Demand Intake

APPLIES TO

  • Smartsheet Advance Package

RELATED CAPABILITIES

Who can use this capability?

You need to be a licensed user to access Smartsheet Control Center.

Smartsheet Control Center provides a simple interface to collect and respond to requests for new projects.

Smartsheet Control Center: Set up an Intake Sheet

APPLIES TO

  • Smartsheet Advance Package

RELATED CAPABILITIES

Who can use this capability?

You need to be a licensed user to access Smartsheet Control Center.

The role of the Intake Sheet in a Blueprint

An Intake Sheet uses the data collected to populate the Summary section (or profile data) of your project sheets automatically. 

The Intake Sheet standardizes and restricts access to profile data for each project.

Locking items like Budget or Project Due Date prevents team members from changing important data points. 

You do not have to lock all your fields—you can also allow manual data entry when a project is created.

A new project pulling profile data from an Intake Sheet.

 

An Intake Sheet also helps manage demand.

Here is an example of a typical workflow:

  • Your team submits proposals or requests for new projects through a form
  • Managers then review and approve or deny each project, all from a single sheet 
  • You can now created approved projects in Control Center

Create and configure the Intake Sheet

To get started, open Smartsheet:

  1. Click on the Home tab.
  2. Locate the Admin workspace in the left panel.
  3. Right-click the Admin workspace and click Create New > Grid.
  4. Under Name Your Sheet, type a name for the Intake Sheet.
  5. Click OK.

Configure the intake sheet with specific columns. Ideally, create the following columns in your intake sheet.

A Project Name column is always required.

Project Name (Required)

Enter the name of each project in this column. When you create a project, this information is the name for the entire project. Place it in the Primary Column in your Summary

Approval (Optional)

An Approval column restricts which projects you can create in Control Center. When you use the require an approval state, you can only create approved projects. Without an Approval column, any project on the Intake Sheet can be provisioned. 

Use a checkbox or dropdown for the column type and update the column when each project is approved. This way, you only create approved projects can in Control Center. 

Project Created (Optional)

A Project Created column restricts the project to a single instance. If you mark a project as created, it does not appear as an option when you create a new project. 

Use a checkbox or dropdown for the column type and update the column when you approve each project is approved to help prevent duplicate projects.

Project Link (Optional)

If select Show Additional Intake Options on the Intake Settings screen of the Blueprint Builder, you get the option to add a project link.

This is a shortcut to the project itself that is placed on the Intake Sheet

Intake Profile Data (Optional)

Additional columns can automatically populate Intake Profile Data when you create a project. Give these columns the same exact name that you did in your profile data. 

Configure this as a Contact List column if you want to use profile data for setting permissions.

Best practices to streamline your intake process

  • If you approve projects, restrict sharing to Editor-level permissions.
  • Create a Smartsheet form to make it easier for people to make project requests.
  • Build an alert to notify project approvers when a new project request comes in.
  • Add more columns to track multi-stage approval processes. You only need the final approval to create the project. 
  • Create sheet filters and reports to quickly locate projects and act on them.
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