Assign people to tasks

Set up a contact list column for assignments

To assign people to tasks on your sheet, the sheet must contain a Contact List column. Here's how to create such a column:

1. Right-click on a column name and select Insert Column Right or Insert Column Left.
2. The New Column window appears.
3. In the Name box, name the column (for example, "Assigned To").

4. Select the Contact List column type.

   If you have tasks that need to be assigned to multiple people, check Allow multiple contacts per cell. 

    

   In the mobile app, you can't set the Allow multiple contacts per cell option; you must set it in the web application. Once it's set, however, you can add one or more contacts to the column in the mobile app.

    

   To make certain people easier to add to contact cells in the sheet, you can type a list of preferred contacts into the Add Contacts box —the people that you specify appear when you click the dropdown arrow in any of the column cells. 

   The contacts in your column's Add Contacts box are also referred to as your preferred contacts.

5. Select OK.

That's it! The Contact List column is added to your sheet. Now you can assign people to tasks via that column.

Here are some of the ways you can use the Contact List column:

• You can create filters or build reports to see all of the tasks assigned to specific team members. Learn more about viewing your assigned tasks.
• Insert multiple Contact List columns when people have different roles related to each task. 
• You can build alerts to automatically send notifications and requests to people who are assigned to tasks. Learn how to automate your work with alerts and actions.
• As long as a Contact List field isn't being used for resource management, you can specify a formula to automatically assign people to tasks based on conditions. For example, you can use an INDEX and MATCH formula to assign a department head to a task that needs approval. Learn how to create and edit formulas in Smartsheet and create formula combinations for cross sheet references.
• You can also use workflows to add contacts to a cell automatically. Learn how to assign people in an automated workflow.

Assign tasks to multiple people

If you want multiple people to work on a task, set up your Contact List column to Allow multiple contacts per cell.  

Once the column is set up, type the name of an existing contact into a cell to display a list of matching contacts then select the desired contact to add them to the list of contacts assigned to the task.

Keep the following in mind when working with multiple contacts in a cell:

• Each contact must be associated with an email address. If you enter the name of a new contact into a cell, you’ll be prompted to enter their email address as well.
• You can add up to 20 contacts per cell.
• Columns with multiple contacts cannot be used for grouping in a report. Learn more about configuring grouping to organize results in report builder.

You can use capacity view to identify over or under-resourced allocation across your organization, spot availability to take on new work, and forecast hiring needs to make efficient staffing decisions.

Restrict assignment to a single contact

When a task should only be assigned to one person, restrict the Contact Column to a single contact by leaving Allow multiple contacts per cell unchecked. For example, with an Approval Request, you'll want to ensure that only one person, such as the manager, approves each step in the process to ensure multiple contacts do not overwrite each other's approvals.

• With a Single Contact column, you can use your preferred contact list to group tasks by assignee if you switch to Card View. Learn more about card view.
• Single Contact Columns can also be used for grouping in a report. 
• You can add multiple Contact Columns when people work on different parts of each task.

Manage which contacts appear when you type in a cell

When you type a name or email address in a Contact List cell, the names that display include the following:

• Any preferred contact values that you’ve set up in the Column Properties window.
• All collaborators shared to the sheet.
• Any other contacts or email addresses that have been assigned to other rows in the sheet.
• People in your personal Smartsheet contacts list. 
• If your account is part of a Business or Enterprise plan, any other people that are part of the plan. Learn more about managing users.

You can manage which contacts appear.

Add contacts to the autosuggest picker

If you start typing a name or email address and aren't seeing the contact list autosuggest, then your contact list doesn't include a contact matching what you've typed. To add them to your Contact List column, click the dropdown arrow in the cell then select Add New to add the contact name and email address to your list and assign them to the row. You can also edit the column properties to add them to the preferred contact values.

Remove duplicate contacts from the contact list

Duplicate contacts may appear when you type a name or email address into a cell. To remove names or email addresses from the contact list, remove them from the preferred contact values and other cells in the column. 

If you still see duplicate contact values, it’s possible the name you’ve set up for the contact in your personal Smartsheet Contacts does not match the name they’ve associated with their Personal Profile. See manage contacts in the my Smartsheet contacts list and manage your personal profile to ensure the name in your contacts matches the name on their profile.

You won’t be able to remove shared collaborators from the contact list.