Smartsheet ENGAGE 2024 in London is wrapped! We look back on two inspirational action packed days of learning, discovery and  new capability announcements

 

 

 

Smartsheet Community: First on stage was our very own Chief Smartsheet Solutions Officer and Community Champion Debbie Sawyer joining Smartsheet Community Manager Genevieve Penny and Smartsheet Overachiever Michelle Basson to discuss the huge benefits of using the collective mind of the Smartsheet Community.

Keynote: CEO Mark Mader delivered an insightful keynote focused on the importance of asynchronous collaboration for boosting productivity and providing greater flexibility.  See ENGAGE Keynote

Product Enhancements: Smartsheet’s very own Ben Canning – SVP of Product Experiences then announced a cascade of product announcements including exciting new AI functionality, new Timeline Views and Resource Management enhancements.  See more

SBP’s Smartsheet ENGAGE 2024 Giveaway: Our Giveaway was the chance to win a 12 month subscription to one of our best selling apps –  Smarter Dropdown List Manager (worth $600). Congratulations to the lucky winner – Claire Mitchell of First Sentier Investors.

We’ve simply loved meeting up face to face with clients old and new.  There have been lots of ‘light bulb’ moments when these Smartsheeters realise how much further they can now expand their Smartsheet capabilities.

Great too to meet up with the amazing Smartsheet team. Smartsheet ENGAGE 2024… it has been a blast.  

If you are looking to maximise the full potential of your Smartsheet investment, with years of experience of Smartsheet Solution Build, App Integration and Automation, Smarter Business Processes are a safe pair of hands to support your Smartsheet journey.  Get in touch

Watch out for our Top Tips Tuesdays – Follow us on LinkedIn

The post It’s a wrap for Smartsheet ENGAGE 2024 London appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

As the festive season approaches, the SBP Team proudly look back on our achievements of 2023.

Customers have challenged us and we have responded and together we have created some particularly amazing solutions.

If you have challenges to resolve or are looking to improve efficiencies please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you. Book your free initial consultation here.

The SBP Team highlights from 2023

From achieving our Cyber Secure accreditation to forging new Partnerships, expanding our talented SBP Team, increasing our portfolio of Smarter Apps and creating some amazing solutions for our wonderful clients, 2023 has been quite a year.

Airtable

As proud  Airtable Services Partners, the SBP Team now have even more solutions and services to offer our valued clients. Airtable is an alternative cloud based solution to Smartsheet with its main value being an interactive relational database product with a drag and drop interface designer.

Smarter Dashboards

We have been working behind the scenes to make  Smarter Dashboards even more adaptable to your needs and put the power in your hands via a new self service interface.  Thank you to everyone who has volunteered for Beta Testing, we now have all the Beta testing slots filled, however you can still register your interest in Smarter Dashboards V2.

Smarter Launch Pad

Smarter Apps

Our menu of Smarter Apps continues to grow as our talented developers create even smarter solutions. Remember our apps cover the visibility and management of all of your Smartsheet assets including taking regular backups, managing your dropdown list values, launching your templates, producing documentation from multiple rows and sheets. We have linked clients to their accounts packages and their CRMs this year too. If you have a need for automation, contact us and we will see if we have it covered.

SBP Team November Summit  

With our team spread across the UK and Canada it was inspiring to all be together in Yorkshire for 2 days of intense brain storming at our annual summit. We have some fabulous ideas for next year including further partnerships, developing ideas for new apps based on some great client feedback. If you have any ideas for new apps, tell us about them here. We took this opportuity to capture our fabulous SBP team, see photo above. Thanks to Paul Sawyer for being official photographer.

Cyber Secure Accreditation

This summer, Smarter Business Processes underlined it’s commitment to cyber security by becoming Cyber Essentials Certified through the IASME Consortium with Cyber Smart.

Client Stories

We’ve had the pleasure of working with some amazing clients this year.  See how Hyatt Hotels streamlined their PMO with Smarter Launch Pad or how Roadnight Taylor connected to their CRM and with using Smarter Launch Pad as well, helped them achieve a 4 day week goal. And how we have developed a solution for Emcor UK to collect data using Appsheet on a weekly basis to ensure visibility and compliance of over 12,000 assets, repurposing 5,000 Lab Manager hours which is a huge admin saving.

