Earlier this week, my boss pulled me over to his desk to present me with new case: somebody had sent over an order management spreadsheet full of tasks, task owners, and due dates and asked if they could integrate it into our system.
Now, I’m not just saying this, but after working here for 6 months, I still haven’t come across a case of organization that can’t be integrated into Priority Matrix.
So, when he asked me to create an example task management template for this client, of course I said yes.
In this particular case, I was actually really excited. I know how painful it can be to use excel spreadsheets to stay organized. In my first job, which I left after five weeks, on day 1 they had me set up a spreadsheet to track my tasks.
By the time I left, my spreadsheet had over 60 lines, with 13 columns each. Looking at it every morning when I walked into the office gave me anxiety – what if I deleted something important? What if I missed a due date, hidden among the rows and columns?
In this case, the potential client came to us and showed us their inventory management system, which they’re currently tracking in Smartsheet. They wanted to know how to transfer this current layout into Priority Matrix.
Example Order Management Spreadsheet
(Client names have been changed)
To start – I analyzed the information present and thought about the capabilities our system has to handle it. First off, here’s the big picture:
Now, let’s break it down.
I’m going to work from left to right on the spreadsheet and see how it translates into Priority Matrix.
Regarding “creation date”, Priority Matrix tracks that automatically, so that’s a simple one. Next, since every task in Priority Matrix has a section for notes, I figured this would be the best place to hold information regarding client names and order quantity.
Now, “job description” is another simple one – Priority Matrix is designed to capture tasks, so each “job” becomes its own task.
Also, skipping to the far left side of the column, you can see I named each quadrant in Priority Matrix to represent a certain task status. A task that starts as “new order” will work its way across the grid until it is “ready for pickup”. You can even set the progress bar on the task to indicate how far along it is.
Finally, there are also two categories on the spreadsheet for owner and due date. Again, Priority Matrix has you covered. Not only is it possible to set due dates on every task in Priority Matrix, but also, you can sync these due dates to Google, Outlook, or iCal. What’s more, each task in Priority Matrix has a specific owner. The little picture alongside the task represents who is responsible for it.
So, I know what you’re thinking: “isn’t this just the same information in the same format?”
Yes….and NO.
For a few of the following reasons:
- In Priority Matrix, you can check tasks off as done, rather than deleting them from the spreadsheet
- Each task contains a real-time chat, for quick updates and clarifications
- You can break down tasks into multiple projects, add team members to each one, and delegate work
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