Modern work

Smartsheet is named a Customers’ Choice in the June 2023 Gartner® Peer Insights™ ‘Voice of the Customer’: Collaborative Work Management

The Smartsheet Team — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 18:25:27 +0000

Smartsheet is named a Customers’ Choice in the June 2023 Gartner® Peer Insights™ ‘Voice of the Customer’: Collaborative Work Management The Smartsheet Team Fri, 06/30/2023 - 11:25

Smartsheet is excited to announce we have been recognized as a Customers’ Choice vendor for 2023 in the Collaborative Work Management category on Gartner® Peer Insights™. This distinction is a recognition of vendors in this market based on feedback and ratings from 203 verified end users of our product as of 30th April, 2023. Overall, Smartsheet reviewers gave us a 4.6 out of 5, with 98% saying they would recommend our product.

The Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice recognizes vendors in this market based on reviews from verified end-user professionals. The Customers’ Choice distinction takes into account both the number of reviews and the overall user ratings. To ensure fair evaluation, Gartner maintains rigorous criteria for recognizing vendors with a high customer satisfaction rate.

Here are some comments from customers that contributed to this distinction:

“Smartsheet is an incredible platform. You can do almost anything with it. I started with project management and have since used it for bug tracking, participant directories, SOX compliance reviews, and more.”

- Manager, Talent Technology, Software Industry

“Smartsheet is an outstanding PPM software platform that has exceeded my expectations. The tool offers a wide range of features that have simplified my work and brought a new level of efficiency to my team.”

- Senior Director of IT, Media Industry

"We have been using Smartsheet since 2010. Time and time again, Smartsheet has been the answer to our project, data, and tracking solutions. ”

- VP, Product & E-learning, Education Industry

Read more reviews for Smartsheet here and read the June 2023 report to learn more about this distinction.

Read the report

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its
affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, PEER INSIGHTS is a registered trademark and
The GARTNER PEER INSIGHTS CUSTOMERS’ CHOICE badge is a trademark and
service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All
rights reserved.

Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on
their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they
represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor,
product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or
implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any
warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Gartner, Voice of the Customer for Collaborative Work Management, By Peer
Contributors, 28 June 2023

This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and
should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is
available upon request from Smartsheet.

Smartsheet continues focus on scale and reliability to help customers grow

Gihan Munasinghe — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 17:04:26 +0000

Smartsheet continues focus on scale and reliability to help customers grow

As the VP for Platform Services at Smartsheet, Gihan leads our core platform teams, which focus on scaling our sheet infrastructure, administration and authentication space, and our data integration workflow platforms. Throughout his 17-year career, Gihan has worked in multiple startups in this space, from data center automation and virtualization platforms to highly-scalable workflow and messaging platforms. Gihan joined Smartsheet in 2018 as part of the Converse.AI acquisition, where he was a co-founder.

Gihan Munasinghe Fri, 06/09/2023 - 10:04

The disconnect between leadership and everyone else — and the strength of the managers in the middle

The Smartsheet Team — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 18:30:39 +0000

The disconnect between leadership and everyone else — and the strength of the managers in the middle

The Smartsheet Team Mon, 04/03/2023 - 11:30

The next evolution of Smartsheet is coming

Ben Canning — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 21:47:16 +0000

The next evolution of Smartsheet is coming

Ben Canning Wed, 02/01/2023 - 13:47

Radical productivity: The incredible benefits of asynchronous work

The Smartsheet Team — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 21:17:41 +0000

Radical productivity: The incredible benefits of asynchronous work

The Smartsheet Team Mon, 01/23/2023 - 13:17

Smartsheet Future of Work Management Report 2023

Jordan Olels — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 23:12:41 +0000

Smartsheet Future of Work Management Report 2023 Jordan Olels Mon, 12/19/2022 - 15:12

Smartsheet Future of Work Management Report 2023

Project management is only as successful as the processes that support it

January 2023

Methodology

The inaugural Smartsheet Future of Work Management Report survey was conducted in September 2022 by Wakefield Research among 8,000 employed adults aged 18-74, who work at companies with a minimum of 50 employees, evenly distributed among the following markets: United States, UK, Australia, and DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). All respondents self-reported that they engage in project-based work, defined as “projects that have a beginning and an end.”

These project professionals — who represent about 60% of the adult employed audience who work in companies with 50+ employees — span a wide range of industries, including IT, business services, healthcare, pharma, banking, finance, construction, and manufacturing. They also span a wide range of titles and levels within their organizations, including C-suite and senior executives (13%); upper and middle management (28%); and individual contributors like analysts, account leads, and other specialists (27%), administrative support staff (15%), frontline workers (15%), and those who define their work as “other” (2%).

Introduction: The current state of project management

In today’s business world, project-based work is, quite simply, the way of work. It’s increasingly likely that you’ll find yourself managing a project, too — regardless of if you have formal training, proper tools, or “project manager” in your title.

Long story short, in organizations that handle any kind of project-based work everyone is a project manager. In fact, over 80% of respondents said that project management is being done at least sometimes by someone whose title or job description does not contain “managing projects.”

Distinct groups of project managers

While almost everyone today manages projects, that doesn’t mean that everyone has the same level of project management experience. In fact, the survey surfaced the following three distinct groups of project managers:

Titled project managers

These are the people whose job title is directly associated with project management, such as a project manager, a project coordinator, or an assistant project manager.