SBP Team update

Our core team expanded to include Emma Stevens and Paul Sawyer this year, we thank them for their valuable contributions. Richard Rymill and Debbie Sawyer were recognised as Smartsheet Ambassadors by Smartsheet themselves within the Smartsheet Community and watch this space for our team being further recognised by Smartsheet in the New Year.

Our Final Thoughts

May we take this opportunity to send heartfelt thanks to our clients and partners around the world for your valued business and support over the last year and look forward to continuing our amazing relationships with you in 2024.

The post Merry Christmas from the SBP Team appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

We are delighted to announce the exciting news that we at Smarter Business Processes have become an accredited Airtable Service Partner.

Smarter Business Processes is an accredited Airtable Service Partner. Our expert consultants can help you to extract maximum value from your adoption of this flexible and sophisticated platform. Read on to learn how you could use Airtable as your next database, workflow management or PMO solution.

What is Airtable?

Airtable is the Cloud Based relational database we have all been waiting for. It is a collaborative online platform for creating and sharing relational databases.

With Airtable, teams easily design and deploy flexible and engaging apps that power critical workflows and make valuable data actionable across the enterprise.

Unlike SQL and MySQL Databases, AIRTABLE provides a user-friendly interface, making collaboration and visibility easy compared to other available PMO and Workflow systems.

How easy is Airtable to use?

Airtable uses a spreadsheet format to organize data with a colourful easy to use interface. Airtable has the ability to store information in a spreadsheet that’s visually appealing and fundamentally easy-to-use. 

However should you want to delve deeper or need Airtable help, as an accredited Airtable Service Partner we are able to assist to ensure you extract maximum value and optimise your project efficiencies across organisational functions. At Smarter Business Processes as an accredited Airtable Service Partner we offer Airtable Support.

Why is this important to you?

We are a team of Consultants that enjoy creating state of the art solutions which our clients tell us they love. So why not engage us to build your next great workflow solution.

How powerful is the Airtable solution?

Airtable is powerful enough to offer sophisticated database features that businesses can use for customer-relationship management (CRM), task management, project management, and inventory tracking. Applications are endless! We can create tailor made apps for all business functions, helping you to deliver greater project efficiencies.

How does it rate as a collaboration tool?

One of the reasons we wanted to become an accredited Airtable Service Partner is because believe it is a powerful collaboration tool.

Airtable’s powerful collaboration features give the whole business focussed access to real time data via configurable views. We can help you to set up intuitive interfaces for all teams and departments allowing them to collaborate efficiently at all levels. All organisations small or large can benefit from using Airtable.

Is Airtable customisable?

Airtable has easy to use customisable features, that allow you to adapt the tool for various projects, creating Airtable Apps helping to optimise workflows. And if you need Airtable support our Smarter Business Processes consultants can help you achieve your specific goals in setting up your Airtable database.

Airtable also has a large number of ready-made popular templates available to help you manage a wide range of standard business operations.

A solution that appeals to businesses of all sizes.  

At Smarter Business Processes we offer Airtable Consultancy, Design and Build, Self build Support, Training and Integration with other systems to maximise your Airtable workflows.

Airtable Service Partner – Consultants

While Airtable is easy to use for standard functionality and data storage, we can offer specialist accredited consultants with formal Airtable Service Partner status to help you maximise your use and proficient adoption of all the Airtable services and tools. To contact with our Airtable consultants to request a consultation

Airtable Integration

Taking the time to review your business needs before implementing new software is essential, as is bringing the team in on the selection process and most vitally the training. Management may not always have full understanding of the intricacies of the tools required to get the job done.

One of the reasons our customers return time and time again to ask our Airtable consultants for support is for projects enabling Airtable integration with their in-house and legacy systems across different departments.

For example, whether you need to integrate sales and marketing systems creating a joint reporting interface, or a sales and finance integration with cross functional data entry and reporting, our Airtable consultants can help you build a solid integration for optimal use of your ready data.

Airtable Database

While an Airtable database is simple enough to construct, because the company’s philosophy is to democratize software creation by giving everyone the power to create, sometimes your needs for a relational database are a little more complicated.

If this is the case, request a consultation from one of our accredited Airtable consultants.

