Smartsheet Guru for Project Management

In the quest for constant and never-ending improvement, I remain open to new and improved, methods and tools, to best perform in my capacity as Project Manager. I hope you do too!

One of the MAJOR upgrades I’ve made in managing projects is migrating from MS Project to Smartsheet as a project planning and management tool. And, we are now coaching our clients on the same.

Below, I’ll share more on why I made this transition…Before doing so, I’d like to introduce the newest member of our team, Dani Clovie, from whom I’ve learned everything I know about Smartsheet. To say that she is a Smartsheet expert is an understatement. The term guru is more apropos. In fact, Dani is the keynote speaker at an upcoming Smartsheet user group conference in Boston, on Tuesday, October 10. We’ll provide additional details when available.

To highlight her capabilities…When Dani was working with one of my clients she implemented a complete set of sophisticated Smartsheet tools and templates that most PMO’s would die for. This included simple, user-friendly, low-maintenance project management assets to automate workflows, facilitate conversations, provide keen management insights to identify and remove barriers, mitigate risks, be more proactive and flexible to pivot when (not if) necessary.

With Dani joining the team, we now offer Smartsheet consulting and support to enable organizations to take their PM/PMO capabilities to the next level! In support of this, Dani will begin sharing Smartsheet insights in our blog posts, starting later this week!

Now, for more on why I made the transition from MS Project to Smartsheet…

In the late 80’s I discovered MS Project, which I found to be a fantastic tool for managing projects. And, after using it for decades, it remains, in my opinion, a top tool for doing so today. This experience includes implementing MS Project Server, an enterprise-wide solution with GREAT potential.

Fast forward…while managing a project several years ago I wanted to more fully share my plan with a large and geographically dispersed team. I tried using the web version of MS Project, but it just didn’t have the needed features of the desktop application. And, attempting to convert a Gantt chart to PDF simply doesn’t cut it.

It was at this point that I was introduced to Smartsheet. In a nutshell, I’d consider Smartsheet as MS Excel on steroids while performing as a COMPLETELY shareable MS Project. I was (and remain) hooked!

Interestingly enough, during a recent coaching session I trained a team of my clients on the basics of using Smartsheet’s project plan template (all that most of us need). When we were done I shared how they were now also trained on the basics of MS Project. That is, the Smartsheet project template is VERY similar to MS Project, while being completely shareable at any level of access that I’d like to provide my stakeholders!

In addition to Smartsheet supporting EVERYTHING I’ve come to depend on in a project planning tool, it also offers the ability to easily define:

• alerts to notify team members of tasks to be started and/or coming due
• workflows, requesting progress updates from team members, which directly update the plan
• reports and dashboards to track and monitor the health of my projects, all of which are shareable with stakeholders
• high-level metrics enabling senior management to monitor the overall health and progress of all in-flight programs
• among MANY other things…

What’s best is that I can do ALL of the above myself, in Smartsheet, without the need for IT-like support. And, as mentioned above, in future posts Dani will begin sharing just how to do so…

In closing, if you are seeking to up-level project-related communications and collaboration via easily configurable, low maintenance project artifacts we can help. Simply reach out so that we may discuss your goals and objectives.

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