Expected project managers

This group refers to people who do not have a project management-related title, but whose official job description includes project management activities.

Citizen project managers

These are people who, based on their job title and description, are not expected to manage projects. But, in practice, they end up managing projects anyway.

So-called citizen project managers fall into project management for a variety of reasons. Most commonly, it’s simply out of necessity — 65% say they adopt project management responsibilities because no one else steps into the PM role, team members leave the company, or they need to briefly fill-in for someone else. Additionally, 45% of citizen project managers say they manage projects simply because their supervisor asked them to, which points to the ad-hoc nature of this responsibility.

Pain points endure across project management groups

Interestingly, these three distinct groups of project managers — all of whom have different levels of experience — all report similar pain points around the state of project management today.

Nearly all respondents (91%) say their organization faces project management challenges, whether it’s due to employees being shuffled from project to project (45%), remote work (40%), extended time leave (34%), or other reasons. Of the people who experience these challenges, 85% say they are overwhelmed by project pace and deadline.

People report negative emotions as a result of this dysfunction, too: When projects break down, frustration is the principal emotion (58%), followed by burnout (31%), embarrassment (27%), anger (26%), and apathy (25%). As a result, nearly 30% report direct career consequences, like looking for another job or missing a promotion.

Pain points reflected across regions and company size

It’s important to note that these challenges are not specific to a single region or company size, but rather, are reported at similar rates across demographics.

While the survey spanned seven countries in four distinct markets, the reported challenges stayed remarkably consistent across all.

Taken together, these responses — across titles, regions, and company size — paint a clear picture: In its current state, project management is neither sustainable nor optimized for success. And, no one is exempt from the challenges that result from poor project management, which not only impact business outcomes, but also carry an emotional toll on the wellbeing of employees.

So, the question becomes: If project-based work is here to stay, how can we move forward in a way that consistently drives success — both in terms of business metrics and employee wellbeing?

Pain points endure across project management groups

Interestingly, these three distinct groups of project managers — all of whom have different levels of experience — all report similar pain points around the state of project management today.

Pain points reflected across regions and company size

It’s important to note that these challenges are not specific to a single region or company size, but rather, are reported at similar rates across demographics.

While the survey spanned seven countries in four distinct markets, the reported challenges stayed remarkably consistent across all.

So, the question becomes: If project-based work is here to stay, how can we move forward in a way that consistently drives success — both in terms of business metrics and employee wellbeing?

Three key findings to make project management more manageable

Successful project management will require a major mindset shift, away from one-off projects and toward building repeatable, scalable processes that enable seamless project work and improved collaboration across teams.

To help support this transition, we’ve identified three key findings:

1. The day-to-day project work is what matters most

2. Your team needs more tools and resources to be successful

3. Projects are only as good as the processes they’re built on

In the following sections, we’ll take a closer look at each of these points. We’ll examine the survey data that leads to these takeaways, and explore how these pain points are affecting your bottom line. Then, we’ll provide actionable recommendations for how to make changes that better connect your people, projects, and processes with the goals of your organization.

Key finding #1: The day-to-day project work is what matters most

Like all good stories, the phases of a project include a beginning (planning), middle (execution), and end (deadline). But, there is often a disproportionate amount of stress felt around — and effort applied to — meeting the deadline.

Yes, deadlines have always been an important part of ensuring that work gets done. And, the reality is that deadlines (and the stress that comes with them) are here to stay: About 50% of project professionals expect deadlines to stay the same moving forward, and 26% expect that their timelines will compress.

But, while it can be tempting to focus on these ever-tightening deadlines as the source of a project’s tensions, they aren’t the real make-or-break factor of project success. In other words, a longer deadline may not improve the likelihood of success, and a tight turnaround doesn’t necessarily mean you’re destined for failure.

Instead, the key is to focus on the middle work: the work that happens day in and day out as teams work to complete a project, such as establishing reliable workflows, incrementally completing smaller tasks, communicating well, and collaborating as a team.

While project planning and deadlines are still critical pieces of the puzzle, this daily execution work (and the manner in which it’s carried out) is what really determines project success. Essentially, how a team carries out this middle work is a better indicator of project success than whether or not they’re able to meet a deadline.

The cost of project dysfunction

The biggest hurdles to project success are a result of dysfunctional middle work, not the ability to meet a deadline. Commonly reported project issues include duplicating work that has already been done (37%), throwing out unneeded or irrelevant work (27%), and sending out outdated or incorrect information (23%).

People also suffer professional consequences as a result of consistent breakdowns within middle work. Twenty-nine percent of respondents have seen responsibilities reduced or taken away, and 13% have experienced or seen someone removed from a project entirely. What’s more, these consistent issues negatively impact people’s work-life balance: 50% of respondents say they have experienced or seen the need to work longer hours.

Smoother middle work leads to greater project success

There is a silver lining to all of this, though. If you allocate more time and effort to improving the middle work, you have the opportunity to optimize project management for continued success — and, not to mention, to improve team morale.

According to survey respondents, when projects run smoothly (as opposed to simply being delivered on time), people notice that the work feels more satisfying (56%), that stress levels are lower (54%), and that they have more control over their workday (49%). Smoother-run projects also enable team members to gain better focus on their project contributions while at work (42%).

These benefits have positive ripple effects, too. Well-run projects tend to prompt improved work relationships, both among colleagues (47%) and company leaders (41%). These benefits also extend outside of work: When projects run smoothly, respondents say that they have more energy for relationships and activities (36%) and spend less time thinking about work once the workday ends (30%).