What We Hear About Database Tools

At Smarter Business Processes, we hear many of the most common complaints about the available database tools. This list comprises a remarkable set of criteria.

Point to note –

Most of these challenges and issues are avoidable by choosing the correct tool for your organisation and your specific project and ensuring you secure the right training for your team.

Challenges Teams Face With Many Software Tools

• Overly complex. Employees have to spend time navigating various menus to find the features they need. Staff struggling to navigate an unfamiliar system quickly become stressed and demotivated.
• Not best fit for your business needs. Management need to have a clear understanding of their business’s database goals and needs to ensure they have the right software. Train your team in tools that are relevant to their role, and achieve what is required.  We can assist in this process.
• Too labour intensive. Involving repetitive manual tasks such as data entry.  
• No allowance for the learning curve. As with all new tools and processes, new a database software needs time to bed in. Allocating your team training resources is essential, as is a roll out period to iron out any quirks and address issues.

Find the Right Database Tool For Your Team

Database software requirements vary depending on the business, and the size and scope of the project. But in our experience a strong tool will help you understand and manage your data requirements effectively without costing the Earth.

As accredited Airtable Service Partners we are able to help you assess your business needs and build an integrated database to deliver your goals.

In Summary

Reviewing and changing your relational database toolkit can power efficiencies and be cost effective, provided it is done in the right way. Take the time to consider your company datbase, workflow and business needs, and act in consultation with our Airtable consultancy team for the best results. 

If you are reviewing your business processes and still unsure where to start, get in touch. We can offer a free consultation to uncover the tools, software and processes that are right for you.

Next Steps

Contact us to arrange your Free initial Airtable Consultation.

Further Reading

If you would like to read more about our Airtable Support and effective database construction and management take a look at some of the articles on our blog:

Recommended articles

4 Tools to increase productivity and efficiency

What are the 5 Stages of project management

The post Airtable Service Partner – It’s official! appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

In this article we can help you identify some of the smartest project management tools on the market and how to make the most of the opportunity for you and your team.

What is Project Management?

Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process.

The primary constraints of course are the project scope, time, and budget. We would also add the tools you use and the project management skills the team possess in how to use the software available.

Trying a New Software Solution

Your staff may not have the time or the confidence to acquire new project management certifications. All too often we fall back on the tools that feel familiar to us, rather than those which are right for the job. At Smarter Business Processes, a vital part of what we do is ensuring our clients have the right tools for their business, giving them the confidence to try something new.

The Right Tools Will Make a Difference

The levels of anxiety and stress associated with changes in tools and systems should not be understated. A recent study by the Journal of Business and Psychology found that employees’ self worth is often closely linked to the tools they use. Stress levels are often linked to feelings of uncertainty; employees need to feel confident that any new system will deliver on what it promises. 

Review Your Business Needs

Taking the time to review your business needs before implementing new software is essential, as is bringing the team in on the selection process and most vitally the training. Management may not always have full understanding of the intricacies of the tools required to get the job done.

However, by involving your team, you are ensuring you have all the relevant information, and you are encouraging their buy in early on.

What We Hear About Management Tools

At Smarter Business Processes, we hear many of the most common complaints about the available tools. This list comprises a remarkable set of criteria.

Point to note –

Most of these challenges and issues are avoidable by choosing the correct tool for your project and ensuring you secure the right training for your team.

Challenges Teams Face With Many Software Tools

• Overly complex. Employees have to spend time navigating various menus to find the features they need. Staff struggling to navigate an unfamiliar system quickly become stressed and demotivated.
• Irrelevant to workflow. Management need to have a clear understanding of their team’s workflow processes to ensure they have the right software for their needs. Train your team in tools that are relevant to their role, and achieve what is required.  
• Cost inefficient. Managers often find themselves out of pocket, having invested heavily in a new software system and only using a fraction of its capabilities.  
• Too labour intensive. Involving repetitive manual tasks such as data entry.  
• No allowance for the learning curve. As with all new tools and processes, new a management software project needs time to bed in. Allocating your team training resources is essential, as is a roll out period to iron out any quirks and address issues.

