Why Is My Team Not Using Smartsheet?

You bought the licenses. You set up the sheets. You even sent the "we're moving to Smartsheet" email.

And yet, three months later, your team is still sending status updates by email, tracking tasks in Excel, and asking you questions that Smartsheet was supposed to answer automatically.

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Low adoption is one of the most common problems companies run into after implementing Smartsheet, and it rarely has anything to do with the tool itself.

Here's what's usually going on, and how to fix it.

1. The setup was built for you, not for them

The most common reason teams don't use Smartsheet is that the person who built it designed it from their own perspective, not from the perspective of the people who are supposed to use it daily.

If your team opens a sheet and doesn't immediately understand what they're supposed to do, they'll close it and go back to what they know.

What to do: Identify the one or two things each person needs to do in Smartsheet every week, and make those things as obvious as possible. Use clear column names, remove columns they don't need to see, and consider using a form for data entry instead of asking people to edit the sheet directly.

2. Nobody was trained, even briefly

Smartsheet is intuitive for people who enjoy tools like Excel. For everyone else, even small things like editing a cell, checking off a task, or responding to an update request can feel uncertain.

People avoid tools they're not confident using.

What to do: A 20-minute walkthrough for your team goes a long way. You don't need a full training program, just show each person exactly what they need to do, in the context of their actual work. Record it if you can.

3. The old habits were never replaced

If your team can still get away with sending a quick email instead of updating Smartsheet, they will. Old habits only die when there's no alternative.

What to do: Stop accepting updates outside of Smartsheet. If someone sends you a status by email, reply and ask them to update the sheet instead. It takes a few weeks of consistency, but it works.

4. They're not seeing any benefit themselves

If Smartsheet only benefits the manager or project lead, the people doing the data entry will see it as extra work with no upside for them.

What to do: Show your team what they personally gain. Fewer "where are we on this?" messages. No more duplicate requests because someone already logged it. Automatic reminders so nothing falls through the cracks. When people see the tool working for them, not just for the person above them, adoption follows.

5. The automations are missing or broken

One of the biggest selling points of Smartsheet is that it can send reminders, notify the right people, and keep things moving without anyone having to chase anyone. But if those automations were never set up, or if they're sending too many irrelevant alerts, your team will tune them out.

What to do: Audit your automations. Are they firing correctly? Are they going to the right people? Are they sending too often? A well-configured automation saves time. A poorly configured one creates noise.

The bottom line

Low Smartsheet adoption is almost always a setup and change management problem, not a technology problem. The good news is that it's fixable, usually without starting from scratch.

If your team is not using Smartsheet the way you hoped, the solution is not more sheets. It's a clear-eyed look at how your current setup actually works for the people who are supposed to use it.

Not sure where the problem is in your Smartsheet environment? Use the contact form below to get in touch, and we can take a look together.