Project Intake

Template Set Getting Started Guide

With the Project Intake Template Set, you can track
consulting projects, view project status, get notified when
new projects are submitted and get an overall view of all of
your current consulting projects.

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Last Updated: November 26, 2018
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Project Intake
Template Set Getting Started Guide

REQUIREMENTS: This template set is designed for Business and Enterprise Plan users. If you’re on a Team or Individual plan, you
can still use template set, however, premium features, such as dashboards, automated actions, Activity Log, etc. will not be available.
Identify your plan and user type

Get the Template Set

The data will download in the Sheets folder. Look on the left-hand side,
under Sheets, to access and launch the template set items.

Project Intake Template Set

What’s Included in the Set

With the Project Intake Template Set, you can track consulting projects, view project status, get notified
when new projects are submitted and get an overall view of all of your current consulting projects.

Project Tracker Sheet (x2)

Project Detail Report Allows your team to manage specific
Is a live filter that displays all of the projects and tasks.
projects, stage, consultants, and dates.
Project Intake Sheet
Tracks and maintains all of your
projects and the details of each.

Project Intake Form

Allows your team members to submit
new consulting project requests.

Metrics Sheet
Shows projects by status and type,
and displays consultant hour details.

Project Roll-Up Dashboard

A dashboard that summarizes your project requests,
project detail, and statuses.
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Project Intake
Template Set Getting Started Guide

Set Up
Using a workspace is a best practice when building a collaborative process. Workspaces allow you to centralize your work
and control sharing with different stakeholders.

Step 1:
Create a New Workspace
Open Home, click the Create New button, and select Create New
Workspace from the drop-down menu. Name the workspace.

Learn more:
Workspaces Overview, Workspace Sharing, Home Tab

Step 2:
Drag the Files Into Workspace
Select the downloaded template set folder under your Sheets
folder and drag the entire folder over the workspace you just
created until you see the workspace highlighted, then drop it in.

Learn more:
Manage Items in a Workspace (Add, Move, Remove)
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Project Intake
Template Set Getting Started Guide

Customize
Step 3:
Modify the New Consulting Projects Form

The Project Intake form is where consultants submit new projects. This sheet is built with its own form, and
when projects are submitted they are added to the respective sheet.

A. Customize the form by first opening the Project Intake sheet and clicking on Forms in the top menu.

B. Click on Manage Forms and then Edit to customize the existing fields. You can add or remove fields,
change field titles or descriptions, and modify Form Options.

C. Click on Add Field to add a new field to your form. By creating a new field, you are also adding a new
column to the sheet. Drag and drop the field into position on the left hand side of the form builder.

D. Hit Save to close the form builder and copy and save the URL displayed. This URL is what you’ll give to
everyone who will be submitting requests.

C
B

Learn more:
Forms, Edit Existing Fields
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Project Intake
Template Set Getting Started Guide

Step 4:
Modify the Project Intake Sheet

Use the Project Intake sheet to track and maintain all of your current consulting projects. You can keep
record of project approval status, name and stage, clients, key dates, hours, contract value, and assigned
consultant. The At Risk column is a Symbols column that project owners can flag on items that need
immediate attention.

We have also set up conditional formatting rules so you can visually identify projects that have less than 50
hours remaining (red highlight). The Hours Remaining is a locked column to prevent editors from modifying
the pre-built formula that calculates the remaining consultant hours. You can assign projects in the Assigned
Consultant column, which is a Contact List column type. It’s a best practice to use Contact List columns when
assigning owners because they can be leveraged to set automated actions, notifications, reports, and more.

A. Add or delete any columns to accommodate your team’s unique process: right-click on any
column and select Edit column properties or Delete.

B. Customize, disable, or add the conditional formatting rules by clicking on the conditional
formatting button in the top toolbar.

C. A notification has already been set on this sheet to notify anyone shared to the sheet when a
new project has been assigned to them. To view or edit the notification rule, click on Alerts &
Actions and select Manage Alerts & Actions in the dropdown menu. Then double click on the New
Assigned Consultant Project Alert rule in order to open the rule editor window.

D. From this sheet you can hyperlink to each project sheet where the tasks and details are
managed. To modify the hyperlink, right click on the cell and select Hyperlink. You can create
hyperlinks to other Smartsheet items, or to a relevant website.
C
B
A

Learn more:
Create a Hyperlink to a Sheet, Report, or Website, Use the Best Column Type for Your Data, Automate Your Work with Alerts and Actions
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Project Intake
Template Set Getting Started Guide

Step 5:
Update Project Stage and Filters

After a project has been added to the sheet, people with editor permissions or higher can modify project
information in unlocked columns. Anyone viewing the sheet can create filters to see projects that meet certain
criterias. On the Project Intake sheet, we created a shared filter called Projects Assigned to Me. Anyone viewing
the sheet can select that filter to only see their assigned items.

A. To modify the options in the dropdown list, B

double click on the Project Stage column
header and edit the options under Values. A
Repeat these steps to modify the options in
the Project Type column.

B. Select the Filter Off button in the toolbar to

create, use or modify filters.

Learn more:
Dropdown List, Filters, Shared Filter

Step 6:
Edit Automated Approval Request

As new consultant projects get added, an automated approval request will be sent to the manager for their
approval. An approval request is a great way to ask someone to approve or deny an item on your sheet
automatically. The approval request will be sent to the manager listed in the Manager Contact column.

A. To modify the automated approval A

request, click on Alerts & Actions and

select Manage Alerts & Actions in the
dropdown menu. B

B. Then double click on the Consultant

Project Approval Request rule in order to
open the rule editor window.