Finding the Right Project Management Tool For Your Team

Management software requirements vary depending on the business, and the size and scope of the project. But in our experience a strong tool will help you understand what project management is and should also do the following, without costing the Earth:-

Help to Plan and Track Deadlines, Resources and Constraints

This is a must. Efficient project managers need to be on top of resource allocation and delivery expectations at all times. Smartsheet’s Control Center can set up and initiate new projects quickly and easily.

Point to Note –

Care is needed in designing and creating the necessary automation at the setting up phase. Take a moment to consider what options you have and what tools there are that could help make this a more efficient process.

Smarter Launch Pad App

For many potential Control Center clients, our consultants recommend our own Smarter Launch Pad, which can do all this for a fraction of the cost.

Help to Communicate Efficiently with Managers and Staff

This doesn’t just mean relying on email to do the job. (yeah, we do it too!) We believe the key to efficient communication is finding accessible ways to keep the team up to date on the data that is relevant to them.

Smarter Dashboard App

We recommend our Smarter Dashboard application as a way to present and manage your data in a real time setting and view it in a range of ways with concise, graphical options. Slice and dice your Smartsheet data in live dashboards with charts, graphs and tables. You can even edit the data live in the dashboard interface.

You can also drill down to your data, simply by clicking on the relevant graph, and present handy snapshots based on any parameters you need!

Be Intuitive to Use

Our clients come to us for solutions they know will be friendly and easy to use, but we pride ourselves on our comprehensive training packages. For more information on using Smartsheet for project management, contact us today to discuss our training options.

Project Management Webinar

You might also be interested in our webinar on Using Smartsheet as a PMO tool. In this webinar we offer a demonstration of how to download Smartsheet’s own PMO Template set and customise it for your own use. This includes set up a project intake sheet, which then launches a project plan to help you coordinate resources and timelines, a project dashboard to help with communications on progress and all the reports and metrics required to roll up the data to a portfolio overview, thus creating a fully integrated Smartsheet PMO Solution.

In Summary

Reviewing and changing your project management toolkit can power efficiencies and be cost effective, provided it is done in the right way. Take the time to consider your company workflow and business needs, and act in consultation with the team for the best results. 

If you are reviewing your business processes and still unsure where to start, get in touch. We can offer a free consultation to uncover the tools, software and processes that are right for you.

Further Reading

If you would like to read more about effective project management and how to demystify the stages of each project, take a look at some of the articles on our blog:

Recommended articles

4 Tools to increase productivity and efficiency

What are the 5 Stages of project management

The post Best Tools for Project Management appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

The  Challenge

As a committed user of Smartsheet, Hansen Signs were looking to get the maximum benefit from their investment in Smartsheet Control Center add-on, and add even more automation and efficiency to processing their client orders at a time of very high demand.  With no connectivity between their ERP system and Smartsheet, they found their processes were slowed by the necessity to manually transfer data between the two systems.  They asked Smarter Business Processes to help improve the workflow and to provide API connectivity to their ERP system.

The Solution

SBP have been able to connect the Smartsheet Control Center Intake Sheet directly to the ERP order information, so that data flows from the order into Smartsheet.  We have then developed the Control Center solution to aid the auto-provisioning of data, created more API programs to automatically find relevant task information from within the ERP system and have that data incorporated into the appropriate Project sheets, once they had been provisioned through Control Center.  During this work we were also able to update the Project Template with additional functions to add dependencies, flag tasks as complete, trigger workflows which all helps the Project Managers assess the orders and deliver their products and services.

The Benefits

The enhancements that Smarter Business Processes have delivered for Hansen Signs has

• removed the manual movement of data, which eradicates the potential errors this could invoke
• improved the speed of data flowing through the systems, as instead of orders being processed at the start and end of each day, the orders can flow through as and when they are entered into the ERP. This means the Project managers no longer need to wait until the next day to have the project data updated and keeps everything “top of mind”.
• removed the bottlenecks that manual Control Center provisioning was causing, which has saved a lot of valuable time
• improved the data content of the final Project sheet, which has saved a lot of time and also made the solution easier to work with

The enhancements have made a time saving of at least 2 hours a day, and has resulted in the high level of client satisfaction that we would normally associate with a Smartsheet Control Center Solution. Nick has said, these changes have made him very Happy Indeed.

