Smartsheet - Collaboration made easy
I use Smartsheet very often. Whenever I would have traditionally used Excel, instead I now use Smartsheet as my go-to application whenever …
Starting at $14 per month
View PricingOverview
What is Smartsheet?
Smartsheet is an online project management and collaboration tool. It includes automated alerts, instantaneous updating and sharing across team members, resource management, nested tasks organized in a hierarchy, a Gantt chart view, exportable and automated reports, and integration with email.
Recent Reviews
Awards
Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards
Popular Features
- Scheduling (106)8.585%
- Task Management (121)8.484%
- Team Collaboration (117)8.484%
- Gantt Charts (104)8.181%
Reviewer Pros & Cons
Pricing
Individual
$14
Cloud
per month
Business
$25
Cloud
Per User / Per Month
Enterprise
Contact Sales
Cloud
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.smartsheet.com/pricing
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
What Is Smartsheet? Everything You Want To Know In Under 10 Mins!
YouTube
Smartsheet Review: Key Features, Pros, And Cons
YouTube
Smartsheet Dynamic View Demo
YouTube
Smartsheet Demo [The Only One You Need]
YouTube
Smartsheet for Project Management - Demo
YouTube
Features
Return to navigation
Product Details
- About
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is Smartsheet?
Smartsheet is an online project management and collaboration tool from Smartsheet.inc in Bellevue, Washington. The software has a characteristic spreadsheet like interface but contains the full panoply of features expected of project management and collaboration software, such as automated alerts, instantaneous updating and sharing across team members, resource management facilitating budgeting and task allocation, nested tasks organized in a hierarchy, a Gantt chart view, the ready production of exportable reports (e.g. Excel), and integration with email. Across spreadsheets cells can be linked allowing the creation of master spreadsheets that provide ready summaries or automated reports. Smartsheet's capabilities can be expanded with a multitude of apps (e.g. Dropbox, Google Apps) or integrated into combinatory solutions (e.g. with Salesforce) to tailor fit business needs. It supports full mobile access.
Three tiers cover Smartsheet's pricing options. The Basic level provides core features for small groups of individuals, while the Team level is recommended for groups of up to 50 people and supports more user features, allows multiple sheet creators, and has reporting functions. The Enterprise level is a custom fit tier for groups of greater than 50 individuals or companies, and may include dedicated support personnel if desired.
Three tiers cover Smartsheet's pricing options. The Basic level provides core features for small groups of individuals, while the Team level is recommended for groups of up to 50 people and supports more user features, allows multiple sheet creators, and has reporting functions. The Enterprise level is a custom fit tier for groups of greater than 50 individuals or companies, and may include dedicated support personnel if desired.
Smartsheet Video
Karyopharm Therapeutic's mission is to bring important drugs to market. Clinical trials involve careful design, documentation, and approvals. The company moves through the process, getting drugs to patients quicker, with Smartsheet.
Smartsheet Competitors
Smartsheet Technical Details
| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Smartsheet is an online project management and collaboration tool. It includes automated alerts, instantaneous updating and sharing across team members, resource management, nested tasks organized in a hierarchy, a Gantt chart view, exportable and automated reports, and integration with email.
Reviewers rate Resource Management highest, with a score of 8.8.
The most common users of Smartsheet are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
Comparisons
Compare with
Reviews and Ratings
(828)
Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
Highly usable tool: Users find Smartsheet to be a highly usable tool with a considerable amount of functionality and ease of use. Some users appreciate its user-friendly interface and extensive features.
Effective scheduling and task management: The scheduling aspect of Smartsheet is highly praised as it allows multiple people to work on data simultaneously without locking the sheet. Many users appreciate the ability to set automatic reminders for tasks, even for future dates up to a year ahead.
Excel-like interface: Users appreciate that Smartsheet operates like Excel, making it easy for anyone with Excel experience to use. They find the formatting capabilities highly effective in managing large amounts of data.
Confusing User Interface: Many users have expressed frustration with the confusing and complicated user interface of Smartsheet, making it difficult for them to navigate and complete tasks efficiently. This issue has been mentioned by multiple reviewers.
