Article
Efficiency, visibility, and smarter operations: the value of Smartsheet for project managers
It’s a rare day when a project manager doesn’t have multiple plates to spin, priorities to balance or stakeholders to manage. This pressure is only growing as UK businesses strive to navigate hybrid work and a turbulent economic climate. But while complexity is part of the project manager job description, chaos doesn’t have to be. As recent economic impact research from Forrester reveals, Smartsheet can help project managers unlock a range of benefits – making processes smoother and positive outcomes easier to reach.
We commissioned Forrester Consulting to explore the Total Economic Impact™ of companies that use Smartsheet, creating a composite organisation based on responses from interviewed customers to illustrate the potential gains that can be seen after using Smartsheet for a three-year period. Read on to discover the benefits project managers have unlocked from Smartsheet, from efficiency, visibility, better resource planning, and financial rewards, with quotes from real users about the value they’ve gained.
More efficient processes
Efficient processes are a crucial component of successful work. Smartsheet helped the project managers we surveyed streamline their workflows, free up precious time through automation, communicate more effectively and empower teams to meet deadlines. As one senior manager within professional services said: “What used to take three hours is now instantaneous”.
With Smartsheet, the composite organisation was able to reduce time spent on project, portfolio and programme set-up by 80%, while streamlined processes resulted in 75% fewer work management related emails. Time savings due to more efficient processes even helped those not directly using Smartsheet to complete tasks more efficiently. The importance of this can’t be overstated, as greater efficiency isn’t just a business value boost: the Forrester study found that less manual admin increased worker satisfaction, with end users able to focus more on important work tasks.
“We probably spend less than a third of the time building out these toolsets and the end results are probably five times better." - A lead enterprise project manager for a computer software organisation
Gain visibility
Consolidating important information in one place can be the difference between ten minutes spent on routine reporting, or two hours. The Forrester research shows that interviewed companies using Smartsheet have gained visibility and transparency in work, saving time for managers and leadership alike.
As a single source of truth, information can be accessed in one location, meaning project managers don’t spend time chasing it elsewhere, or tracking down the latest version. Real-time, updated dashboards and sheets give a better understanding of project status, with time spent on review cycles reducing by 50% as a result.
“Now... it's just a matter of putting the data in one place where I can see it, and keeping it up to date. Which is a lot less work than trying to chase a group of people at the end of the quarter.” - A business operations lead of a technology manufacturer
Smarter resourcing
Speed of delivery and quality of output depends on how workloads are managed across teams. Ineffective resourcing can drastically delay project completion times, and have a tangible effect on the well-being of team members.
With Smartsheet, project managers can ensure the right staff are allocated to the right projects and given sufficient time and resources to complete them. Forrester found the composite organisation that used Smartsheet have saved over 40 hours per employee annually, freeing up 80% of the time employees had previously used in staffing projects.
“I think Smartsheet has allowed us to be more efficient in staffing or resourcing because I just have a better idea of what people’s workloads are. I’m able to see exactly where they are on their project plan, and gain an understanding of where they are struggling.” - Director of a financial services software organisation
Financial benefits
A good process can make all the difference in how effectively an organisation is run. But the test of any process implementation is how well it can then deliver financial return. Over a three year period, the financial benefits of using Smartsheet in the Forrester study's composite company were estimated to be:
- $1.1M software cost savings. Achieved through the ability to scale back other tech tools and guest licences, and visibility into project sheets without further investments
- $1.5M + professional services growth. Revenue increased through process efficiencies
- $996K reduced development costs. Savings made on would-be costs for third party vendors and development time
Solving project management challenges for any business
To thrive in the modern world of work, UK businesses must be adaptive, and continuously explore how processes can be made more efficient – especially since the looming recession means many are already thinking about how they can do more with less. As the Forrester study found, Smartsheet has a range of capabilities that can make it a valuable tool for solving common project management challenges and delivering business value in turn.
"Smartsheet works because everybody gets so excited about the various capabilities it has and everybody wants to see each other's use cases and share their use cases. Its flexibility and adaptability make it an invaluable asset in our future as we know the more we use it, the more use cases we will discover and optimise." - Business operations lead for a technology manufacturer
Read the full Forrester study: The Total Economic Impact™ of Smartsheet.
