Any templates or sample of multiple project dashboards?

Our small company does several projects at a time and all of them basically follow the same project plan. We created a nice template that contains the dozen or so tasks in our project.

Most of the reports and dashboards I've tried to create capture a single project but I'm not finding a nice way to show multi-project status in a widget or give the dashboard user a good interface to select through different projects.

Does anyone know of such a template or tutorial to get us where we want to be?

Thank you!

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Andrée Starå

Hi,

Have a look here: https://www.smartsheet.com/marketplace/template-set/project-tracking-and-rollup

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

Andrée Starå

@Fairorth

✅Did this post help answer your question or solve your problem? Please help the Community by marking it as the accepted answer. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!

Paul Newcome

I track multiple ongoing projects by linking the pertinent project data for each one to a rollup sheet. From there the possibilities are endless between metrics sheets, reports, dashboards, etc...

Alan Lopes

Hi Paul,

could you sort out your issue? Can you share your template? Tks!

Andrée Starå

@Alan Lopes

Hi Alan,

What kind of template do you need?

I hope that helps!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

✅Did my post 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!

Paul Newcome

@Alan Lopes I am not sure what you mean by "sort out my issue", and I don't really have a "template" so to speak. It is just a workspace that was built as needs arose.

Each project has a sheet that is a Project Charter. This tracks all pertinent data to the project such as contact info, dates, status, etc.

I then use cell linking to link every charter to a rollup sheet where each data point has its own column. Since each data point is in it's own column, I was able to build out metrics sheets using cross sheet reference to show averages, counts, etc.

Once you pull your metrics from the rollup sheet, you can display all of that data in various ways across as many dashboards as needed.

Martha Brown

I am struggling so hard with this. I have been a project manager for many years in magazine publishing and retail creative departments. I have worked with countless systems. I have created and customized processes. I have managed, ads, editorial, printing, photo shoots, trade shows, booth building and digital.I now work for a builder and we have a newly formed marketing department. Our department only has one person, the Creative Director, who is left to manage every aspect. All of the advertising, website design, photography, social media, signage, letterhead, printed pieces, digital proposals and on to vehicle lettering. I am in office operations here, but want to set up a nice process for him, so I can help but I am not able to fully move to that department. It kills me to not manage all of the requests and processes, and timelines for him. I would usually handle all production, proofing and vendor relations. etc.

I know I can help him if I build a nice process, that doesn't add to his workload to manage. I want to have an overview of all projects in one place. A combination of requests from other departments as well as marketing department initiatives and long term projects. I also want this to be easy and straight forward for our one creative team member to work from daily. It should be straightforward, and streamlined, which is the only proper way to manage creative projects, but I am a bit lost in the sauce here. I used Smartsheet several years ago at a shoe brand to manage all projects needed for Global Trade Show. It was much simpler then, not as dynamic. I was able to have one project sheet that managed all of the deliverables, some had hard dates for printing, some had dependencies and some did not. I managed separate vendors needed for separate projects and relied heavily on dates and "assigned to" tasks.

(Getting the the point.. :) I am finding it difficult to have one sheet that gives a department overview but is also user friendly. I created a creative request form, and used a lot of logic to help guide submitters on what our new department did, and what type of info was needed for each request. This made for a very unruly request tracker sheet with many columns. I thought I would move those requests into a department overview sheet to work from, with alerts on due dates. The Creative Director thought it was overly complicated. Card view is good, but the fact that it doesn't work around deadline dates throws me off a bit. I want to link on going projects with repetitive social media tasks. I've considered dashboards, and priority task lists as well as the calendar app. Usually these things come into simple focus for me , I am not sure why this isn't. I know reports are the answer, but I can not clearly define it as of yet. To have info spread across sheets, reports, dashboards, card views, all to work from it, its just got me a little off.

Paul Newcome

@Andrée Starå I have ideas on how to make something work for @Martha Brown above, but I am swamped and just don't have the time to help with larger setups. I was wondering if maybe you'd be interested/able to help Martha get something together...