Lacking Spreadsheet Functionalities: A number of users have mentioned that some basic spreadsheet functionalities, such as Merge Cells, are missing in Smartsheet. This limitation hampers their ability to manipulate data effectively.
Limited Integration with Excel: Advanced Excel users have voiced their desire for Visual Basic functionality in Smartsheet, which would allow them to automate tasks and customize the software further. Its absence restricts their ability to fully leverage the tool's capabilities.
Users have made several recommendations for Smartsheet based on their experiences. First, users highly recommend considering PPM and PSA needs before implementing Smartsheet, as the platform may be more suitable for certain project and task management requirements. Second, users recommend integrating Smartsheet with a calendar for easy viewing of due dates, emphasizing the benefit of combining Smartsheet's features with a calendar tool to enhance visibility and organization of deadlines. Lastly, users appreciate the real-time management and ability to use Smartsheet among multiple team members, highlighting the platform's capability to facilitate collaboration and streamline workflows within teams.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(26-50 of 55)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
August 13, 2019
Like an online Excel++ and easy to use
We were looking for a simple online project management tool that was simple to use and easy to learn, and Smartsheet had everything. It is kind of an online version of Excel with more features like Kanban cards and Gantt Charts.
August 11, 2019
Smartsheet is a time saver for data entry
We are using Smartsheet in our Florida region of Picaboo Yearbooks outside sales. It addresses many problems, the main one being that we are able to fill in our contracts with our customer information from data we have or data the customer enters for us. We send a form to customers with important school information and dates. We then use Smartsheet as a way to collect and organize this information. Then, we implement Smartsheet labs to fill this information directly into DocuSign which cuts down the manual contract process.
- Collect information via forms.
- Store information in separate sheets.
- Create visual views of the information we have to easily see what we're missing.
- The number of sheets seems limited for the individual plan.
- I think the UI could be improved.
August 09, 2019
A powerful Management Tool to Collaborate Securely
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Smartsheet is often used when handling cross-departmental projects. For instance, when managing the company's annual activities and billing. The software allows us to interact with similar task checklists in real-time when under conference calls. Above all, it offers the best security compared to Google Sheets.
- The software allows us to attach files on cells within the sheet. Other softwares don’t have this feature.
- Smartsheet has a feature called “Email Shared Users” which improves its reliability to notify users on the current updates.
- Smartsheet has been designed in a way that it integrates comfortably with most management systems of different organizations.
- This software has an outdated appearance when compared to its competitors, Google Sheets. The interface should be re-designed.
- Smartsheet does not support the use of equations/functions within the sheet, as it is done on Google Sheets.
- It sometimes takes too long to figure out how to log in using the company credentials depending on how the link to the sheet is set.
August 07, 2019
Smartsheet is the Smart Way to run your Business!!
Smartsheet has become a key communication tool for our corporate office and our 100 Dealers as well as our Field Representatives. We use Smartsheet to track orders, follow an approval process, and general feedback. So simple to create a link and a mobile form that we get requests weekly for new action items. Smartsheet is a great way for us to reach out and track feedback.
- Quick Mobile forms
- Excel Tracking and organization
- Ability to take on document uploads
- Personalized Mobile Templates
- Logic to process Dynamic questions
- Tab out results by time periods and or certain fields - Example - if this field = yes then place results on sheet 2
August 02, 2019
Simply the Best
Due to the decentralization of my organization and having different branches, collaboration was a nightmare. However, with Smartsheet, project coordination is much easier. Smartsheet is used primarily used in different activities. For instance, tracking and sharing time off and out of the office information, tracking and sharing information on projects as well as tracking all team members tasks. Also, this software has been used to organize and share documents, displaying notices and coordination among the HR groups
- With Smartsheet, sharing information across the whole organization with due diligence has been realized. Departments
- The software has all the required functionalities as opposed to the previous software which was used in the organization. It allows us to import and export excel, projects and other document formats.
- When reporting from this software it's much easier. Data can be taken from multiple sheets and combined into a single report.
- Gantt charts which are drawn using this software are poor in quality. This is in comparison to other software such as Microsoft Project.
- It does not have all the basic formulas required in engineering calculations. This becomes a limitation when working on engineering projects.
- Exporting of information from other sources such as Excel, Microsoft Word and PDFs is limited.
