For anyone connecting Smartsheet with ServiceNow SPM, I’m interested in how you’re deciding which tasks should actually be synchronized.
Most project teams manage the full project plan in Smartsheet. It’s where work gets updated every day, priorities change and new tasks are added. The question is whether every one of those rows needs to appear in ServiceNow.
Everything stays in the sheet
One approach that’s worked well for us is keeping the complete project plan in Smartsheet while only synchronizing the tasks that matter to the portfolio team. Nothing is removed from the sheet. Selecting a task simply marks it for synchronization into ServiceNow.
For example, if a build phase contains twelve tasks but only four are portfolio level deliverables, only those four are synchronized. The rest remain in Smartsheet where the delivery team continues working with them. This gives both teams the view they need without duplicating the entire project.
Keeping the hierarchy
The hierarchy is just as important as the task selection. Two rules keep the structure clear on the ServiceNow side.
Selecting a single child row
If a single child row is selected, its parent rows are included automatically so the structure still makes sense in ServiceNow. Other child rows at the same level remain in Smartsheet unless they are selected. Here is that on a live project:
Smartsheet: specific rows under Initiating and Planning are ticked in the Sync column. The parent rows, and the sibling row Project Sponsor Reviews Project Charter, are left unticked.
ServiceNow: only the ticked rows appear, with Initiating and Planning pulled in as their parents. The unticked sibling stayed in the sheet.
Smartsheet: only the Executing parent row is ticked, not its individual rows.
ServiceNow: ticking the parent brought all ten rows beneath Executing across with it.
Why the parent rows are included
Without the parent rows, individual tasks lose their context after they’re synchronized into ServiceNow. Keeping the parent hierarchy makes it clear where every task belongs while avoiding unnecessary detail from the rest of the project plan.
Interested to hear how others are approaching this
Do you synchronize the entire sheet into ServiceNow, or only selected tasks?
If you only synchronize part of the plan, how do you keep the project structure clear?
Have you found a good way to decide which tasks belong in the portfolio view and which should stay only in Smartsheet?