Learn more:
Approval Request: Automatically Request Sign-Off on Work Items, Automate Work Process with Alerts and Actions
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Project Intake
Template Set Getting Started Guide

Step 7:
Modify the Project Tracker sheets (x2)

Use the Project Tracker sheet to track and maintain critical data about a project. Create a project sheet for
each of your projects and use it to manage tasks and deadlines. Project sheets in Smartsheet have
dependencies enabled and include columns such as Duration, Predecessors, and % Complete. It’s best to
enable dependencies for projects with deadlines to ensure every moving part in your project is tracked and
on time, and ultimately meet your deadline.

We have also set up conditional formatting rules so you can visually identify tasks that are flagged at risk in
the At Risk column (red highlight and task bar in Gantt chart).

A. Enter the Project ID on row 3 and the vLookup formulas we built will automatically pull data from the
Project Intake sheet that matches the Project ID. These rows are locked to prevent editors from
modifying the formulas and data.

B. In the Task Name column, name the project phases in the parent (light gray) rows. The other data on
your parent rows, including Start Date, End Date, % Complete, and Duration are auto-calculated by the
tasks below the parent row.

C. Use the indented child (white) rows in your hierarchy, to enter tasks in the Task Name column, contact
names in the Consultant column to assign task owners, and dates in the Start Date and End Date
columns.

D. Attach documents and other files to the row in the Attachment (paperclip icon) column to keep all of
your project information and resources in one place.

E. Customize, disable, or add the conditional formatting rules by clicking on the conditional formatting
button in the top toolbar.

E
D
A

B
C

Learn more:
Project Management and Gantt Charts, Parent Rollup Functionality, Hierarchy: Indent or Outdent Rows, Creating a Milestone to Mark a Significant Event
in Your Project, vLookup Function, Advanced Cross-sheet Formulas
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Project Intake
Template Set Getting Started Guide

Step 8:
Adjust Duration and Predecessors

Duration and Predecessor are two unique column types that exist in project sheets.

A. Set the duration of each task in the Duration

A B
column.

B. Set predecessors, or relationships between

tasks, in the Predecessors column.

Learn more:
Project Sheet Columns: Start Date, End Date, Duration, % Complete and Predecessors

Step 9:
Update Status and Filters

After you assign task owners, the owner can update the task status by selecting an option from a custom
dropdown list in the Status column. If you have multiple owners, filters are a great way to help people focus on
their assignments. On the project sheets, we created a shared filter called Tasks Assigned to Me. Anyone viewing
the sheet can select that filter to see their assigned items.

A. To modify the options in the

B
dropdown list, double-click on
the Status column header and
edit the placeholders including
the order of the list in the Values A
box.

B. Select the Filter Off button in the

toolbar to create, use, or modify
filters.

Learn more:
Dropdown List, Filters, Shared Filter
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Project Intake
Template Set Getting Started Guide

Step 10:
Review the Metrics sheet

The Metrics sheet is a central repository where metrics you want to track across all project intake sheets are
rolled-up. We’ve designed this sheet with cross-sheet formulas so the metrics always reflect, in real-time, the
information in the underlying sheets.

A. Overwrite the categories under each section to

match your drop down lists in the Project Intake
sheet. Replace the names of the consultants
B
under the Consultant Hours section.

B. If you added new project types in the Project

Type column in the Project Tracker sheet, insert B
a new row to the Projects by Type section and
copy the formula. The formulas will
automatically recognize the request type you A
enter in this section. Repeat this step for Project
by Stage.

Learn more:
Cross-sheet Formulas

Step 11:
Open the Project Detail Report
Use reports to create cross-sheet filtered lists of the projects that meet certain criteria. For instance, the Project
Detail report shows all projects, including stage, consultant, type, hours, and dates from the Project Intake and
Roll-up sheet. Reports are live, so as the projects are updated, so will the data on the report. This report is
surfaced in the Project Roll-Up dashboard.

A. The report is already set up. If you A

want to make changes to the
criteria or add another sheet used
for the report, open the report and
click on the Report Builder and set
your criteria.

Learn more:
Reports
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Project Intake
Template Set Getting Started Guide

Step 12:
Update Project Roll-Up Dashboard

The Project Roll-Up dashboard is the keystone of your template set. It pulls together all of the critical
information you need to track for your consultant projects. Dashboards are made of different widgets that
pull real-time information in from your other sheets and reports.

A. Click Edit in the upper left corner to begin customizing. Then hover over any widget and select the
pencil icon.

B. Replace the logo placeholder with your logo in the Image widget.

C. Add general information or notes about the use of this dashboard and key contacts for your team
by editing the Rich Text widget.

D. Replace the Resource Links, a Shortcut widget, with quick links to your sheets, forms, reports, and
other resources outside of Smartsheet.

E. Hours Summary section includes three Metric widgets, pulling live data from your Metrics sheet.

F. Edit the New Consulting Projects form, embedded using the Web Content widget, to replace the
placeholder web content with your own Smartsheet form URL found in the Project Intake sheet.

G. Consultant Hours and Request Status are Chart widgets that are also pulling live data from your
Metrics sheet.

H. The Project Detail is a Report widget, which displays your live report in your dashboard.
A
F

D E
C

Learn more:
Make Changes to an Existing Dashboard, Viewing and Sharing a Dashboard, Widget Types for Smartsheet Dashboards
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Project Intake
Template Set Getting Started Guide

Step 13:
Share your Project Intake Template Set

Sharing is the best way to collaborate with others involved in

your project intake management. You can share your entire
workspace with members of your department, or you can
simply share individual items within the workspace. For more
information on sharing and permission levels, check out this
infographic.

Learn more:
Workspace Sharing

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