The entire organization uses it as our project management tool as well as an external collaboration tool.
- Collaboration with external users by using whitelists of domains or users
- Integration with JIRA
- Ability to have licenses users and just contributors
- The increase in cost and their platform has been very frustrating
- Lack of proper integration with Project files is less than ideal
- More integrations with other applications
- Easier collaboration on sheets that do not require refreshing or saving
June 15, 2019
Smartsheet: The perfect tool for type A timelines
It’s currently being owned and managed by one team (the production team) where we create timelines for our client's advertising campaigns. However, we have other departments (such as designers, writers, and developers)review the timelines within Smartsheet to approve.
- There is a “predecessor” feature where you can put in the duration of a task and it will auto-populate the due date.
- You can make templates in seconds.
- It feels exactly like Excel so you don’t need to learn new functionalities, and it’s actually more intuitive.
- You can ping individuals and leave comments for them within the timeline.
- It’s hard to go back to an old version if you make a mistake.
- If you attach a document to the sheet it’s difficult to manage version control.
- Unlike a google doc, multiple users can be in the timeline at one time however only one version can be saved at any moment so you’re not seeing live updates.
August 28, 2018
Easy to use project management solution at the right cost!
Smartsheet is being used throughout many departments and users in our organization to collect, store and report on information such as employment applications, training registrations, and employee suggestions. We are also using it for project management to keep track of assigned staff, timelines and tasks to complete. With the notifications and alerts, Smartsheet allows us to keep track of a wide variety of tasks and organize our work.
- The thing that made Smartsheet stand out to us from other project management solutions was how easy it is to use. The spreadsheet-like layout allows users to jump in and use it without much, if any, training. Once you are comfortable with the basic spreadsheet functions, you can dive into formulas and different layout options to make it as complex as you like.
- Alerts and Notifications help keep you aware of changes made or when certain tasks are due. It's easy to end up with a multitude of sheets and lose track of where you stand or what is due. With the variety of ways that you can set up notifications and alerts, Smartsheet does the work for you.
- I would love to see new features rolled out a little more quickly. Many users have been waiting for some time for the ability to multi-select items in a list.
August 17, 2018
Smartsheet - Good for Project Management and Collaboration
Smartsheet is used to organize, track, and share data regarding upcoming projects and deliverables. Smartsheet is used by marketing and the creative departments to organize and track data. We input data regarding upcoming campaigns, and use the "share" option to communicate updates on our projects to our coworkers and external partners. We also use the linking option to update everyone's tracking information and deliverables, to save time and avoid duplication of efforts. Smartsheet prevents miscommunications, as you are able to effectively share and track data.
- The sharing option allows you to share data with external partners/co-workers.
- The linking option allows you to update multiple pages at once.
- This is great for business meetings as you are able to export information into Excel and print data.
- Sometimes I experience linking issues with particularly lengthy sheets.
August 15, 2018
Super efficient and organized
Smartsheet was used by my organization's marketing and creative departments to track all of our information. We have Smartsheet docs for contact sheets, for scheduling, and for tracking. One of the things we used Smartsheet for was to track which film studios had purchased ad buys with our owners because we needed that information to know what materials we need to create. Every week, we would generate a report on this spreadsheet, which would sort the data and give us only the relevant information for our weekly meetings. We would search by which of our owners needed the content, and then by date, so that the correct liaisons could look at their sections and then know what to work on based on the date. We also linked many of our smartsheets to a large dashboard, which was created each month, that allowed each of us to input specific information into our own personal Smartsheet docs and all of this info, combined with everyone else's, would populate into the larger dashboard, which could be looked at as a whole. That way, we each only had to put in our information once, and it would update the master dash for everyone.
- Generation reports - this is super simple to do and saves tons of time and effort. Instead of having to create reports every time you need one, we can generate a report any time and it is nearly instant.
- Linking sheets - this saves us from duplication of efforts. We will never have to input the same data into two separate sheets, instead we can update one sheet and it will populate into the linked sheets.
- Exporting documents - It is super simple to export documents into excel format so that they can be sent outside of our organization. It allows us to control what is internal, and what is shared externally.
- I preferred the old design better, but am slowly getting used to the new design.
