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Using Formulas in "Assigned to" collumn?

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Comments

  • Andrée Starå
    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

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    W: www.workbold.com | E:andree@workbold.com | P: +46 (0) - 72 - 510 99 35

    Feel free to contact me for help with Smartsheet, integrations, general workflow advice, or anything else.

  • Andrea Scully
    Andrea Scully ✭✭
    edited 07/23/19

    +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
    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

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    W: www.workbold.com | E:andree@workbold.com | P: +46 (0) - 72 - 510 99 35

    Feel free to contact me for help with Smartsheet, integrations, general workflow advice, or anything else.

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    Hi everyone,

    It's released now! laugh

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

    Have a fantastic day!

    Best,

    Andrée Starå

    Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    W: www.workbold.com | E:andree@workbold.com | P: +46 (0) - 72 - 510 99 35

    Feel free to contact me for help with Smartsheet, integrations, general workflow advice, or anything else.

  • Iz
    Iz ✭✭

    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
    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

    work-boldimage

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    W: www.workbold.com | E:andree@workbold.com | P: +46 (0) - 72 - 510 99 35

    Feel free to contact me for help with Smartsheet, integrations, general workflow advice, or anything else.

This discussion has been closed.