STAGE 3 OF 4: GETTING STARTED WITH SMARTSHEET
Working with your team in Smartsheet
Stage 2 covered the basics of navigating and updating your solution. This stage covers how collaboration works, including sharing, notifications, update requests, and permissions. It also addresses the most common points of confusion for new users.
Getting this right early prevents a lot of noise later.
- How sharing works
Access to everything in Smartsheet, including sheets, reports, and dashboards, is controlled through sharing. Understanding how it works means you will know who can see what, and who to speak to when access needs changing.
In Smartsheet, your Seat Type dictates your license limits (e.g., paid licensed user, free Contributor, or external Guest), while your Permission Level dictates what you can do on a specific sheet.
Seat / licence types
In Smartsheet, you may see the terms seat and licence used interchangeably, but they refer to the same thing. Every person in your Smartsheet account has a seat type that determines what they can do.
There are four seat types to be aware of in Smartsheet:
| Licence type | What they can do | Cost |
| Member | Full access to create, edit, and build in Smartsheet (sheets, reports and dashboards). These users are able to manage sharing where they are granted permission to do so. | Licensed |
| Provisional Member | Temporary full Member access, free until the end of the billing cycle. Automatically assigned when a new user joins the plan before a paid seat has been allocated. | Free (temporary) |
| Contributor (formerly Viewer), internal | These are typically internal users who can view sheets, reports, and dashboards shared with them. Can comment and add or delete attachments when shared with Commenter permissions. Cannot create, edit, or share items.
|
Free |
| Guest, external users | These seats are for external users only (outside your organisation’s email domain). A Guest can only access items that have been directly shared to them and, depending on their permission level, they can view and edit data, add comments, and attach files. Guests can submit update requests, and interact with automations that target them, but they still can’t create new Smartsheet items or own anything on the plan. | Free |
“Member” is the only paid seat type. Contributor, Guest, and Provisional Member seats are all free, though Provisional membership is temporary. If someone in your team tells you they cannot edit or access something in Smartsheet, the most likely cause is their seat type or their sharing permission level, not a platform fault. If you need a seat type changed, speak to your organisation’s Smartsheet System Administrator.
Permission levels
Having a Member seat does not automatically give someone access to every sheet. Access to individual sheets, reports, and dashboards is controlled through sharing permissions, which determine what each person can see and do within a specific item.
Permissions can be set at workspace level or at individual asset level. Workspace-level permissions are the highest and will override any permissions set on individual assets within it. In most cases, your administrator will manage access at the workspace level, meaning your permissions apply across everything inside it.
Where permissions are set at the individual asset level, they run from Admin down to Viewer. Most team members are shared as Editor or Commenter on the sheets relevant to their role.
If someone’s access needs changing, the Sheet or Workspace Admin can do this from the Share button at the top right of the sheet or from within the workspace settings.
- Notifications and how to manage them
Smartsheet sends notifications when things happen in sheets you are shared on: changes, comments, mentions, and automated alerts. For new users, the volume can feel like a lot. It does not have to be.
Managing your notification preferences
Click on the profile icon (the circle with the man inside) at the bottom left of the navigation pane . Find the “Personal settings” option and then go to Notifications.
You can control which events trigger email notifications and which appear only in the in-app notification bell. Turn off what is not relevant to you.
Update requests
Update requests are notifications sent to specific people asking them to update rows in a sheet. They are typically triggered by automations, for example when a task is overdue or on a scheduled basis.
When you receive an update request by email, you can respond directly in the email without logging into Smartsheet. Fill in the fields and submit. Your update appears on the sheet immediately. This is particularly useful for people who do not work in Smartsheet day to day.
@mentions
You can @mention a colleague in any comment by typing @ followed by their name or email. They will receive a notification with a direct link to the row. Use this when you need a specific person’s attention on something.
- Keeping communication in context
One of the most practical habits to build early is using row-level comments to capture decisions, questions, and context directly against the relevant record, rather than in a separate email thread.
A comment on the row is always there. An email chain is not. Over time this makes it much easier to trace why something was done, what was agreed, and by whom.
Comments are visible to everyone with access to the sheet. Do not use them for anything you would not share with the full team.
- What you can and cannot change
Inadvertent structural changes to column names, formulas, or automations can break reports and dashboard widgets that depend on them. Make changes with care.
| Action | Who can do it |
| Edit cell values | Anyone shared as Editor or above |
| Add or delete rows | Anyone shared as Editor or above |
| Change column structure (add, rename, delete columns) | Sheet Admin only. Do not do this without guidance. |
| Edit or disable automations | Sheet Admin only. Do not do this without guidance. |
| Modify dashboard layout or widgets | Sheet Admin only |
| Change sharing permissions | Sheet Admin or System Administrator |
If you are not sure whether something is safe to change, the safest default is to leave it alone. Structural changes to sheets are best handled by whoever built the solution or your internal Smartsheet administrator.
Is your Smartsheet setup working as hard as it should?
If your team is using Smartsheet but not getting the visibility and efficiency you expected, Prodactive can help. We review, improve, and build Smartsheet solutions for organisations across every sector. Talk to us: getprodactive.com/contact-us.
Free template: explore a working solution
Download the Simple Project Solution to see how sharing, automations, and dashboard connections are configured in a complete Prodactive build. Download: getprodactive.com/resource/simple-project-solution.
Smartsheet Fast Start
Looking for a faster, more structured route to Smartsheet confidence? The Prodactive Smartsheet Fast Start covers sharing, permissions, collaboration, and more across four live sessions with a Prodactive consultant and one support call. Find out more: getprodactive.com/contact-us.
Next in this track
Stage 4: Getting help, when to self-serve and when to contact us. Where to find answers, what Prodactive can help with, and how to get in touch when you need us.
Questions?
If something is not clear or you would like to talk through your setup, get in touch with the Prodactive team at getprodactive.com/contact-us. We are here.