Smartsheet is used for project management across the whole organization. It addresses the company's needs for tracking individual project tasks, responsibilities, due dates, completion percentage as well as to provide higher level schedules, expected deliverable dates, critical path activities, and the like.
- Smartsheet is very good at tracking tasks and generating dependencies. The user interface for accomplishing these functions is very intuitive, especially for anyone who has familiarity with Microsoft Excel. It basically takes some of the functionality of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project and merges them into an application that is more user friendly.
- Smartsheet is also very good at offering connectivity and collaboration. Because of the way in which non-project management users can log in, receive notifications, and interact with the Smartsheet, it doesn't feel like it is the project manager's domain but rather something that is a tool for everyone to make use of and share.
- Smartsheet is very accessible. As a someone who used Microsoft Project in the past, it has been much more convenient to access Smartsheet through the web rather than having to ensure I have access to the latest file or ensure that multiple people aren't trying to work on the file at the same time.
- There really isn't much up-front guidance offered on using Smartsheet. As with any company, they will provide training and obviously have a help menu, but it would be nice for there to be some "forced" tips and tricks or tutorials provided to give new users the ability to "power-use" the software more quickly.
- Project files become very large, and it is often very difficult to work on different sections without getting lost within the project. This is not necessarily specific just to Smartsheet, but functionality that would enable modularization or more easy navigation to work on multiple parts of a sheet at once would be helpful.
- Communication tools within Smartsheet are not very functional or not very intuitive. Because of its collaborative nature, it would be helpful for there to be more capabilities for communication within the application about changes being made or between users who are editing the same sheet.
February 22, 2018
Smartsheet is an efficiency booster!
We use SmartSheet in place of Excel worksheets that multiple people need to have access to manipulate the data. We use it for meetings/departments that need to assign items- the reminder function allows us to 'set it and forget it'. It is great for collaboration as we have different locations.
- Ability to have multiple people access data at a time they need, without worrying that another person may have the sheet 'locked' as often happens when working with Excel.
- The ability to set automatic reminders. I use it for those things 60, 90, even 365 days in the future. I tell it when I want to be reminded and I get an email in my inbox telling me a task needing attention (much more effective than the task function in my email that I am great at ignoring).
- The formatting capabilities allow for a lot of data to be managed effectively.
- The conditional formatting is not as robust as in Excel.
February 20, 2016
User-friendly Program
We use smartsheet for big projects/accounts. It is very helpful for defining timelines and managing our client's expectations. We manufacture abroad at times, and this can add significant time to our lead-time. Smartsheet organizes all of our timelines/deadlines, and compiles data coherently for our team, so we can present confidentially to our clients.
- The program allows users to upload briefs. This helps our team stay organized.
- The program generates a Gantt chart for us, and gives the user access to symbols that are understood across all business platforms.
- Intuitive program - very user friendly for all ages - able to customize the fields.
- I've had great experiences with it. I know that other colleagues use other programs for their businesses. I'm not sure how their program strengths compare to Smartsheet.
- Sometimes I wish it wasn't an online program, but rather something that you download onto a computer.
- When I was first testing out the program, I had a file. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep the program so I cancelled it. A little time later, I re-subscribed, but my documents were erased. This was very disappointing. I contacted customer service, but they could not help me. This is another reason why I wished it was not an online program.
February 17, 2016
Smartsheet - They know their sheets.
Smartsheet was used by our project managers to track and collate notes, bugs and comments from our clients. Rather than give them access to our internal issue tracker, we could set up Smartsheet as an outward facing lower-cost solution.
- Smartsheet is a quick way to make simple and effective spreadsheets.
- The templates provided are powerful and useful.
- Role management was a snap.
- Needs more niche templates.
- More Excel type math and automated features.
- Could use a visual design overhaul.
February 16, 2016
Smartsheet for Productivity
Smartsheet is being used by various programs across the agency. The software is used in diverse ways some use it for: tasks, assigning case loads for environmental health using reminders, to track programmatic processes at both high-level reporting and diving into the details of projects.
- Smartsheet has been excellent for assigning tasks to teams. By entering my team member's contact information and a due date, I can easily set reminders to keep them on track and to notify me if anything is running behind.
