Automation can significantly streamline your business workflows, saving time, reducing manual effort, and minimising errors. Smartsheet’s powerful automation features enable businesses to optimise project management, reduce operational complexity, and ensure that routine tasks are handled efficiently. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to automate your business workflows using Smartsheet, complete with practical tips and expert advice.
1. Understanding Smartsheet Automation: The Basics
Smartsheet provides several automation capabilities, from sending reminders to team members to triggering entire workflows based on certain conditions. These automations can be easily set up without any programming knowledge, making them accessible for all team members.
Key Automation Features:
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- Automated Alerts and Reminders: Send reminders about upcoming tasks or deadlines.
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- Approval Requests: Automatically send approval requests when certain conditions are met.
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- Update Requests: Request updates from team members when a task status changes.
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- Workflows: Chain together multiple actions to automate end-to-end processes.
2. Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Automation in Smartsheet
Step 1: Identify Workflow Requirements
Before setting up automation, define the specific workflow you want to automate. For example, let’s say you want to automate the approval process for project proposals. Every time a new proposal is submitted, it should trigger an email for managerial approval.
🎯 Practical Tip:
Map out your workflow visually using Smartsheet’s Gantt charts or grid view to identify trigger points that can be automated.
Step 2: Set Up Automation Rules
In Smartsheet, automation rules are built using simple “if-this-then-that” logic. To set up a rule:
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- Go to the Automation menu on your sheet.
- Click on Create Workflow to begin.
- Choose your trigger event — in this case, when a new row is added (representing a new project proposal).
- Next, define the action. Select Request an Approval and assign the approval task to the relevant manager.
🎯 Practical Tip:
Set conditions for the approval trigger, such as budget thresholds or deadlines, to make the automation more tailored. Smartsheet allows you to filter these conditions within the automation menu.
Step 3: Customise Notifications
Notifications are an essential part of workflow automation. Smartsheet lets you customise how notifications are sent — via email, Slack, or even a push notification through the mobile app.
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- Navigate to Automation > Alerts & Actions.
- Create an alert that notifies team members once a project reaches a certain status.
- Choose the delivery method and define who receives the alert.
🎯 Practical Tip:
For recurring reminders or notifications, Smartsheet allows you to set automated reminders for tasks due within a specified time range (e.g., “Remind me 3 days before the deadline”).
Step 4: Link Automations for Complex Workflows
For more complex processes, you can link multiple automations together. For instance, after a proposal is approved, you could automate the creation of a new task sheet for that project and notify the relevant team members. To do this:
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- Set up a Trigger for when an approval is completed.
- Define the next action, which could be copying data from the proposal into a new project sheet.
- Follow it up with an alert to notify the project team.
🎯 Practical Tip:
Test each stage of the workflow individually before launching it fully to ensure there are no errors or missing steps.
Step 5: Test and Adjust Automation
Automation workflows can be adjusted at any time. After setting up an automation workflow, test it with real data to ensure it functions as expected. If necessary, refine the logic to account for additional conditions or actions.
🎯 Practical Tip:
Review automation logs available within Smartsheet to see the history of actions triggered by your workflows. This can help identify potential improvements and ensure everything is running smoothly.
3. Practical Tips for Effective Workflow Automation in Smartsheet
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- Start Simple: Begin with basic automations, like notifications and reminders, to familiarise yourself with the platform’s capabilities before moving on to more complex workflows.
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- Keep Automations Organised: Name your workflows clearly to differentiate between them. For example, use names like “Proposal Approval Automation” or “Weekly Task Reminder.”
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- Use Conditional Logic Wisely: Conditional triggers (e.g., “If project budget > £10,000”) make automation more flexible and tailored to your needs.
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- Collaborate with Teams: Share your automation workflows with relevant team members, so everyone is on the same page and can provide input on improvements.
4. When to Seek Professional Help: Apollo Work Labs
While Smartsheet’s automation features are user-friendly, larger-scale automations or integrating with other tools (like Jira, Salesforce, or Microsoft Teams) can become complex. If your organisation requires more advanced workflow automation, Apollo Work Labs can provide expert guidance and support. Apollo Work Labs has extensive experience in helping businesses set up Smartsheet solutions that align with their unique processes, ensuring that automation runs smoothly across all departments.
🎯 Practical Tip
Don’t hesitate to contact Apollo Work Labs for a tailored consultation. Whether it’s integrating Smartsheet with other platforms or optimising existing workflows, their experts can streamline your business operations even further.
5. Automation Use Cases in Smartsheet
To give you a better sense of how Smartsheet automation works in practice, here are a few common use cases:
Automating Task Assignments: Automatically assign tasks to team members based on predefined conditions, such as the completion of a previous task.
Weekly Project Status Reports: Automate the generation and distribution of project status reports every week to keep stakeholders informed.
Expense Approvals: Use automation to route expense approvals based on predefined spending limits, notifying higher management when necessary.
Conclusion
Automating your business workflows with Smartsheet can drastically improve efficiency, reduce human error, and free up valuable time for strategic activities. With its user-friendly automation builder, Smartsheet makes it easy for teams to streamline everyday tasks. However, for larger-scale automations or complex integrations, Apollo Work Labs stands ready to assist with advanced setup and optimisation. By leveraging Smartsheet’s automation tools, you can future-proof your business operations and keep your team working smarter, not harder.