Is it better to have projects in their own workspaces or folders?

Hello! I'm seeking advice from experienced users. We will have a master sheet with key information from all of our projects stored for tracking/reporting. However, for all the projects (and considering that we will have active and closed projects), is it better to create a separate workspace for each project or folder?


Thank you!

Best Answer

  • Richard Heath
    Richard Heath ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓

    Hi @Teresa Suranyi .

    We run many projects, each residing within their own Workspace. A team of people then only have access to those Workspaces that we grant them. As an administrator, I have access to all Workspaces, which can be cumbersome.

    If you have a Master Sheet that sits outside of all your Project Workspaces, consider how it will perform when Workspaces are Backed-up / Deleted. You may have to manually link reports/sheets to your Master as new Workspaces are created.

Answers

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    Hi @Teresa Suranyi

    I hope you're well and safe!

    It depends.

    • How many projects?
    • Who should have access?
    • What is included with each project?

    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@workbold.com)

    I hope that helps!

    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!

    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.

  • Teresa Suranyi
    Teresa Suranyi ✭✭✭✭

    Hi, Andrée,

    Thank you for the questions. Here are my answers:

    • This will be our ongoing project tracking, so right now will be around 50, but obviously in a few years, a few hundred.
    • Each project team will have access to their project information (either via a folder or workspace depending on what we land on), while the PMO will have access to all projects.
    • Each project will have the standard project charter, RAID log, workplan, associated deliverables, etc. attached.
    • Certain data points will be automated to be pulled into a master project tracking database.


    Thanks!

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    @Teresa Suranyi

    Happy to help!

    Sharing is much simpler with Workspaces, and you could have them by project or by the team.

    Have you looked at the premium add-on, Control Center?

    It's fantastic, and with it, most parts can be automated.

    Let me know if you want to explore it and need more information.

    What do you think?

    Remember! Did my post(s) help or answer your question or solve your problem? Please support 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!

    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.

  • Teresa Suranyi
    Teresa Suranyi ✭✭✭✭

    Hi, Andrée,

    Thank you for the offer. At this point, as we are just starting out, we see this as manageable. We will see in the future.

    T

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    @Teresa Suranyi

    You're more than welcome!

    Yes, that makes sense, but I mentioned it now because if it's interesting, it might be better to implement it now when you set everything up. If you do it later, when you already have many projects going, it will take some time to migrate that information.

    Remember! Did my post(s) help or answer your question or solve your problem? Please support 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!

    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.

  • Richard Heath
    Richard Heath ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓

    Hi @Teresa Suranyi .

    We run many projects, each residing within their own Workspace. A team of people then only have access to those Workspaces that we grant them. As an administrator, I have access to all Workspaces, which can be cumbersome.

    If you have a Master Sheet that sits outside of all your Project Workspaces, consider how it will perform when Workspaces are Backed-up / Deleted. You may have to manually link reports/sheets to your Master as new Workspaces are created.

  • Teresa Suranyi
    Teresa Suranyi ✭✭✭✭

    Hi, @Richard Heath.

    What do you do when a project is completed? We would want to somehow remove the project workspace from the list of active projects. I had thought of creating a new "Closed Projects" workspace where all the old projects would go; however, because we have different teams accessing the projects, I would then have to manually move all the contents from the workspaces into new folders in the "Closed Projects" workspace and grant permissions to new folders - seems like a lot of work. Alternatively, we thought of a simple "ZZ" addition to the front of the workspace title, which would at least move them down to the bottom of the list. Interested in hearing what others are doing.