# Is Smartsheet automation worth the setup time for complex workflows?

<p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">I've been weighing whether <a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/smartsheet/reviews">Smartsheet</a> automation is worth the setup time for complex workflows. Going by reviews, it is for any process that repeats. Once an approval chain or alert is built, it runs every time without anyone chasing it, conditional notifications fire when a row changes, and data moves between sheets without copy and paste. The time goes into the more advanced builds that combine workflows, reports and forms, and very large sheets with many formulas respond a little more gradually, so teams give themselves a few weeks with the support resources while the first automations take shape.</p><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">Smartsheet is built for <a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/categories/project-management">project management</a> teams with repeatable processes, such as intake, approvals or status reporting. The effort comes once and the return comes every cycle, which is why recurring work is where it fits best.</p><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">Automations I'd like to hear about:</p><ol>
<li>Approval chains with more than one approver</li>
<li>Alerts triggered when a row changes</li>
<li>Moving data between sheets automatically</li>
</ol><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">Which automation saved you the most time once it was running?</p>

##### Post Metadata
- Posted at: 1 day ago
- Author title: Marketing Executive
- Net upvotes: 1


## Comments
### Comment 1

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(0, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;Our approval chain took the longest to build and it saves time every single week now. Completely worth it for anything that repeats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: about 13 hours ago
- Author title: Marketer





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