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How To Make Checklist Subtasks in Smartsheet Platform

Smartsheet is a versatile work execution platform that allows teams to plan, capture, track, automate and report on work in one collaborative workspace. It combines the familiarity of spreadsheets with powerful work management capabilities like Gantt charts, forms, reports and dashboards.

One of the key features of Smartsheet is the ability to break down larger tasks into smaller subtasks. This helps teams better organize their work, assign responsibilities, and track progress at a more granular level. Subtasks can be created in both the Grid and Card views in Smartsheet.

In this comprehensive guide, we will walk through the step-by-step process of creating checklist subtasks in Smartsheet using both views.

Creating Subtasks in Grid View

The Grid view in Smartsheet displays your sheet data in a table format similar to a spreadsheet. Here are the steps to create subtasks in Grid view:

  1. Navigate to the task you want to break down and insert a new row below it by right-clicking on the row number and selecting “Insert Row Below”.
  2. In the new row, enter the details for the first subtask including name, assignee, dates, status etc.
  3. Right click on the subtask row number and click “Indent” to nest this under the parent task. The indent icons will now appear to the left of the row number indicating hierarchy.
  4. Repeat steps 1-3 to continue adding more subtasks under the parent task.

This creates a visual hierarchy that rolls up progress from the subtasks to eventually mark the parent task complete.

Creating Subtasks in Card View

The Card view in Smartsheet displays your sheet data in a kanban-style card format that is great for visualizing work. Follow these steps to create subtasks in Card view:

  1. Hover over the parent task card and click on the “Add Subtask” icon that appears.
  2. In the popup, enter the details for the subtask including title, assignee etc.
  3. Click “Add” to create the subtask card underneath the parent card.
  4. Repeat steps 1-3 to continue adding more subtasks under the parent task card.

The Card view allows you to see parent and subtask cards together in one consolidated view for better task organization.

Adding Checkboxes to Subtasks

To track progress on subtask cards in Smartsheet, you can add checkboxes which act as interactive checklists. Here is how to do it:

  1. Click on the “Add Field” button to add a new column to your sheet
  2. Select “Checkbox” as the field type and give it a name like “Subtask Progress”
  3. Check the boxes for each subtask as you complete them to visually indicate progress
  4. The parent task card will show aggregated progress from the subtask checkboxes, allowing you to mark the parent complete once all subtasks are finished

Checkboxes bring in elements of task lists and interactive checklists into the subtasks, making it easier to track granular work items.

Other Subtask Features

Here are some other useful things you can do with subtasks in Smartsheet:

Turn subtasks into interactive checklists

In Card view, you can designate a checkbox field to display subtasks as checklist items that can be marked complete. This condenses subtask cards into one checklist.

View hierarchy levels

Filter parent and subtasks cards by the level of hierarchy in Card view to focus on specific branches of work.

Show driving dependencies

In Gantt charts, enable Driving Path to highlight parent and subtasks that influence the start date of other tasks.

Add subtasks via forms

Use forms to collect information from submitters and automatically create subtask rows or cards based on the inputs.

Sync subtasks across tools

Smartsheet connectors with Jira, Azure DevOps etc. allow you to synchronize parent/subtask hierarchies across different platforms.

Best Practices for Subtasks

Here are some tips for working with subtasks in Smartsheet more effectively:

  • Break large tasks into manageable 4-8 hour subtasks
  • Summarize the goal at the parent level and details within subtasks
  • Consolidate related subtasks under one parent task card
  • Use multiple hierarchy levels for complex work
  • Assign subtasks to individuals for accountability
  • Update subtask statuses frequently
  • Enable dependencies in Gantt charts for scheduling

Conclusion

Using subtasks and checklists within Smartsheet provides teams with better clarity on granular work items needed to complete larger goals on projects. Visibility into comprehensive hierarchies and progress tracking also improves transparency and accountability across the organization.

As teams graduate from managing simple task lists to more complex multi-level projects, subtasks provide that natural evolution to structure work execution systematically. Making checklists actionable connects strategy to ground-level work in an impactful way.

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