This is especially important in today’s distributed workforce, where isolation and burnout (often as a result of poor work-life boundaries) are increasingly common.

The bottom line: Embrace the middle work

Improving project success will require a substantial shift — from fixating on deadlines to committing to running projects more smoothly by putting more focus on the steps and resources needed to do so. In order to maximize an organization’s success, both in terms of delivering strong results and improving employee wellbeing, the key is to focus on making the day-to-day middle work run as smoothly as possible.

Key finding #2: Your team needs more tools and resources to be successful

The good news is, across all levels of the organization, there is clear consensus that when project management is done well, the organization and its people are more effective. Project professionals, from the C-suite to those in execution roles, say that projects run by experienced project managers results in higher work quality (57%), greater efficiency (49%), staying on budget (42%), work being completed on-time (39%), and increased collaboration (40%).

But even if you understand the benefits of effective middle work, how do you facilitate the transition to smoother-running projects? First thing’s first: Organizational leaders need to take accountability for the support that teams desperately need.

Mining the gap between senior leaders and the rest of the company

The survey revealed that there’s a huge disconnect between leaders and individual contributors about what adequate support actually means. While 60% of senior leaders say their company is making the necessary investments in the tools needed to address common project complications, only 36% of non-C-level individuals say this is the case.

Taken another way, only 20% of C-suite leaders feel that project teams are typically understaffed, compared to 36% of upper management, 41% of middle management, and 43% of people actually doing the work (e.g., individual contributors, front-line staff, or junior level management). And, looking ahead, 72% say their company is likely to ask project teams to accomplish more with less.

This reveals a critical disparity between leadership and the rest of the company — both in regard to present state and future capacity. In order to address these problems before they spiral out of control, it’s imperative that the C-suite and senior leaders understand the tactical needs of their teams — and then, commit to meeting them.

Project management software is underutilized

One form of support is project management software, which is designed to support the specific tasks and projects that teams undertake. Unfortunately, only 35% of respondents report using these tools to do their job. Among citizen project managers (a group we already know is rapidly growing and severely under-resourced), only 11% use project management software.

This is a massive missed opportunity for organizations of all industries and sizes, who can realize time, money, and resource savings by implementing project management software. Furthermore, 78% of project professionals who use dedicated project management software say their company’s approach supports work-life balance, compared to 67% of those who use generic software and 57% of those who don’t use any software at all to manage projects.

Teams need the right support to meet their goals

In order to improve project success and employee wellbeing in the long term, organizations must understand what “sufficient support” looks like, and invest in adequate tools and resources for all those working on project-based work. The bottom line: Your people are asking, now it’s up to you to deliver.

Key finding #3: Projects are only as strong as the processes they’re built on

Even if you can manage a single project to success, you’ll need strong, repeatable processes in order to scale that effort. It’s no longer useful to think about projects as one-off initiatives because, in reality, project-based work is always happening, and the success of this ongoing work is directly tied to the strength and scalability of the processes that support it.

Teams need greater visibility into past projects and lessons learned

In order to build strong processes, you first need visibility into the learnings from past projects. Unfortunately, this information isn’t reliably available: While 94% rely on learnings from other projects to do their job effectively, 85% say they run into challenges accessing these learnings. And, 35% percent of survey respondents say that learnings around project processes are not regularly shared across the organization.

One way to combat these information silos is to implement project management software that gives teams visibility into all work happening across the organization — and allows you to capture and archive past project information. Among survey respondents who use formal work management software, 70% said they have the opportunity to gain insight into what does and doesn’t work on a regular basis.

Having reliable access to past project data will enable you to review what is and isn’t working. Then, leverage these lessons learned to create streamlined, repeatable processes. This is a critical piece of elevating the way work gets done — both in order to get each individual project across the finish line, and to scale your efforts for long-term success.

Maximize efficiency, minimize manual work

Once you’ve developed solid, repeatable processes, it’s worth looking for opportunities to further eliminate redundancy and save time — namely, by reducing manual processes. Odds are, your organization still relies on at least some manual work: 53% of respondents say they use time-consuming manual processes to send progress updates and reminders to project teams.

Project management software can help you automate certain tasks, reminders, and updates, which offers up more time for your team to focus on the most impactful work. In fact, over 50% of those using project management software have shifted to automated processes, compared to only 30% of those without software.

Automation helps increase visibility, too — 45% of those using project management software report getting regular updates on projects that could impact them, versus 21% who don’t use any at all.

It’s time to move from a project to a process mindset — and you can leverage tools to do so

This brings the case for project management software full circle: Not only does it help you create scalable, repeatable, automated processes to drive projects forward, but it also provides visibility into projects — both past and present — that helps you continually refine, strengthen, and optimize those processes. Ultimately, it’s the process that will make you powerful — and project management software can help you get there.

Conclusion: Continued organizational success hinges on smoother project and process management

If there’s one thing we learned about project management over the last year, it’s that everyone partakes in it — regardless of whether or not they are “official” project managers. In order to rise to the occasion and deliver on company objectives, everyone needs solid, sustainable ways to get projects from start to finish, time and time again.

This is especially critical for the growing population of citizen project managers, who typically lack the tools required to do their job well. Strong project management software can help fill the training and experience gaps felt by this group, as it can provide real-time visibility and boost cross-team collaboration.

Successful project management requires a mental shift — away from one-off, siloed projects and toward continuous, integrated, and collaborative project-based work. Doing so calls for three key imperatives:

1. Instead of fixating on deadlines, focus on making the middle work run as smoothly as possible.

2. Get clear about the needs of your people — time, tools, and resources — and deliver the necessary support to your team.

3. Prioritize visibility, so that you can learn from past projects and build strong processes that automate and scale your efforts.

This shift won’t happen overnight, but with the right tools in place, it’ll become faster and easier over time. Project management software — designed specifically to ease the burden of common project challenges — can help you gain visibility into work, automate repetitive tasks, and build streamlined processes to take you from individual project delivery to sustained, organization-wide progress.

Ready to see the magic in action?

Check out a demo for Smartsheet, a powerful project management solution that can help you scale your efforts and achieve long term success.

Watch the demo

How to Create a Customer Database in Microsoft Excel: Step-by-Step Tutorial and Template

Lauren Cho — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 21:12:17 +0000

How to Create a Customer Database in Microsoft Excel: Step-by-Step Tutorial and Template Lauren Cho Wed, 07/13/2022 - 14:12

Microsoft Excel offers a simple way to create, organize, and sort a customer database. We’ll walk you through how to do each step using a customizable template. You’ll also learn how to personalize the look of the database.

We’ve included easy-to-follow instructions for creating a database with photos of each step, a downloadable template, and an example customer database to get you started!

Discover a better way to streamline workflows and eliminate silos for good.

Try Smartsheet for Free

How to Create a Customer Database in Microsoft Excel

Creating a customer database in Microsoft Excel is fairly straightforward when you use a template. Gather the data you want to include, and then download a customer database template. We’ll walk you through the steps to complete it below.

Download Microsoft Excel Customer Database Spreadsheet Template

Download Customer Database Spreadsheet Template — Microsoft Excel

This template is prefilled with some common customer database fields that you can change easily to suit your needs. It is also pre-formatted to simplify sorting and filtering your results. Check out our collection of Excel customer database templates for more options, and for more examples of personal data list templates, see our list of contact list templates and client list templates.

Anatomy of a Customer Database

Maintaining an updated customer database can benefit customer relationship management (CRM) by ensuring that client contact and purchasing details are current. For more examples of how to use templates to assist in CRM, check out our list of free CRM templates.

First, let’s define some terminology. A database is a set of data organized into rows and columns. This formatting makes it easier to read and reference the data.

Database entries are divided into records (or rows), and fields (or columns). A record is one row of a database that shows information about a single subject. In this example, a record is a single customer and their corresponding information.

A field is one column of a database that contains all of the information in a single category; for example, you would enter phone numbers or names in a field.

Follow the steps below to easily complete a database template, with customizable records and fields.

1. Prepare the Customer Database

When you download the customer database template above, it will automatically open in Microsoft Excel.

Pro Tip: Click Enable Editing at the top of the spreadsheet. This step will allow you to make changes to the downloaded template.
Decide the type of customer information you want to include in the database. In this example, we are using first and last names, phone numbers, customer identification numbers, city, country, and invoice numbers. You can name every field and enter any type of data in this fully customizable template.
Ensure the predetermined fields along the top row of the database template match the details you would like to include. To change a field, click the desired cell and type your new entry.

2. Enter Customer Information

To enter a customer record, click cell 4B and type the customer number. Click the Tab key on the keyboard and type the last name in cell 4C.
Click the Tab key on the keyboard to navigate the spreadsheet and enter data in each record’s field.
Go record by record and enter the customer information you have on file. If you do not have all of the information you need, check your client info forms.

Pro Tip: Keep the format for each field consistent. For example, if one phone number uses parentheses, all of them should use parentheses. Enter countries as full names or acronyms consistently.

3. Sort the Data

You can sort records alphabetically. Click the drop-down arrow in the Last Name cell (C3).
Click Sort A to Z. Click the OK button. Note: Your version of Excel might have options for Ascending and Descending.

If it is a numerical field, you can sort your records numerically by clicking the drop-down arrow and Sort Smallest to Largest or Sort Largest to Smallest. Note: Your version of Excel might have options for Ascending and Descending.

Pro Tip: If there is no drop-down arrow, click the Data heading, then Filter, and the arrows will appear on the main title fields in the template.

Microsoft Excel Customer Database Example Template

Download Customer Database Example Template — Microsoft Excel

This template is an example of a customer database for use in Microsoft Excel. The template has been prefilled with sample customer data, but each cell and field is fully customizable. Change the field headings and fill in customer data to create a database that is organized and easily searchable.

How to Format a Customer Database in Microsoft Excel

There are many formatting options to customize the look of a customer database in Excel. Learn to change colors and fonts, add logos, add or change borders, and more.

Format Cells in Excel

To format a single cell, right-click the desired cell. Click Format Cells… Cycle through the menu options Number, Alignment, Font, Border, Fill, and Protection to change number styles, fonts and colors, add or change borders, change the alignment, and protect these cells.
To format a group of cells, hold the Shift key on your keyboard and click the top and the bottom cells of the desired range. Release the Shift key. Right-click anywhere inside the highlighted selection. Click Format Cells in the drop-down menu.

Change the Background Color of a Cell

Click the cell you want to change. Right-click and click Format Cells...
Click the Fill tab.
Click the drop-down menu for Background color. Choose a color in the background color palette. Click the OK button. Note: You can also add or change the background pattern.

Change the Font

Click the cell you want to change. Right-click and click Format Cells...
Click the Font tab.
Click and scroll through the list of fonts, and select the one you want. Do the same to change the font style, font size, and color, as well as to underline. You can also add strikethrough, superscript, and subscript effects from this window. Make your selections and click the OK button.

Add or Remove Borders Around Cells

Click the cell you want to change. Right-click and click Format Cells...
Click the Border tab.
Click a line Style, Color, and Border type. After you make your selections, click the OK button.

Change the Alignment of the Text Within a Cell

Click the cell you want to change. Right-click and click Format Cells...
Click the Alignment tab.
Select the horizontal and vertical alignment of text in cells from the corresponding drop-down menus. Change the number of degrees to adjust the orientation of the text in the cell. After you make your selections, click the OK button.

Pro Tip: Orientation is a fun tool to stylize the title fields in your database. Select your title fields and change the orientation to 45 degrees for an interesting visual effect.

Change the Display Style of Numbers

Click the cell you want to change. Right-click and click Format Cells...
Click the Number tab.
Click through each option to change how the spreadsheet is displaying numbers. You can adjust how it shows currency, with decimals and dollar signs, dates, with a consistent date format, percentages, and more. Choose the category that best describes how you would like numbers to be displayed and click the OK button.

Add Logos and Pictures

Click the area where you would like to add a logo or picture.
Click the Insert tab on the ribbon.
Click Pictures and choose the location of the image you want to insert into the cell.

Pro Tip: Excel has a large catalog of photos that you may find useful for personalizing your database in the Stock Images selection.
If the image you are looking for is on the computer you are currently working on, click This Device. Navigate to the folder containing the image you would like to insert. Select the image and click the Insert button.
Once you insert your image, press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard, then click and drag one of the corner circles of the image to resize it. Release the Shift key, then click and drag the center of the image and place it where you like.

Note: You may need to resize a row or column to make room for your image. Click the row you need to change, click on the green square at the corner of the row, and drag it to expand or shrink.

Protect Your Database from Unwanted Changes

When you have completed customizing the customer database, you should protect it from accidental changes. Click anywhere on the spreadsheet. (Note: You can also highlight and select specific cells.)
Click the Review tab on the ribbon.
Click Protect Sheet.
You can set a password for your document. Users without the password can only perform the actions that you select in this window. Users with the password will have full editing capabilities.
Make your selections, and click the OK button.

Pro Tip: It is a good idea to protect your database when you share it with people who need to view but do not need to make changes to it.

Tips for Working With a Customer Database in Microsoft Excel

There are a number of ways to use a customer database in Excel. We’ve outlined steps to sort, filter, and automatically number the rows in your database below.

How to Filter Your Records by Specific Fields

To find the records that match certain criteria (in this example, customer records from the same city), format your data as a table by highlighting all of the data you have entered, including your field titles.
Click the Home tab, then click Format as Table and choose a style.
The Create Table window will open. If your data is already highlighted, the Create Table window will automatically populate with the location of your data.
Make sure you select the My table has headers check box and then click the OK button.
Next, right-click on the cell you would like to filter your results by. In this example, we only want to see the records of customers that come from Tracy.
Click on Filter in the drop-down menu, then click Filter by Selected Cell’s Value.
The records that do not contain the word “Tracy” in the City field will be hidden from view. To reveal the hidden records, click the arrow button in the City field.
Click Clear Filter From “CITY” in the drop-down menu, and then click the OK button.

Pro Tip: The drop-down menu will automatically populate the title of your field in the Clear Filter From selection, so make sure that it matches the filter you would like to clear.

Easily Create, Customize, and Maintain a Customer Database in Smartsheet

Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change.

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free, today.

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Watch the demo: Smartsheet for Healthcare

sofia.iatarola@smartsheet.com — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 18:56:12 +0000

Watch the demo: Smartsheet for Healthcare sofia.iatarola… Tue, 07/05/2022 - 11:56

Smartsheet helps Healthcare organizations increase efficiency and deliver better patient experiences.

This demo shows how Smartsheet can help you:

Improve visibility and collaboration across teams
Streamline operations to save both time and money
Securely collect and share protected health information

Please register to watch the demo video.

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The efficiencies that we gained from it are incredible. We really saw about a 30% efficiency gain from my entire team.

Shannon Lingwall, Manager, University of Utah

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Project Management Guide

Megan Haggerty — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 21:58:57 +0000

Project Management Guide Megan Haggerty Fri, 06/24/2022 - 14:58

Smartsheet

Project Management Guide

Everyone manages projects, whether you oversee complex, organization-wide initiatives or are simply trying to complete your own work more efficiently.

In this 101 guide to project management, we’ll demystify the process and provide tips, best practices, and resources to help you successfully execute your projects.

Click through the chapters below for in-depth information on all things PM — from the project management lifecycle to methodologies to how to find the right tools for you. You can also find a full list of project management resources in our PM Resource Center.

What kind of project manager are you?

THE NOVICE

Maybe you don’t consider yourself a formal project manager, but you manage project-based work.

THE PRO

You have experience managing multiple, separate projects at once.

THE VETERAN

You often manage large team projects, an entire program, or a portfolio of projects.

Smartsheet

Project Management Guide

Everyone manages projects, whether you oversee complex, organization-wide initiatives or are simply trying to complete your own work more efficiently.