- Reports are an excellent way to pull information from multiple sheets. One of our teams uses this for each staff member to track their case load. Team leads are able to easily see the status of each assignment.
- Smartsheet is easy to learn. We have staff ranging widely in age and technology use. The functionality of Smartsheet is like a mix of Excel and Google Docs with the additional perk of alerts and easy collaboration. We have found that anyone who has even basic experience with Excel can easily work in Smartsheet with a little extra guidance.
- Conditional formatting automatically changes as a project is updated by you and/or your team. This makes it easy to identify where the project is on track and where it is falling behind with just a quick glance at your Gantt Chart or spreadsheet.
- We have found that Excel and Google Docs "super users" get frustrated with some of the nuances of Smartsheet compared to their regular programs. Making sure that Smartsheet is not "just another tool" that our staff has to use, discussing the differences between Smartsheet and those programs, and explaining why we chose to use Smartsheet for a particular program, makes a huge difference in staff perception.
- A lot of front end planning and organization is needed for some of the larger projects in Smartsheet. It is best to start small and play in the software so you can learn how everything works, before developing a robust program Gantt and reporting system.
- Our organization has looked at expanding the use of Smartsheet to report consistently across our seven divisions. However, the dashboard functionality is not quite where we need it.
December 23, 2015
Forget Microsft Excel or Project and Use SmartSheet!
Here at Minnkota Power, we use Smartsheet to manage and track our many construction projects throughout the year. We have essentially replaced Microsoft Project with Smartsheet due to the ease of creating custom GANTT charts and schedules and the ability to share and collaborate on these schedules across our department.
Currently we are only using Smartsheet heavily in the Engineering department, but our Operations department has taken an interest and is ramping up their usage. Occasionally we send out update requests to other departments in the company but I would not consider them to be users of the software. The main problem that Smartsheet addresses is it puts everything in one place. Not only does it eliminate everything being stored in a huge folder hierarchy where no one can ever find anything, but it puts everything online and can be accessed from anywhere! It is also great for reminders and updates on a regular basis.
- Collaboration - The ability to easily share a sheet with another co-worker or multiple people and have everyone making updates all at the same time is really nice.
- Integration - Smartsheet integrates with Outlook very nicely. I can easily send updates, notifications, or any other messages to anyone through email. This eliminates having to open up my email and type up a message about a particular row or item in Smartsheet. Using the send row option it just sends a nice snapshot of the row with a brief message! We also use Microsoft SharePoint here at Minnkota as well and I have found the publishing function of Smartsheet to be very useful! This allows a sheet to be embedded into a webpage or SharePoint site for viewing access to any of our SharePoint users, which is everyone at our company.
- Keeping up with the times - There seems to always be new features or updates coming out for Smartsheet. A lot of other companies do this with their software as well, but usually it just adds a lot of confusion with the product. SmartSheet is all about keeping their product user friendly. Not to much training is really required for Smartsheet. I'd say that most anyone could sign up for the 30 day trial and have a good portion of the product features figured out. However, the best practices take time and a lot of trial and error before you can figure out what works best for your company.
- Support - Smartsheet has a link on their website where you can shoot an email off about anything. They are usually pretty quick to respond and if what you are requesting is not "possible" then they seem to always have a work-around for everything!
- There are minor details dealing with the dependency settings on a sheet. For some reason, if you are trying to utilize cell linking, the parent rows can not be used as a source. This really isn't a huge issue and I have been using a work-around for this but it is one thing that would be nice to just be built in.
- Reporting - Reports are very nice because they can pull information from multiple sheets. However, when information is pulled in, the Parent-Child relationships are not shown. Everything appears to all be on the same hierarchy level. The only work-around I found for this is to apply formatting to the parent rows, basically filling the rows with color or editing the font.
- A new update is coming out that eliminates the ability for users with Admin access to a sheet to be able to edit column properties. This was one of the strengths of SmartSheet that they seem to be taking away for some reason. Now, I just don't really see the benefit of being an Admin of the sheet versus an Editor. Only Admins that are actual Licensed Users can edit column properties. Seems to be a way for SmartSheet to get more money by forcing companies to purchase more licenses.
September 30, 2015
Get smart with Smartsheet!
