setting up my business correctly

Dan,

There are lots of introductory and other training videos, recorded webinars, etc that you will find extremely helpful. And for other specific questions, this community is great!

Good luck ---

Dan,

The responses from Tim and James are spot on.

For Best Use, in my opinion, you want to take a look at what your organization already does. While the initial learning curve for Smartsheet is not steep, it is there.

After looking at the templates and videos, likely there will be an idea that seems 'natural'. That might be the best. Or close to the best.

If there are other interested parties (head of HR may have a different need than head of Operations), you may want to get them involved. Sometimes one-size-fits-all, sometimes not. 

I have several clients and worked at a company that used Smartsheet. Every system has been either slightly or drastically different. It depends.

Don't over complicate the system to start with. Keep it simple. There will be growing pains as you learn what works and what doesn't. Document major decisions on structure, especially if you use naming conventions (all schedules must be named "Schedule_PROJECT_STARTDATE").

 At my previous company, we implemented a system that worked for 3 good PM's but struggled when rolling out to 10 other PM's. Know your audience.

If you need more help (besides specific questions here on the Community), Richard Rymill at Smarter Business Processes gives free 1 hour consultations. 

James and I sometimes work with him. There are other consultants on here as well.

Craig