assigning team members to a task, which results in having to go in and manually assign 100+ tasks each time a template is used.

I contacted support, but they suggested using an IF formula without specifics and then suggested posting here.

Has anyone confronted this and came up with any type of work around? It seems like that the ability to set up dependancies to assign users would be about paramount for those who desire to use templates over and over for repetative tasks.

Any help would be appreciated!

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Andrée Starå

Excellent!

Your onboarding process sounds fascinating, and I'd be happy to have a chat and see if I might have any tips and tricks to make it even better.

Feel free to reach out to me at andree@getdone.se if you're up for it!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Best,

Andrée

Andrea Scully

+1 for me too

Automating resource assignments for a task based on a dependent variable is extremely common in business processes. We have a similar use case for our facilities requests where we have 40 global locations supported by 5 facilities managers who are receiving requests from ~500 employees. I built a nested IF statement that evaluated the Location column and then set the correct Facility Manager only to have the formula return an error that you can't use formulas on Contact type columns. Such a waste of time!

I ended up building an alert workflow that notifies the correct Facility Manager when a new request for one of their locations get submitted from the log sheet's form, but it still requires them to go into the sheet and self-assign the new task to ensure the other alerts/reminders on the Assigned To contact type column get triggered as needed. This makes it a work-around at best and still requires more oversight than it would if the auto-assignment formula worked.

Processes break in the hand off from one step to the next, especially when human glue is needed to hold them together rather than automation, and the workflow is library paste instead of formula super glue.

Screenshot of the workflow attached.

Smartsheet Workflow.JPG

Andrée Starå

Hi Andrea,

Excellent news! Formulas in contact columns are coming very soon.

Coming Soon: A New Way to Assign Work

Formulas like =VLOOKUP enable your sheets to automatically return key data based on its association with a unique identifier. Today, formula output cannot be in a contact column, but we plan on supporting this very soon.

What does this mean for you? Teams that field requests in IT, marketing, and other departments will be able to automatically assign incoming requests to the correct person. This will help eliminate the manual process of assigning new work, and get the right people working on the right things more quickly.

For example, if you are a West Coast regional manager for a consulting firm, you can create a sheet for tracking customers. Using a Smartsheet form, prospective customers can fill out their name and address to request a bid.

With the forthcoming capability, you’ll be able to quickly set up a formula in the contact column then, dependent on the submission, look up the state and which regional manager is responsible. The correct person is assigned to that customer, and a notification is generated to let them know they have a new opportunity to work — all without any manual input.

One of Smartsheet’s fundamental commitments to our customers is continuous improvement. Ensuring that you can move from idea to impact — fast — is critical. Be on the lookout for performance enhancements that will improve formula speed within your sheets. We’re happy to share these changes with you, and look forward to many more to come.

Hope that helps!

Have a fantastic day!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

Andrée Starå

Hi everyone,

It's released now!

https://community.smartsheet.com/announcement/announcing-formula-support-contact-columns

Have a fantastic day!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

Adding my vote for the ability to use a formula to assign a team member based on another cell (contact cell) in the sheet.

Andrée Starå

Hi,

Not sure I follow!

It's possible already to add a contact with the help of a formula in the contact column.

Is that what you mean?

I hope that helps!

Have a fantastic day!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD