Sync Resource Management assignments with Smartsheet (2023)

The Resource Management Panel provides a powerful connection to your staffing plans — directly from Smartsheet — to align strategic resource management with agile project execution.

Assignment syncing enhances the Resource Management Panel experience. You can now modify assignments directly in Resource Management and have those changes automatically update the associated sheet rows in Smartsheet. Previously, changes syncedin one direction, from Smartsheet to Resource Management. Now you can make changesin both places, and they will sync in both directions.

For example, let’s say you’ve assigned a task to a placeholder using the Resource Management Panel. When you assign that task in Resource Management to a specific person, the assignee field in the associated Smartsheet sheet will be automatically updated.

Get started

Make sure you have already set up the Resource MangementPanel and account level connection for your organization.

Enableexisting projects

For projects previously connected via the panel, you must load the panel to enable assignment syncing for that sheet.

To enable assignment syncing:

1. In Smartsheet, open the sheet you want to sync with Resource Management.
2. Open the Resource Managementpanel and let it load. When it’s finished loading, updating from Resource Management will be enabled for that sheet.
3. Repeat this process for each sheet you want to sync with Resource Management.

To enable assignment syncingon projects connected before March 2021:

1. In the sheet, open the Resource ManagementPanel.
2. Note the project name at the top of the panel.
3. Click the ... menu at the top of the panel and select Disconnect Resource ManagementProject.
4. On the next connect screen, choose Existing Resource ManagementProject.
5. Search for the previously connected Resource Managementproject, then select that project.
6. SelectConnect Project. The sheet will now sync with Resource Management.

Update assignments in Resource Management

With this new capability, you’ll be able to make assignment changes directly in Resource Managementand have those changes automatically applied to the connected sheet. Changes in Resource Managementto work item description, assignee, dates, and allocation can be synced back to Smartsheet. These changes are automatic, with no extra steps or confirmation required.

Phase-based assignments are not yet supported, and there are many scenarios where syncingmay not be possible. See Supported Actions and Unsupported Actions tables below for details.

Anyone who has edit privileges in Resource Managementcan make these changes. A user in Resource Management does not need explicit access to the associated sheet. Access is granted on behalf of the user who established the connection in the panel. This means users with Admin, Project Manager, or Scheduler permission in Resource Managementcan make changes without being shared to the associated sheet. These changes will appear in the activity log for the sheet as modified by the “Resource ManagementSynchronization Service.”

Changes made in Resource Managementare applied to the sheet typically within a few seconds (there is a slight delay as the changes are processed). If you are using the sheet when a change is made, you will either see a prompt to refresh (if there are unsaved changes or new rows created), or the updates may appear automatically; they’re indicated with a highlight color. Refresh your page if the changes don't appear.

Update assignments in Smartsheet

Updating Resource Managementfrom Smartsheet still requires adding or updating assignments using the Resource ManagementPanel.

To update assignments in Smartsheet:

1. Open the panel and review your changes.
2. Click Update All at the top of the panel, or Add or Update on each assignment. Your changes will automatically sync to Smartsheet.

How assignment syncing works

As you change assignments in Resource Management, these changes are processed and, where allowed, applied to the connected sheet. This only applies to sheets that are connected to Resource Managementvia the Resource ManagementPanel.

Here's a sample workflow:

• Create a project sheet in Smartsheet.
• Use the Resource ManagementPanel to connect it to a resource plan in Resource Management.
• Create placeholder assignments in the project sheet.
• Save the sheet.
• Add those placeholder assignments to Resource Managementusing the Add / Update buttons in the Resource ManagementPanel.
• In Resource Management, reassign the work from the placeholders to specific team members.
• In the sheet, the assignee fields are automatically updated with the assigned team members.
• If the change made is not allowed by the sheet (for example, editing the dates on a parent row assignment), the change will not be applied. In this example, the dates for the child row(s) will need to be updated in the sheet to match the new assignment dates in Resource Management.

The chart summarizes how changes made in Resource Managementappear in Smartsheet.

When a property is changed on a multi-assigned row, it impacts all other people assigned to that row in the sheet. However, these impacts will not be immediately visible in Resource Management. An update through the panel will need to be made to update assignments in Resource Managementto reflect those changes.

Unsupported actions

Sometimes, a change made in Resource Managementmay not appear in the sheet in Smartsheet;this may be due to locked fields, project hierarchy, or dependencies.

This chart shows common situations where the change made in Resource Managementmay not update the associated sheet. It is important to keep these scenarios in mind when making changes in Resource Managementas there are noalerts when a sync issue occurs (see sync error warnings). You may also consider how to structure assignments in the sheet differently to avoid some of these scenarios.