Grouping by Two Levels in Your Hierarchy

Welcome to another episode of Smart Tips! I'm Jeff Gonzalez, and today I'm going to walk you through an interesting concept: grouping by two levels of your hierarchy. You might be wondering, what exactly do I mean by that?

You potentially have tasks that roll up into projects, which then roll up into larger units like campaigns, goals, initiatives, and objectives. In today's post, I'm going to show you how to represent these three levels of your hierarchy effectively.

Let's dive in!

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The Concept of Multi-Level Grouping

Often during our demos with customers and prospective customers, I showcase a simple solution that I've put together. This solution helps to visually tie together various elements of a project management hierarchy.

Here's a quick rundown of what we'll be covering:

• Creating projects and linking them to goals
• Creating tasks and linking them to projects
• Using lookup fields to establish relationships across these levels
• Grouping data to easily visualize these relationships

Starting with Projects and Goals

First, we'll create a basic setup where projects are connected to specific goals. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Create a Linked Record Field:We'll start by creating a linked record field where each project is related to one goal. For instance:
   • Project 1 related to Goal 1
   • Project 2 related to Goal 2
   • Project 3 related to Goal 3

Project 1 -> Goal 1

Project 2 -> Goal 2

Project 3 -> Goal 3

Make sure to populate this field with relevant details so that we can view these relationships clearly.

Adding Tasks

Next, we'll introduce tasks and link them to our projects. Let's create a new table for tasks:

1. Create a New Table:Name it "Tasks" and ensure that each task is linked to a specific project.
2. Link Tasks to Projects:Ensure each task is unique to a project to avoid any confusions in relationships.
3. Sample Data Creation:Automate the sample data generation for efficiency. You can create a list of tasks quickly by using auto-generated numbers.

Task 1 -> Project 1

Task 2 -> Project 1

Task 3 -> Project 2

Keep in mind that you can use shortcuts to quickly populate sample data. For demonstration purposes, I'll use auto-generated numbers and copy-paste methods.

Creating the Hierarchical View

Now that we have tasks rolling up into projects and projects rolling up into goals, let's create a view that showcases these relationships.

1. Grouping by Project and Goal:First, we want to visualize tasks under their respective projects.
   • Group tasks by their associated project.
   • Now, add another layer: group these project groupings by their respective goals.

2. Using Lookup Fields:We'll utilize lookup fields to bring in data from related tables.
   • Lookup Field: This helps bridge the gap between tasks and goals through their project.

Lookup Field:- Related to Projects- Further linked to Goals

3. Final Grouping:Update your view to group tasks first by goal, and then within each goal, group by project.

Grouping:- First by Goal- Second by Project within Goal

In-Depth Example

For a crystal-clear understanding, here’s a detailed example:

1. Sample Data:
   • Projects: P1, P2, P3
   • Goals: G1, G2, G3
   • Tasks:
     • T1 -> P1
     • T2 -> P1
     • T3 -> P2

2. Step-by-Step Grouping:
   • Link T1 and T2 to P1.
   • Link P1 to G1.
   • Group first by goals then projects within each goal.

This way, you’ll see tasks T1 and T2 under Project P1, which is under Goal G1.

"Grouping by multiple levels allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the relationships within your hierarchy."

Conclusion

Using multi-level grouping in your hierarchy provides a more detailed and useful representation of your data. It streamlines the visualization process, making it easier to understand complex relationships among tasks, projects, and goals.

Feel free to experiment with these steps and adapt them to fit your unique needs. Thanks for watching, and happy organizing!

Stay tuned for more Smart Tips to help you streamline your workflows and enhance productivity!

Note: Always ensure your data groupings and relationships are clear to avoid any misinterpretation. With these steps, you can maintain an organized and efficient system.

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