Currently, I use Smartsheet daily along with a few others within the company. We have been looking for a reliable project management tool for a long time and Smartsheet was a top ranking tool we wanted to try. We have been beta testing Smartsheet amongst the IT group and a select few to help with various projects (ex. project management, tasks list, PTO, tickets, etc.). We also rely on this tool to provide more forms of communication internally and externally.
- Cloud-based Project Management Tool - can be used across all platforms which makes communication and workflow easier.
- Modern and sophisticated tool supports many types of projects. Integration with other tools complements what we already use such as Google Calendar and Docs.
- Uncanny customer support - the Smartsheet team is Awesome! They provide both free/paid workshops, one-on-one sessions, web conferences, lab - with more features in development to help users, and so much more!
- Growing pains. There are some features I still do not know about or do not have the proper training to utilize or understand. Even though paid workshops are available in WA they are outside my area (San Francisco, Bay Area). Furthermore, if I want to be an advocate of this software to hopefully educate my company to use it I would like more available courses (prefer free) in my reach to better push it forward.
- Mixed review, some think it's easy and some find it complicated. Maybe add more integration and features or even templates to help these users.
September 30, 2015
Smartsheet Hits (and Misses) – A Communications Perspective
Our communications department uses Smartsheet to document, organize and plan communication requests we receive from the ministry areas in our church. Currently, it is a tool used only by our communications staff, but we are planning to train our ministry administrative assistants to view and track their requests. Eventually, we would like to make it accessible to our executive staff for a high-level view. Previous to using Smartsheet, we had numerous requests for various communications materials to be created for various timespans. It was inefficient, in consistent, and the "system" was the use of file folders and post-it notes and the ability to retain memory of conversations with the requestors. Now, it is a repository that contains all the emails, files, etc. in one place and something that is easily accessible by our other team members.
- Highly customizable. You can talk about one line/task/row in a project, or an entire sheet/project. You can share with anyone, regardless of permissions.
- Provides an efficient tool for current and previous records by keeping all your files, emails, discussions, etc. in one place.
- Adaptable style for any type of visual person. From background colors to the type of project status symbols, users will feel comfortable in creating a view that's right for them.
- Linking cells to a second spreadsheet is helpful. However, there seems to be some gaps in the designed functionality. When you want to remove something, and unlink the original, the previously linked cells in the second spreadsheet do not delete as well (requiring manual deletion and wasted time). There seems to be some problems with filtering, and then sorting a column (it won't let you). Last, the Reports feature used to show "last update" by the minute which was updated even if just looked at and resaved. A few months ago, the "last update" column would not update even if a change was made. The Smartsheet rep replied by email saying Reports require a change to a column header to make "last update" update. This is not helpful because I update the date query to sort the data I would like to look at each week in the report (and never need to change any columns). For me, this has caused a negative impact in what I thought was an effective work flow.
- Adequate customer service, but not superior. I've had immediate help through email with Smartsheet tech support. However, I would prefer a phone call for two-way interaction. Additionally, I attended a helpful webinar, but submitted a question, and was told all questions would be followed up with individually. I never heard back.
- There have been some problems with connectivity. Maybe 10–20 times in the past year, I have received "Smartsheet is unavailable at this time, check your browser" while other websites are still accessible. I had to wait anywhere from a few minutes to an hour to access our data. A few times it went offline while I was working and I hadn't saved (there is a helpful reminder that pops up every 10 minutes reminding you to save your work though).
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
My company uses Smartsheet in multiple departments - sales, sponsorship fulfillment/tracking, project management, file storage, etc. We started by using it exclusively for sponsorship fulfillment (internal management as well as externally with our clients), but I quickly became an internal proponent of its use and now easily half of our employees use it for one reason or another. It has completely changed the way we do business. It streamlines our processes internally (and helps us keep track of the who-did-what along the way) and is an intuitive tool for the tech-savvy or the tech-averse.
- Collecting data from various sources via Web Forms
- I've had people ask why some of the more basic functions of Excel are not available in Smartsheet, like merging two cells together. My assumption is that this is a sorting issue, but I'm not sure.