I am very happy with the process of developing this solution in working with SBP. They were prompt to respond to our needs, creative and effective in their solution, and very fair throughout the process. Together we have effectively delivered a sustainable solution that will save my staff valuable time, saving us not only in data entry but also in providing current information that helps keep projects moving efficiently through our company. This has increased buy-in of the software with my PMs and increased adoption as the solution is much more efficient and is adding value in streamlining the communication of data.

Nick Hansen – Hansen Signs

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 The Challenge

Having chosen Smartsheet as their work management  tool of choice and booked their first Smartsheet Discovery Day, it soon became apparent that they needed to get back to  grassroots and first define their processes. Smarter Business Processes could then start to help them build their specific Smartsheet workflows.

 The Solution

SBP’s Business Process Mapping expert spent 2 days with the senior leadership team and taught them the benefits of business process mapping and how to define and document their individual departmental processes.  During the workshop they identified the 5 core areas of Business Process Mapping; then using the Lancashire FA’s Project Process (real life example)  applied the theory learnt and defined the Project Process from inception of a project to customer satisfaction survey post implementation of a project, documenting all elements of the process using best practise process modelling methods of documentation.

 Since then SBP have supported the implementation of all departmental processes by working with each senior leader individually on their process documentation and giving suggestions.  SBP have run remote workshops for the team in setting up their sheets in Smartsheet and designing reporting dashboards to meet the KPI reporting required, implemented the Project Process in Smartsheet and trained all staff in how to use the Smartsheets to manage the process.  SBP have supported the CEO in designing dashboards for management reporting. We facilitated a solution by which the FA head office could oversee the projects that are underway, the status of them all reporting against their KPI’s. This information is live, up to date and available to them without the requirement of any manual updates or input.  We are currently working with the CEO to implement a PDR dashboard for each employee which will oversee the data management for running quarterly employee reviews. Next step for us with Lancashire FA is to implement a Xero to Smartsheet integration solution for managing accounting information through Smartsheet and various API links to other business software that they use to ensure the relevant reporting dashboards across the various levels of the company can be found in one place and not across multiple different interfaces.

 The Benefits

The Process Modeling has ensured that we understand how technology and in particular Smartsheet can do the heavy lifting and ensure that as a whole company we run far more efficiently.

The Smartsheet workflow solutions have not only provided us with unprecedented collaboration across the company but have also ensured that we manage our projects properly which was a major risk to the company 12 months ago.

 Testimonial

I am delighted with the solutions Smarter Business Processes have delivered to date.  They have vastly improved efficiency and visibility across the whole cooperate structure  and more importantly have enabled me to have my finger firmly on the pulse of how the business is performing. 

 I can’t recommend Smarter Business Processes highly enough for their unparalleled knowledge, customer service skill and reliability.  Working with them has been a pleasure. Simon Gerrard – Chief Executive Lancashire FA

The post Lancashire Football Association works Smarter with Smartsheet appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Located within the very prestigious Devonshire House, situated in London’s Mayfair, overlooking Green Park, the office gives us easier access to our growing number of London based clients

The SBP team continues to grow as demand for our range of business efficiency solutions  increases across multiple business sectors, with particularly strong interest from the Construction sector

The post Smarter Business Processes opens London Office appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Harvest Healthcare manufacture and distribute innovative quality healthcare equipment to the National Health Service, care home and community markets throughout the UK and internationally.

The Challenge

Having made a start with Smartsheet, it soon became apparent that to get the most out of Smartsheet, investing in some quality training would be the most cost effective and time efficient way forward

The Solution

After discussing their requirements with the Smarter Business Processes team, the One 2 One Personalised Online Smartsheet Champion training course was found to best suit Harvest Healthcare’s needs.

The Benefits

The detailed modular One 2 One Online Training Course has provided Harvest Healthcare’s own Smartsheet Champion with the necessary proficiency and knowledge to implement  their own Smartsheet solutions then train their own team.

Testimonial

“The indepth remote training, delivered by Smarter Business Processes Lead Trainer James was excellent.  Broken down into 1.5 hour sessions to fit into my busy schedule, the course covered everything from orientation and setting up dashboards to Project Management and understanding the importance of data triggers to webforms, timesheets, resource planning, reporting, smartstats and smartgraphs. I am now a proficient Smartsheet Champion, armed with the necessary skills to design my own smartsheet solutions and share knowledge with my team.  I would have no hesitation in recommending this course to other Smartsheet users.”   