Andrée Starå

@Paul Newcome I know the feeling!

Hi @Martha Brown

I'd be happy to to try and help you set something up!

Do you have something you can share?

Be safe and have a fantastic week!

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!

Martha Brown

@Andrée Starå

Thank you for any help. I can share the sheet I initially made some weeks ago, but I now know it is so far off for what I will actually need.The designer didn't like the way I broke down the marketing plan, and he didnt like how overly complicated the request tracker and tracker sheet seemed, I am thinking now that perhaps the template set for Project Management Office (which may be an older template) May be my best option? I am hoping to make it a functioning ongoing workflow for the designer to work from, with some oversight from me to manage incoming requests and hard deadlines. I am hoping to mix incoming design requests. with a social media calendar for ongoing posting tasks, hard deadlines for ad submissions or photo shoots, and, very importantly the long term project of our website redesign which is already underway.

This is a message I just sent to the email listed for help or a demo on the PMO template set, but it was kicked back as not a real email.

-----------------------------

I have been working hard to set a system to track all projects for a newly formed creative department for a fine home building company. Scope and timing of projects vary greatly.

ad hoc marketing creative requests (including printed pieces, digital proposals, business cards, site signage)
long term projects (current & important website overhaul, a less likely,possible coffee table book)
branding initiatives (videos, photo shoots, printed pieces)
Social media posts (re-occurring and ongoing dates, social media calendar)
ad submissions (magazines)

My aim is to track all of these varying projects with varying processes, timelines and deadlines, the most streamlined way. The primary need is to use it to manage and plan the workflow for the Creative Director who is the only person in the department. I have been a project manager in publishing and in retail, but I am in office operations here. So I want to be able to manage the workflow for him as a side of what I am required to do.

I have really tried to figure this out with Smartsheet, as our company is moving to this for every other department. I think that this template would be the best option? But would love any help, demo or suggestions.

THANK YOU!

------------------------------------------

Thank you @Andrée Starå for any help or guidance, I have never felt stuck in the mud like this before when project planning, so thank you for any thoughts, they are appreciated

Martha

my initial overly comlicated form- I will simplify greatly

https://app.smartsheet.com/sheets/4qfV5rf8QJJpQ22QWv34942xp556Hw8wVcHfp2P1

my first thinking for "overall" view of marketing dept projects, thinking I'd move tasks from intake to this sheet, he didn't find it useful for day to day working and priorities, and didn't like the way it was categorized

https://app.smartsheet.com/sheets/q9qxmGMMMxgXxjxfXXppQrXR75cQ82MWH7MWrrw1

here is a list he made for himself in the beginning, but I can see he stopped using because wasn't working for him

https://app.smartsheet.com/sheets/49WxjGgqf2g9MQQ8CXCp5hgwpxvqvXRrcwpHmjP1

I would love to have a dashboard that showed current active projects in progress, and view of social media calendar, as well as status of long term website project. So I can make a Social media calendar as a sheet.I can make a project sheet for the Website project. My confusion is how to make the ongoing deadline sheet for all projects, so all deadlines are working together.

Thank you!

Martha

Michael Van Itallie

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/234486#Comment_234486

Andree,

How does that template-set manage new projects that are added, ie what is the work flow to add a new project and have the dashboard reporting include the new project data?

Andrée Starå

Hi @Michael Van Itallie

The reports could be configured to reference a Workspace, so all new projects added would be included, but there might be a better solution for what you need.

Can you describe your process in more detail and maybe share the sheet(s)/copies of the sheet(s) or some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help. (share too, andree@getdone.se)

Would that work?

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

Stacie Proctor

@Martha Brown Did you ever find a solution? I am looking to do exactly what you described. Thank you!

Stacie Proctor

@Andrée Starå were you able to help Martha? Thanks!

Andrée Starå

Hi @Stacie Proctor

Yes, I was.

I don't remember exactly what we did because I had a meeting with her to give guidance, looking at what she had already set up and the specific needs.

I'd be happy to do the same for you!

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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