- I wish there was a way to sync more than one Google Drive account when uploading documents to rows. One of our clients has multiple Google Drive accounts intentionally, so they often need to attach documents from both. Since Smartsheet only allows one to be synced for uploading/attaching purposes, that does not work for our client. Instead, they hyperlink the Google Documents, but accessing those hyperlinks requires them to log in each time.
- I wish there was a way to set a different level of access per sheet within Workspaces, as needed. We have Workspaces set up where we want every user to have some level of access, but they should be Viewers for some and Editors for others. I believe the current Workspaces require that any user with access to it has just one level of access for all included sheets.
- I don't believe you can change the Primary Column once a sheet has been created, which is been problematic occasionally.
- It would be great to be able to see days/times when users have accessed Smartsheets that have been shared with them. Sometimes we wonder if our clients are even accessing/viewing them once they're set up, so we would love to have the same level of access/transparency that Smartsheet provides within the "Login History" for account admins.
March 10, 2015
Investing in Smartsheet is worthwhile.
Smartsheet is used to collect and organize department information for daily tasks. Multiple members of our department use and collaborate through the system. It enables us to link sheets, share edits and notify each other when changes have been made.
- It's easy to set up spreadsheets for the entire calendar year to map out a particular strategy, like marketing opportunities for our website.
- You can create multiple projects and link them together, which enables you to see the project as a whole instead of a bunch of spreadsheets.
- You can color-code, add dates and times, things you normally can only do on Excel - but it's web based.
- I would like to have a little more flexibility when it comes to adding dates to my spreadsheet. Right now it had a set column.
- As online software systems become more competitive pricing wise, it might be better to bring down the price of the basic package so that more people are interested in upgrading. Or add more features to the basic package, like a limited version of the team package.
- I would prefer if it automatically saved, instead of needing me to physically hit the button.
Smartsheet was used for pure project management, to make traditional Project Plans with Gantt charts, dependencies, resources, and attached documents. It was able to replace traditional Microsoft Project needs, in addition to more sophisticated workflow needs like email reminders, document management, and team discussions. As a low-cost, lightweight, portable replacement for Microsoft Project, is it without peer.
- Conditional Formatting is an easy and highly effective way to assist readability, and more importantly, upkeep of a project plan.
- While not obviously a team management tool, don't overlook these functions in Smartsheet, which can obviate the need for other such tools.
- The web interface is slick and modern in all the best ways a modern app should be. It can be customized far beyond just a MPP-alike.
- So many good features are hidden, such as the team management tools. This makes them hard to use.
- The "sheets" quota, and the transmission of sheets between members, and the ability to maintain sheets - the whole system is convoluted. While I understand it after having used it so long, and also understanding the revenue model, it's a shortcoming of "product management."
- It does not save automatically in the same way Google docs does. When people integrate with Google Docs, but the integrated tool doesn't follow one of the key affordances of Google Docs... well, a lot of people lose work, which is esp discouraging in that critical "education" phase.
March 04, 2015
Smartsheet is a smart choice
We utilize Smartsheet to track production of our learning activities in different grade levels. We have various milestones that we record completion dates of which allows users visibility of overall progress and identifies ownership. We label due dates and provide hyperlinks to existing assets in JIRA and Xinet, our digital asset management system.
- Sorting categories and columns
- Hyperlinks to JIRA
- Multiple users can view at once
- Real-time updates
- Ability to export filtered information to Excel
- Finer navigation of cursor
- Finer navigation of scrollbar
March 03, 2015
Smartsheet Gets Stamp of Approval
Smartsheet is being used in several departments within my organization.
Smartsheet has improved our state and federal lobbying compliance process. It used to be a manual process; due dates were recorded in Outlook, data from multiple lobbyists was emailed to an admin who then emailed the data to legal. The legal bills were astronomical. Now lobbyists receive update requests prior to the reporting due date via Smartsheet and submit their data directly into the system. Legal does not get involved until all of the data is received, which has saved us thousands of dollars in legal expenses.
I have also created Smartsheet for exam development; they are using it for their exam copyright tracking and candidate security issues. We are also using it to track the Board of Directors goals throughout the year.
I am now using Smartsheet to manage all of my projects instead of Microsoft Project. This includes a web redesign project with many moving parts including coordination with two external agencies. The ability to send update requests / alerts via the system has saved me hours of work not to mention my sanity. We also have the project risk / issue log stored in the Smartsheet Workspace so anyone can access it at anytime and see the status of any given risk or issue.