Tim Appleton – Harvest Healthcare

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Google Apps users benefit from the recommended apps program by skipping the guesswork in finding a tool they can trust and rely on. Customers trust Google Apps for Work to provide an enhanced productivity environment, and now they can also trust their knowledge of vetted and proven products like Smartsheet. To be included in the initiative, Smartsheet has undergone rigorous reviews for integration quality and an extensive assessment of security policies, including application penetration testing. In a nutshell, that means a more seamless work experience with extensive built-in security.

Smartsheet is Google’s selection for the Project Management category, along with 7 other applications selected in other categories. The initial set of applications being added to the Recommended for Google Apps for Work program includes:

• Smartsheet for Project Management
• ProsperWorks for CRM
• Ringcentral & Switch for cloud-based communications telephony
• Ping Identity & Okta for identity and access management

Smartsheet has had a strong and harmonious relationship with Google Apps for Work since we began work together in 2010 with the launch of the Google Apps Marketplace. Just last year, we were honored to be among the first ISVs named as a Google Apps Premier Technology Partner; it strengthened our platform and added an extra level of empowerment to our customers’ collaborative work. And today, our relationship with Google became even mightier.

What this means for you

Google integrations with Smartsheet complement each other at every turn across the Google Apps for Work product suite. The benefits of using Smartsheet with Google Apps are huge, especially in regards to daily productivity:

• Easy administration and use. Administrators can add Smartsheet for all users directly from their administration consoles.
• Single sign-on. Sign in to Smartsheet with Google credentials to provide seamless account access.
• Secure storage. House documents in Google Drive directly from the context of work in Smartsheet.
• Shared dates. Synchronize Smartsheet with Google Calendar to stay up-to-date on the latest meetings and appointments.
• Instant meetings. Start a Google Hangout from within Smartsheet with everyone currently collaborating on the same work.
• Gmail integration. Update work in Smartsheet directly from inside Gmail.
• Form data collection. Collect responses to Google Forms in Smartsheet to organize them and take additional actions.
• Merge document data. Use lists of data in Smartsheet to generate multiple customized Google Docs.
• Mobile access. Access work in Smartsheet from anywhere with the Smartsheet Android app.

We feel confident that our strengthened partnership with Google Apps for Work will empower your business and employees to be their best. With increased movement away from traditional work applications to a cloud productivity suite, you’ll see boosts in performance across your projects, IT and HR departments, sales and budget tracking, and so much more.

We’re so excited about this new opportunity to provide our customers with improved work solutions.

Contact us to arrange a Smartsheet demo, Free consultation or Free Trial and see how we integrate with Google Apps for Work for an enhanced and effective workflow between two partners you can trust.  We’d love to hear from you!

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Further to our on going work with Top Rank, Executive Event Producer Brad Jacobs had this  to say:

Huge monster event all kept on track courtesy of my friends at Smarter Business Processes and by using Smartsheet.  Amazing tool! 

Brad Jacobs – Executive Event Producer, Top Rank

The post Smartsheet and Smarter Business Processes keep boxing events on schedule for Top Rank appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Fast Forward Technology is a fast growth  IT Solutions and Service company, dedicated to helping businesses keep pace with the ever changing world of Information Technology.

The Challenge

As the number of remote Service Engineers  increased, logging and recording  Site Engineers’ reports was becoming ever time consuming. The lack of a collaborative platform meant it was difficult to maintain client service records as each job was completed, rather than at the end of each day. This led to incomplete or delayed information for both FFT and the Client.  Service Engineers operate out on site or remotely when resolving client needs, so a system that could cope with entry from any device in real- time was required.

The Solutions

Smarter Business Processes designed a customised Smartsheet system using a combination of Web Forms and spreadsheets which their Service Engineers could access remotely while on site for real- time information gathering, compiling and reporting.

The Benefits

The Smartsheet  system has:

• Provided  real-time status update for the FFT management and client teams
• Improved visibility and streamlined communication between multiple partners
• Improved accountability for all concerned
• Reduced administration time for reporting and billing
• Provided much improved data analysis to better meet client’s future needs

 “Richard Rymill worked with us to to both understand how we were managing our business and identify areas for immediate process improvement.  Having access to real-time information via the Service Engineers Web Form solution has vastly improved efficiencies.