What type of project manager are you?

The Novice

Maybe you don’t consider yourself a formal project manager, but you manage project-based work.

The Pro

You have experience managing multiple, separate projects at once.

The Veteran

You often manage large team projects, an entire program, or a portfolio of projects.

What type of project manager are you?

In this 101 guide to project management, we’ll demystify the process and provide tips, best practices, and resources to help you successfully execute your projects.

Smartsheet

Project Management Guide

Everyone manages projects, whether you oversee complex, organization-wide initiatives or are simply trying to complete your own work more efficiently.

What’s included in the project management guide?

CHAPTER 1

Project management basics

CHAPTER 2

Understanding the project management lifecycle

CHAPTER 3

Project management methodologies

CHAPTER 4

Top 5 tips for successful project management

CHAPTER 5

How to overcome the top 6 project management challenges

CHAPTER 6

How to build a stellar project team

CHAPTER 7

How project management benefits different teams

CHAPTER 8

How to become a project manager

CHAPTER 9

Project management software and tools

CHAPTER 10

The future of project management

CHAPTER 11

Project management resources

CHAPTER 12

Frequently asked questions

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How to Choose the Right Project Management Software Tool for Your Organization

Kate Eby — Tue, 17 May 2022 18:24:57 +0000

How to Choose the Right Project Management Software Tool for Your Organization Kate Eby Tue, 05/17/2022 - 11:24

In order to successfully execute your projects on time and under budget, consider using project management software. We’ve developed tips for how to choose the best PM software for your organization.

Included on this page, you’ll find a list of questions to ask when choosing PM software, a list of basic feature requirements, and a feature comparison spreadsheet.

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How Do You Know It’s Time to Invest in Project Management Software?

You should consider investing in project management software when your management processes create more work than they streamline. If your work is spread across too many apps and you spend too much time in meetings, PM software can help.

A few situations point toward a need for better tools, including the following:

Your teams spend much of their time updating others on their status via meetings or emails.
You find yourself unable to keep data up to date and accessible across multiple platforms.
Your team continually misses deadlines and is unable to anticipate common roadblocks.
You spend too much time organizing data and manually generating reports.

Many small companies begin their approach to organized project management using tools they already know. Spreadsheet tools like Microsoft Excel are great for some situations, but as an organization grows, so do its processes and demands. Excel cannot provide many of the tools that larger companies need, such as built-in reporting, real-time updates, and scalability.

Salvador Ordorica, CEO of The Spanish Group, explains the advantages of dedicated project management software over static systems such as Excel: “Consider all of the Excel processes for which there is a dedicated solution. In them, all of your data is available in one location, and it is very convenient to have all of your project information in one place. All of your tasks can be planned and marked as complete, and your past and upcoming calendar events are available for reference, as is your customer data, project resources, and expenses. You can automatically send invoices to clients. You can access your data in a flash, and having all of your data in one place means you can easily share it with your team with just a few clicks. There's no need to switch between spreadsheet files to find data.”

Project management software is built specifically for these use cases and is much more powerful when it comes to collaborating, status reporting and tracking, and scaling small operations into larger, more complex setups. Many companies also report that project management software is essential in the transition to remote work and, with it, more asynchronous communication.

What to Look for in Project Management Software

Seek out project management software that bridges gaps in and addresses issues within your current approach. The right tool should integrate with your existing software and processes to make your work easier and meet your budget.

“I run a few businesses of my own, I work with clients as a consultant, and I train and mentor PM professionals,” says Cornelius Fichtner, President of OSP International and a PM podcaster. “This means I've had a chance to work with project management software pretty extensively. The main features I usually look at, in order, are project planning and scheduling, communication features, and documentation. If these features aren't done well, your ability to organize projects and allocate tasks to team members will be very limited.”

Additionally, think about the following when looking for PM software:

Your Team’s Needs: Among your current software tools, determine which features your team uses the most. Don’t select a program based only on available features; choose one with the features you will actually use.

“We needed to figure out where our existing project management tools had gone off the rails and made things more complicated,” shares David Reid, Sales Director at VEM Tooling. “We required something to make it easier to manage, assign, and estimate resources to improve our efficiency, so we decided to build a list of all of the features that the team needed.”
Thoughtful Design: Modern project management software has a well-considered user experience and is intuitive to use. Most provide tutorials, but you should be able to access the most basic features easily by exploring the tool.
Product Support: Read reviews and chat with sales reps about what kind of support the service offers. They may provide more than just tech support, such as help setting up your system, onboarding your employees, and training them to use the product.

Your Budget: Most project management software tools provide a subscription model with a monthly cost per user. Most offer tiered pricing, and many offer free trials for specific higher-level tiers or enable ongoing access to a free, basic tier. You may find that you only need to make a one-time purchase for an on-premise solution that suits your organization.

Consider the cost of monthly and annual membership against the cost of the time your employees will save by using it. Most subscriptions run less than $50 per person per month, so if each employee can save one or two hours using the product, it may be worth the cost. Additional features typically cost more, but if your company doesn’t need those features, the additional expense may not be justified.