When a new user interacts with Smartsheet they usually say, "Wow, this is cool!" and inquire about how they can start using it for their projects as well. I think it will be adopted by many other departments within the next few years.
- You can program Smartsheet to send you a notification whenever there is a change to a particular column (or any column) in the sheet. This is a strength because when you collaborate with others you don't have to guess if they are entering data; you know.
- You can set Smartsheet to highlight changes made to the sheet within the last hour, day, three days, etc. You can also set it to highlight changes made since the last time you viewed the sheet. This is a strength because you no longer have to compare the original document to the one with changes to see what has changed.
- You can create a webform for any sheet which is very impressive. The webform recipients won't ever have to look at a spreadsheet; instead they will receive a nice simple survey with questions and their data will magically populate the sheet.
- It would be great if update requests could be scheduled annually.
- It would be nice to be able to assign a task to more than one contact. Right now it only allows one at a time.
December 04, 2014
Smartsheet for the Smart Project Manager
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
My organization used smartsheet to manager all implementation project plans and project documentation for product implementations. Smartsheet was also our tool for action item list tracking during UAT. It was a great way to share real time updates with clients allow visibility to all stakeholders.
- The Notification feature is an excellent tool to send friendly reminders to project participants regarding status updates and approaching deadlines.
- The export feature to multiple file types such as MS Project and MS excel allow for ease of sharing with stakeholders who prefer to use a traditional software.
- The audit functionality within each sheet allows to Project Managers to easily identify changes and updates to plans and task lists.
- I would love to see more templates and standard reports to use as baselines.
- When using workspaces it would be nice to be able to set access by sheet. Only being able to set access by workspace can be limiting and force the user to create single sheets not joined by a workspace. This also means the user is limited to the color and themes that could be used when dealing with multiple clients.
November 26, 2014
Is SmartSheet Really the Smart choice?
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
As a Project Manager, I currently use SmartSheet as project management tool only. This system allows me to manage (via predefined templates) what milestones we are trying to achieve on each project, track the status of those milestones as well as send updates; request updates; set reminders for myself and run reports for the key stakeholders who need to be notified on the progress. I utilize the progress reporting with gantt charts and back out timelines for the business to better understand when they can anticipate the launch of a product. I also manage several reports within SmartSheet to allow me to automate some of the updates that I give on a weekly basis. This allows me to focus on the details of the project and working through tasks without having to spend a portion of my week making manual updates to a dashboard. This tool also allows me to set reminders for myself (as mentioned before) so I remember when and who I need to follow-up with while we are working through our launch plans. Because our Marketing team needs a specified amount of time to prep for a launch of a project, I pre-set reminders for myself to communicate with that team in advance so they are ahead of the game. This has really helped in managing the overall project.
- Alerts: this functionality has been particularly helpful to me as a Project Manager because of the sheer amount of projects my organization runs simultaneously. I would never keep up and remember all of the details and schedules for each project.
- Templates: this functionality has been very helpful for me.
- KanBan Board View/Scrum Board View: As a Project Manager within an organization that utilizes Kanban it would be great to see functionality that would allow me to see tasks for a specific project or roll-up of all projects in a KanBan board view. Because my technical team works in a different system (only because of the KanBan board) it makes it difficult to manage projects within separate systems.
- Dashboards: I would love to see SmartSheet start thinking outside the box with their reporting. I would love to be able to create a dashboard view instead of a report list view for my Management Team. This would allow greater visibility into what we are working on and status of each project. Not only would it give visibility but this allows for more automated information as I am updating projects the dashboard should automatically update as well.
- Reporting on a Primary Column: There is a primary column in each sheet within SmartSheet. When running a report to roll-up several sheets you see the primary column which generally is the name of the line item you are working on. I have an issue as a Project Manager that each project goes through the same process (or real close) for every project, so the line items are named identically. When running the report you will see these same names show up multiple times because you are rolling up multiple sheets. The only work around is to add the name of the project in each line item to differentiate between them. It would be great if SmartSheet allowed you to view all line items within a report under the title of the project you are working on as an option.