We highly recommend Smarter Business Processes and their methodology.  We are actively working with them to resolve more IT admin challenges in the coming weeks and look forward to finding more and more uses for Smartsheet”.  Dean Hall, Managing Director Fast Forward Technology

The post IT Service Engineers’ Smartsheet Web Form improves efficiencies appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Welterweights Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao  met on 2 May at the MGM Grand Garden, Las Vegas for the much anticipated blockbuster ‘fight of the century’ which broke financial records at every level: pay per view, global sales and gate receipts.

The Mayweather/Pacquiao fight was a huge monster event, all kept on track courtesy of my friends at Smarter Business Processes and by using Smartsheet.  Amazing tool!

Richard and the Smarter Business Processes team have been helping us to optimize Smartsheet for our year long, worldwide event planning.  Brad Jacobs –  Top Rank’s Executive Event Producer

Smartsheet Founder Brent Frei commented that this was “another major event coordinated by Smartsheet”

Major Event Planners behind NCAA Final Four , and NFL Super Bowl, Volvo Ocean Racing and Tough Mudder ALL use Smartsheet – See more

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TechCrunch recently released the 10 most important trends changing the face of enterprise computing, everything from faster application performance to virtualization to enhanced security.

We dug a little deeper into four of these trends and looked at what they specifically mean for the future of technology in the workplace.

Four Important Trends to Consider When Looking for New Technology

1. Cloud computing is taking over.
   Nearly one-third of all workloads use the cloud today, according to Morgan Stanley. Cloud computing is so powerful because it removes all physical barriers – employees can access information anywhere and on any device. It also allows organizations to easily expand resources and adopt new tools and applications without buying more hardware.

What it means: Yes, telecommuting is on the rise, but today’s cloud software promises to enable entire companies to work remotely, regardless of time zones or geographic locations. Precise Biometrics, creators of smart card readers and fingerprint sensors designed to protect data, has 20 international workers and uses Smartsheet as its main tool. “It’s become our virtual office. It’s the heart of our team,” said Meredith Esham, director of marketing.

2. More purchasing power across organizations.
   Traditionally, CIOs and IT staff held purchasing power for new technology and tools. Now, it’s moving to heads of sales, marketing, finance and other departments. In fact, one-third of technology purchasing power has moved to executives outside of IT, according to a Bain & Company survey.

What it means: There is no “standard buyer” anymore; it could be someone from any department. As a result, IT solutions need to be customizable across the board. Also, with different technology buyers in the same organization, employees will likely be using multiple applications. Tools that are compatible with other apps will be the clear winner.

3. New ways to get work done with mobile.
   Salesforce.com’s CEO, Marc Benioff, has said he runs his whole business from his phone. This keeps getting easier and easier to do. Mobile applications are providing efficient, automated ways to work faster and smarter.

What it means: Information never sleeps. With our smartphones and tablets, employees could be working on projects at any time, day or night, so technology will need to keep up. Businesses will need solutions that allow simultaneous editing, automated progress reports, and real-time notifications when things change in a project.

4. Intuitive, easy-to-use interfaces are king.
   Better-designed applications with friendly interfaces are pushing out the harder-to-use, traditional models. Businesses don’t want to waste days training employees on how to use a new program; instead, they are actively seeking organic adoption.

What it means: User experience will be a huge factor in selecting an IT solution. Smartsheet’s universal, spreadsheet layout is a powerful draw for our customers.

Technology to Help Work Smarter, Not Harder

Businesses need technology that can help employees work smarter, not harder. They should be looking for cloud-based, user-friendly tools that can keep up with our 24/7 plugged-in world in a customizable way. Employees don’t have time to be held back by technology, they need to hit the ground running.

Smarter Business Processes offer Smartsheet Consultancy to help you and your organisation get your work done! We’re here to help with your Design and Development of effective Smartsheet Solutions.  Found out more here or Contact us

The post The Future of Enterprise IT: 4 Trends and What They Mean appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Ignorance may be bliss, until we realize there is something drastically more efficient and effective out there. Then, ignorance becomes a costly, time-consuming oversight. Case in point: Excel spreadsheets.