“Compare the cost of each tool,” suggests Sam Cohen, the founder of Gold Tree Consulting. “Look at all the features the software offers and then its price. After all, it’s better to avoid paying for features that your company doesn’t even need.”
Potential Time Savings: Automation is one of the most powerful tools offered by project management software. With automation, you can make your workflows more efficient, remind your team of deadlines, and reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks.
Collaboration: Good project management tools facilitate collaboration with access to shared files, dashboards, and calendars. Many offer tiered access so that team members can create or edit projects as needed.
Flexible Planning Options: Every project is different, so choose a tool that helps you create the best plan for your team. Many project management solutions offer spreadsheets, Gantt charts, and card or Kanban views to organize and plan your projects efficiently.

How to Choose Project Management Software

The best method to choose project management software is to explore your options fully. Compare the tools and features you need between competitors, and utilize free trials. Consider how each program can scale as your company grows.

Here are some steps you can take to identify the best PM software for your team or organization:

Make a List of Features: Examine the programs you currently use and list the features you most depend on. Consult with your team and determine if there are any major gaps in the offerings of your current tools, and look for tools that bridge these gaps. Consider that you may be able to integrate or replace these tools with your new project management software.
Research: Investigate your options and examine similar features. Use a comparison chart to note the products that offer the features you want. Talk to peers who use varying tools, and read positive and negative user reviews. Many companies also offer side-by-side comparisons of their products against their competitors.

“We sought advice from other project managers, along with using search engines, trade periodicals, and specialty reviews,” notes Reid. “After that, we narrowed our list to roughly five suppliers to test and choose from. We examined the technology and the expense of switching to each option. We then initiated a test drive with all the shortlisted software providers to see how they work.”
Utilize Available Trials: Use free trials or lower, less expensive tiers to see if the products are a good fit for your team. Many products look great on the surface but may be difficult to use or lack functionality that your organization requires.“Free trials allow you to test each tool and see how well it performs according to your company’s workflow,” advises Cohen.
Speak with Sales Representatives: Find out how the company interacts with customers and provides support. Choose a company with knowledgeable staff that provide ongoing support through every phase of implementation and training, and tech support through the life of the product.
Verify Security Protocols: Ensure that whatever product you choose adheres to strict security guidelines to safeguard your and your customers’ data.
Start Your Search Early: If possible, start researching project management software before you have an immediate, critical need so you aren’t rushed to make a decision. Some products can be rolled out easily in a day or two, while some, more powerful solutions can take weeks to implement and customize fully.
Involve Your Team: Take your team’s opinions into account. They may have worked with various products in the past or desire certain features for their roles. Your team likely has thoughts about the tools to help them in their day-to-day work.

Questions to Ask When Choosing Project Management Software

It’s natural to have many questions when choosing project management software. From costs to features, we’ve made a list of some of the best questions to ask while considering the switch.

While researching project management software, ask yourself the following questions:

What features would be helpful for my team? Work with your team to determine a list of features they need and want to have. They may have worked with products in the past that would be a good fit for your team now.

“One of the secret weapons I have for evaluating different software platforms is the experience of my freelancers. I started out as a freelancer, and it gave me a chance to learn a lot about several different software platforms and management practices in the industry. As a CEO, I lack that perspective these days, but it's one of the things I always ask about when onboarding or offboarding freelancers in order to stay informed,” suggests Devon Fata, the founder and CEO of Pixoul.
What processes do we wish we could improve? Consult your team and make a list of the processes that are limited by your current software. “The main challenge my team faced was scheduling and time management,” says Cohen. “Using project management tools, we have been able to overcome this issue. We’re able to schedule tasks for everyone and prevent bottlenecks that might have led to bigger problems.”
What can we afford? Determine a budget for project management software. Consider the labor costs of your current processes, and compare them to the time savings that project management software will bring. Many products offer free or low-cost product tiers or access to unlicensed users. You may find that only your project managers and administrative-level employees require a paid license to use your software.

“Especially in managing a remote workforce, fewer licenses to worry about was a big plus for us,” Cohen shares.
Has this company been around for a while? Do some research into the companies whose products you are considering. A company that has been around for a while has had a long time to perfect its offerings and support, and it may pose less risk of becoming obsolete.
Are there a lot of product updates, and how will they affect us? Product updates are great and generally fix bugs and add functionality. Many companies publish upcoming product updates on their website and are committed to making updates as smooth as possible for their users.
Are there testimonials from similar companies to ours about this product? One of the best ways to see if a project management solution will work for your organization is to find testimonials. Look for positive and negative reviews from companies of a similar size in your industry to learn about their experiences.
Does the company offer support throughout the lifetime of the product? Ongoing support is critical if you plan to use a product for many years. Make sure that your top contenders have a history of supporting their product through updates over time.
Does the company offer support for training and onboarding at the start and for new products and features? Most companies will train you on their software and its major updates, but it is worth verifying that this is the case.
Do this product’s features align with my processes, or will I need to update my processes dramatically? Choose software that dovetails with your current processes. That said, you may also find that adopting new software can open up new, beneficial process channels.

“Communication has been our biggest challenge as we have shifted to a remote business model. We allowed increased flexibility, which meant employees had different working hours. With the help of project management software, we can communicate the tasks assigned to each team member asynchronously. [Project management software] allows us to streamline communication and help cross-department collaboration,” explains Steve Anevski, the CEO of UpShift Work.
Does this product integrate with the apps I currently use? It is easier to get buy-in from your team if you can continue using some of your current tools alongside your new one. Many project management software solutions integrate common apps such as Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft OneDrive, and more.
How long will it take to implement this software fully? Depending on the complexity, software may take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to fully implement. Plan for the time you will need to onboard your team and migrate over your projects.
Is the user interface intuitive for less tech-savvy team members? Well-designed software is intuitive to the average user. Modern project management software is designed with the user experience in mind.

