Smartsheet workspace log

Ashley Campbell

Purpose

Create a Smartsheet that maps the relationship between sheets and reports within a workspace, allowing users to quickly identify which reports use specific sheets as sources.

This would create a workspace hierarchy/dependency map that makes it easier to maintain reports when new sheets are added—especially for teams that do not have access to Control Center.

How It Would Work

The tracker would automatically or manually maintain a list of all sheets within a workspace and identify the reports that use each sheet as a source.

1. Pull all Sheet Names

The Grid would contain a list of all sheets within the workspace.

Source Sheet	Folder	Reports Using Sheet	Report Link	Needs Update
Master Tracker	PMO	Executive Dashboard	🔗	🔴
Master Tracker	PMO	Weekly Status Report	🔗	🔴
Project Tracker – NC	Projects	NC Dashboard	🔗	🟢

2. Identify Report Dependencies

For each sheet, the process would:

Sheet → Find Reports → Identify Report Source → Display Report

The tracker would identify every report that has the sheet listed as a source.

This creates a simple relationship:

SOURCE SHEET
↓
REPORT 1
REPORT 2
REPORT 3
↓
Dashboard / User View

3. Filter to the Source Sheet

The tracker could then be filtered to a specific main/source sheet.

For example:

Source Sheet: PMO Master Tracker

The Grid would show only the reports that currently use that sheet.

This makes it easy to identify every downstream report that may need to be updated.

New Sheet Update Process

This is where the tracker would provide the most value.

When a new sheet is added to a workspace, the tracker could identify which reports need the new sheet added as a source.

Example

You have:

Master Source Sheet

• Project A
• Project B
• Project C

And several reports are built from those sheets.

You create:

Project D

The tracker identifies:

Project D has been added to the workspace but has not yet been added to the applicable reports.

The user can then:

1. Filter to the source sheet.
2. Identify the reports that need the new sheet.
3. Click the report link directly from the tracker.
4. Open the report.
5. Add the new sheet as a source.
6. Return to the tracker.
7. Mark/update the relationship.
8. The report is removed from the Needs Update view.

Suggested Tracker Structure

Columns

Column	Purpose
Workspace	Workspace containing the sheet
Folder	Folder where the sheet resides
Source Sheet	Name of source sheet
Sheet Link	Direct link to source sheet
Report Name	Report using the source
Report Link	Direct link to report
Report Type	Row Report / Sheet Summary / etc.
Source Status	Added / Missing / Needs Review
New Sheet?	Identifies recently added sheets
Last Checked	Date dependency was verified
Owner	Person responsible for updating
Update Needed	Yes / No
Update Date	Date report was updated
Notes	Additional information

Recommended Workflow

STEP 1 — Identify Workspace Sheets

Pull or maintain all sheets within the workspace.

STEP 2 — Identify Report Sources

Determine which reports contain each sheet as a source.

STEP 3 — Create the Dependency Map

Build the relationship:

Sheet → Report → Dashboard

STEP 4 — Identify Missing Sources

When a new sheet is created, identify reports where that sheet should be included but isn't yet.

STEP 5 — Update Reports

Use the Report Link column to quickly open each report and add the new source sheet.

STEP 6 — Clear the Queue

Once the source has been added, update the tracker.

The report would then no longer appear in the "Needs Update" filter/view.

Why This Is Valuable

No Control Center Required

This provides a lightweight alternative for teams that do not have Smartsheet Control Center.

Creates a Workspace Hierarchy

Instead of simply having a collection of sheets and reports, you can see:

Workspace
→ Folder
→ Source Sheet
→ Report
→ Dashboard

This gives the workspace an actual dependency structure.

Solves the Multi-Folder Problem

This is especially useful when source sheets are distributed across multiple folders.

For example:

Workspace

• 📁 PMO
  • Master Tracker
• 📁 NC
  • NC Project 1
  • NC Project 2
• 📁 VA
  • VA Project 1
• 📁 Reporting
  • Executive Report
  • NC Report
  • VA Report

If you cannot use an entire folder as a report source, you have to manually maintain individual sheet sources.

This tracker would provide visibility into which individual sheets are being used where.

Key Benefit

The biggest advantage is that it changes report maintenance from:

"I think I updated all of the reports..."

to:

"The tracker shows me exactly which reports still need the new source sheet."

It creates a closed-loop source management process:

New Sheet Added
→ Dependency Identified
→ Report Linked
→ Source Added
→ Tracker Updated
→ No Longer Appears in Update Queue

Potential Enhancement

I would also add a "New Sheet / Needs Report Update" report on a PMO dashboard.

That gives you a live maintenance queue:

🚨 Reports Requiring New Source Sheets

12 Reports Need Updates

Source Sheet	Report	Owner	Status
Project 104	NC Production Report	Ashley	🔴 Needs Source
Project 105	Executive Dashboard	Katie	🔴 Needs Source
Project 106	PMO Status Report	Michael	🟡 In Progress

Kira Stevens

Hi Ashley!

My team built Prosheet Control, a tool that creates a visual architecture map of your Smartsheet environment, showing how sheets, reports, dashboards, folders and workspaces are connected.

We’ve found it really valuable for as we scale into larger and more mature Smartsheet environments. It’s a huge help in helping manage governance, compliance, risk, clean-up, or understanding how their assets are linked before making changes.

kira@infospark.com.au

Feel free to contact me for help with Smartsheet including setup, integrations, PMO, production, region migration.