The traditional spreadsheet has been around for nearly 30 years and almost a billion people use them today. But, their usage has evolved from being a data analytics and number crunching tool with formulas and functions to a work and project management tool.

In fact, 60% of spreadsheets in use today contain no formulas. Instead, Excel spreadsheets are being used for list management, project tracking, and basic work coordination.

Excel may be one of the most widely used tools for work management, but is it really the right tool for managing your tasks and projects?

Here are five important questions you need to ask yourself before using Excel for your next project:

1.  Can my colleagues and I work on a sheet at the same time?

Excel is locally hosted, whether it’s installed on a server or on each user’s individual machine. This means that the file must be constantly synced or carefully sent around via email to ensure all members of the team have access to the most up-to-date version. If one person forgets to email out some changes, a whole team could be out of sync. Some people rely on using a shared server like Microsoft Sharepoint to ensure version control, but that process can be time consuming for users and only one person and can work on the file at a time. And unless everyone accessing the file uses the proper methods of Sharepoint (i.e. ‘checking out’ and ‘checking in’), then it becomes a moot point. Microsoft has launched its Office 365 version of Excel, offering services in the cloud, but it still lacks the advanced sharing and collaboration features that you need to truly work real-time with other team members and it only works for the Windows platform.

Solution: You need to make edits at any time, and update those changes for everyone else working on the same platform. And you need to have things like the ability to have more than one person working at one time on the project plan, options to start discussions, ability to attach relevant content files, and the option to link to content that lives on other cloud-based apps like Evernote or Google Drive. Most importantly, the tool you use needs to accommodate work done on multiple devices, with multiple platforms, from any location.

2.  Can I identify who made changes or additions to a file?

Excel sheets are constantly being modified and change hands across emails dozens of times a day. As such, it can be extremely difficult to keep track of where the project was six months before, let alone years ago, and identify who made certain changes and when.

Solution: Look for a tool that offers full project history and can automatically notify you each time someone makes a change, so you always know who is working on what.

3.  Do I have easy, customizable tracking capabilities? Or the ability to visually see who’s working on what and with whom?

Excel has no built-in reporting, so project managers need to manually generate reports and graphs. In addition, certain reports you can build in Excel (like Gantt charts and project roll-ups) may be beyond the skills and capabilities of some project managers.

Solution: Save valuable time with software that has one-click reporting and customizable tracking abilities. For example, the capabilities to identify work patterns, track employee productivity, and monitor tasks to help set individual or team priorities. You can even have the ability to create a visual workmap: a graphical, interactive way to show who is working on what, with whom, and with what content. This gives you a quick way to see what projects are getting the most attention, who your high performers are on the team, and the status of who’s engaged from other departments.

4.  Can I quickly view project status and progress in a dashboard?

Managers often need an easy-to-digest overview of what is happening. Excel does not lend itself to a quick understanding of project status. You would need to create additional views or reports to see summarized information from Excel, or sift through detailed information to find the one number you need.

Solution: Choose software that features a dashboard where you can view the most important information in one place. As an added bonus, look for a customizable dashboard, where you can choose what information shows up (reminders, assignments, to-do lists, or recent files).

5.  Can I create specific to-do lists for different team members?

Excel is great if you’re flying solo as it only shows one view, typically for the project manager. It doesn’t provide individual team member with his or her own to-do list for each project. And, everyone has access to the same information in one Excel sheet. An intern can see the same data as senior management and can easily make changes that aren’t tracked.

Solution: You need different views and different access capabilities for different people. The best tools allow you to customize what each user can or cannot see, and lets you distribute specific tasks and to-dos to certain people. It also gives you the ability to set up auto-reminders to each individual so they know when their tasks are due.

Save Excel for the Number Crunching

Excel has always been the tool of choice for deep number-crunching. But as a management tool, it’s limited to a list of tasks with columns detailing specific milestones or target dates. While that information is helpful, it just scratches the surface. Don’t hold back productivity and collaboration by using Excel for important tasks it was never made to do.

 Learn more about Smartsheet as an Excel alternative that will help you get more done, more effectively.

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The post Is Excel Right for Managing Tasks? 5 Key Questions You Need to Ask appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.