Project Management Software Requirements

Your project management software should meet as many of your needs as possible. Determine the tools and features you require by identifying pain points in your current processes. Choose a product with features that can help alleviate those issues.

Anevski describes his method for choosing a project management solution for his business: “Project management tools have been an essential aspect of our business as they allow for increased cross-department collaboration. When looking for the ideal tool, I evaluated our business needs to help determine which platform would best cater to our needs. I identified and made a list of problems that my employees face when handling projects. Then I looked into how these issues would be resolved through the software. I made sure to research different tools and prioritize them by their features.”

All organizations have different needs based on the size, industry, and nature of their business. There are, however, some features of project management software that most companies require:

Collaboration Tools: These tools include chat and asynchronous communication tools, real-time updates, file sharing, and tiered account access. Collaboration tools facilitate visibility and communication between team members, clients, and other stakeholders.
Planning Tools: These tools include charts, spreadsheets, dashboards, and calendars, and are used to schedule tasks, track status, and create reports.
Resource Management Tools: This category includes task management, automation, reminders, and notifications. Resource management allows your team to divide their labor wisely and approach projects efficiently.
Time Tracking Tools: These include timesheets for employees, time trackers for individual tasks, and the ability to set deadlines. Time tracking accounts for labor hours and ensures that you are not missing deadlines.

Team Requirements

Teams, like companies, have different needs. Choose a tool that reflects the needs of your team, including the processes and methodology you tend to apply to your projects (e.g., Waterfall, Agile).

Teams using proactive project management methodologies such as Waterfall or Kanban need a tool to define strict roles, easily set deadlines, and automate reminders to move a project through well-defined steps. These teams may also benefit from automated, regular reporting tools. Teams that use more flexible methodologies such as Agile or Scrum may prefer a tool that can help break up large projects into smaller tasks that the team can assign to individuals. These Agile teams also greatly benefit from integrated communication tools and real-time updates to dashboards from coworkers.

Get your teams on board early to ensure quick and complete adoption of new software. Seek employees’ input on which software to choose and what features are the most critical. Your team will be working with it every day and have unique insight into how to utilize the various tools.

Similarly, if you are trying to sell your superiors on the benefits of project management software, start that conversation early. They are more likely to get on board if you can introduce them to the idea and show preliminary results using free tiers or trials.

Functional Requirements

In addition to individual teams’ requirements, project management software should be relatively easy to learn, scale well with the company as it grows, allow access based on the user’s role, and provide real-time updates.

Consider the following functional requirements when researching PM software:

Ability to Share Externally: A project management tool should allow you to share reports and dashboards with stakeholders and customers who aren’t in your company or don’t have an account to use the platform.
Access Based on User Roles: Your project management software should allow various access levels based on a user’s role. Not everyone needs access to sensitive customer information or the ability to edit every cell in a sheet.
Ease of Adoption: Ensure that your chosen tool is easy to learn and the company offers support to train your team. Adopting a new tool should make everyone’s work easier, not more complicated.
Easy Communication: A project management tool should allow easy communication within the software to keep conversations contextual and in one place.

“Internally, we prioritized communications features for our project management software,” says Fichtner. “The playing field is fairly level for many other features, but communication tool quality varies widely. We now coordinate our activities and communicate with each other in one place. Being able to talk and manage our projects in one place has been a boon.”
Real-Time Updates: Your tool should update for all users in real time when anyone makes changes to a document.
Scalability: Your project management tool should be able to scale up as your projects and company grow. Choose a tool that allows you to add new users and more cloud storage whenever you need.

Technical Requirements

Project management software should provide a streamlined technical experience. It should integrate well with common applications, run well on all major operating systems, be compatible with various file types, and have available support throughout the product's life.

Consider the following technical capabilities when choosing a PM tool:

Automation and Notifications: Your tool should allow you to automate common workflows and set automatic notifications and reminders.

“Emails are an essential part of workplace communication, but project management software allows you to reduce inbox clutter. You don’t have to send follow-up or reminder emails because you and your team can communicate and view each other's progress, and send notifications automatically,” Ordorica explains.
Browser, Operating System, and Mobile Compatibility: A good project management tool is compatible with all common internet browsers, operating systems, and mobile platforms. Many of them have their own mobile apps to facilitate access from anywhere in the world.
Cloud-Based Storage: Project management software should offer cloud storage for its users to ensure that data is accessible to anyone, anywhere, at all times.
Existing Software Integration: Many project management systems integrate with other commonly used applications, such as Evernote, Google Docs, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneDrive, Slack, and more. Consider finding a solution that minimizes the changes you need to make to the other applications that you use.
File Compatibility: Choose a tool that is compatible with the files you already use. Project management software should allow you to work the way you want to.
Ongoing Support: Ongoing support and assistance with new releases is an absolute requirement. If you plan to use a product long-term, choose one with a proven history of training and support for its new releases.

Project Management Software Research Comparison Chart

Download Project Management Software Research Comparison Chart
Microsoft Excel | Adobe PDF | Google Sheets

With help from Sam Sweeney, the Founder of Trivvy, we’ve created this project management software research comparison chart to easily make notes and compare the offerings of various project management software solutions. Compare project management software options by answering the questions posed by the chart during your research. Use these comparisons to choose the right project management software for your team.

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When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free, today.

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