Skip to main content

Smartsheet: an alternative to Microsoft Project

By

For years Microsoft Project dominated the market for project management software. It has a steep learning curve and is an expensive per seat cost. I was a technical writer for a small software company that used MS Project for the three project managers and myself. While I enjoyed learning about the science of project management from them in our meetings, I discovered that using the software was not that intuitive. I plugged in the tasks and timelines for several projects only to discover how challenging it was to have to refactor dates. It seemed to mess up the entire project such that I just stopped using it. It was more time consuming setting it up and refactoring it than just inputting status to show our progress.

It looks like a better option is SmartSheet which is used by many major companies. You can sign up for a free trial to get familiar with it. The more you can learn about tools to manage instructional design projects, the more likely you are to be considered for the team.

Take a look at SmartSheet when you have a chance. It's really cool that they have their own training courses with certifications and badges. I imagine you could earn these with your free trial and have this on your resume when your interviewing for your first ID job.



https://www.smartsheet.com/solutions/project-management





Comments

  1. Megan W.July 28, 2023 at 11:06 AM

    Thanks for sharing! I, too, don't love MS Project and find it to be both over simplified and overly complicated at the same time. As we transition through the program and our careers, project management seems to be at the forefront of ID work. I wonder how we can relate principles of Web 2.0 to project management tools like SmartSheet? Badging is clearly one! I wonder if they have a community aspect to training, like LinkedIn Learning does? Or perhaps we might look at the team using the tool as a tiny PLN?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Missy MJuly 29, 2023 at 9:00 PM

    I use SmartSheet and I personally like it a lot! I'm unfamiliar with MS Project, but Smartsheet works well for my team. I have seen some of the webinars, but I have not done any of them. I completed a couple of Smartsheet LinkedIn Learning courses as part of my onboarding though, and using that definitely got me familiar enough to be confident in my usage.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Share your comments here

Popular posts from this blog

Blogs and Vacation

By
Taking a vacation while maintaining a blog is a challenge. Time changes, air transport and heavy bags are enough. To add to this I visited family who has lie bandwidth Internet. I used my small, 4-year old Android to create blog entries, final papers for a graduate course, and blog entries. There were snags but the challenge was invaluable. Do you have similar stories to share?
Post a Comment
Read more

Solo ID? Team work?

By
Instructional Designers are found in consulting roles, working solo, or as part of a team. They may even be part of a project team that has several divisions that include project management. One such group that I learned of recently was for a large online university. Their instructional designers worked in one of four areas: managing content, managing the Learning Management System, designing the learning activities, and managing the evaluation process.  Have you considered your ideal Instructional Design role? Would you want to work solo or as part of a team?  Share your comments below to let us know what the real world of ID is like if you're already working. If you're a team member, do you all have similar roles or is one person assigned the team lead? How is work divided among the team members.  During my graduate program many of the courses had team projects. This was a great way to prepare for the team work that is likely to follow in the field. Many of us students ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Digital Pioneers?

By
     Social Media: who uses it, who is oblivious to it, and who masters it?    The generation you are part of may influence the degree to which you use social    media. Let's say you're a grandmother of three and you retired from the                 corporate world 15 years ago. Your grandkids are ages 2, 4, and 8. You live            three hours away from them and your daughter keeps you updated through         Facebook which you've mastered.    Your daughter uses Instagram and Snapchat with her friends to stay updated         with each other's kids. My question is: is the grandmother a social networker, a    digital native, a digital pioneer, or something else? What about the daughter?     The point is that a person's generational status doesn't define a person's social      net...
1 comment
Read more