Smartsheet

Pluspunten

Very easy to learn and get users onboard quickly. Works much like Excel yet with much more document sharing functionality and the notifications service is most beneficial to us. Very cost efficient in that our clients don't need to purchase a license so we use this to collaborate with them for our project work.

Minpunten

Very little not to like. Advanced functionality we need to not alwasys there, however, Smartsheet comes out with new features a few times a year and they always very helpful. Biggest complaint is that we have not yet figured out how to provide users edit access to a group and yet limit certain sheets within that group to viewer only. Would also like to see more options for backups and restores.

Pluspunten

Simplicity of use. Minimal downtime. Customer support has been great, and very responsive. Communication when downtime will occur, or when issues are taking place.

Minpunten

I do not have any issues or complaints regarding the software.

Pluspunten

·Being able to share a spreadsheet with other users in real-time.
· Like that users can complete a form to populate a spreadsheet to include uploading documents and that update requests could be sent to that user if a correction needs to be made or additional info is needed. The user then make the change(s) to the cell requested.

Minpunten

·Recently a change was made whereas a non-licensed user can no longer send update requests. We use Smartsheet to have student teachers complete some info pursuant to state law. When the student makes an error, we used to send an update request to have them correct a cell. Now only a licensed user can send those notifications, so we most likely will utilize regular emails for these changes or not use Smartsheet for this work.
·As of Monday (9.30.19), how the system used "comments" changed from a pop-up box that let you enter into a field, save that info and now click anywhere and that pop-up box disappeared. Now it opens "Conversations" which now blocks the right side of the spreadsheet and you must now click on the X to close it out. It also holds all of the comments made to the entire sheet which is more info that I need. Typically if a comment is added to a row, I just click on the comment bubble to that row instead of viewing all of the comments to the sheet.
·When an update request is sent and the person makes the correction, this information is not clearly discernible when viewing the sheet. Turning on notifications turns on too many notifications so this was not an option. The workaround is, I add a "note sent"column that I check when an update request is sent. I then review the sheet and look for rows that have "note sent" checked and now no longer have the pending update icon to look for corrections.
·Need better form controls (field limits, date fields, etc.).

Pluspunten

Smartsheet has been a lifesaver for group collaboration. My team runs multiple projects simultaneously, and the scopes of these projects are constantly changing. Smartsheet allows for the team to update their pieces of the puzzle and send alerts about changes in one environment. We've actually replaced endless back and forth emails with the comments function in the comment section so that all pertinent information about an issue exists in the platform itself for easy reference.

We can track our gantt chart, program data, and group communications in one place. I=

We're also utilizing Smartsheet for people outside of our organization. Smartsheet allows us to select the type of visibility that clients have to data (through settings or via dashboards) so we can control the story that we're sharing with our clients. This has been a big time saver as it eliminates the need for extra reporting on data that is already avilailable online. Our clients have shared positive feedback about Smartsheet forms which we've been using to collect survey data and for event registration. The forms have allowed us to cancel our account for SurveyMonkey (which we used for several years previous to Smartsheet).

Minpunten

The main pain point I have with Smartsheet is the fact that not all of my favorite Excel formulas work in Smartsheet. The formulas also don't always work the same way as they do in Excel so there's a bit of a learning curve.

Smartsheet needs to allow a Time function. We use Smartsheet to register individuals for events, and right now we're having to program Time as a text. This means we can't use formulas to change times based on Timezones.

I also still miss when the recent sheets appeared as tabs at the top of the webpage. The new recent tabs menu works well, but I found the tab view easier to navigate.

Pluspunten

Projects are easy to set up with the built in functionality. There are lots of built in templates that you can use. But we have found it most helpful to build our own templates. We really appreciate being able to add dependencies, working and non working days, and duration. Then the start and end dates fill in automatically. We have found that the learning curve is not nearly as steep for Smartsheet as it was for Microsoft Project.

Another really helpful feature is being able to use formulas in the Project Plan. Our team schedules our work using a points system. I was able to create formulas that take the number of points for that task and who is assigned to that task to create a point breakdown for each person or team assigned. We then use the linking feature to link the total points for the project, the points accomplished, and the status of the project to a master "Queue" sheet.

Smartsheet has special formula values available for children and ancestors of a task. So, we use a simple =Sum(Children()) formula to add up the points. Actually, the formulas end up being more complicated because we can test whether the row has children or not and do different things depending on the test. For instance, when summing the work completed if the task has no children, then the product of the percent complete and points gives us the number of points completed. If the row is a parent, then the formula sums the children.

Minpunten

For project planning the resources feature is not as helpful as it could be. The main reason is that if a staff is assigned to a row during a particular time, the resource function assumes that they are 100% allocated for that time. So, if you have three tasks that overlap, the resource allocations shows 300%. We have mitigated that by routinely filling in 30% allocation for each resource. This helps to take into account the fact that a task although it lasts a full week won't take up all the staff's time. One idea I have had recently--but haven't tried yet--is to make a formula that takes the number of points for the task and assigns an appropriate allocation number based on points per week.

The other feature that we haven't found useful is the "Critical Path." How the software determines what is on the critical path is a mystery. I'm not sure why it chooses some tasks that have dependencies filled in, but not others that seem to be just as important.