Learn how to set up weekly email reminders for Smartsheet tasks using automated email reporting.

Pierre’s week just got a little less chaotic. He’s juggling several teams, a stream of tasks, and a calendar that looks like a fire drill with color codes. The goal is simple: send a weekly nudge to every team so nothing slips through the cracks. The snag? He doesn’t want to chase people down every Friday afternoon. He wants a steady stream of reminders that arrive in inboxes, not just in Smartsheet. That’s where the right feature comes in: automated email reporting.

Let me explain why this is the sweet spot for weekly reminders. Smartsheet isn’t just about tracking tasks; it’s about communicating status without adding extra steps to your day. You can ping someone the moment a change happens, sure. But for a recurring, predictable update—one that goes to many people at a set cadence—you need something that runs on its own. Automated email reporting does exactly that. It lets you assemble a report from your sheets, set a weekly delivery, and have it land in the right inboxes with the right context. No manual exports, no last-minute copy-paste, just a tidy update that arrives like clockwork.

A quick mental model helps here. Think of your Smartsheet as the source of truth for tasks, milestones, and ownership. The automated email report is the messenger that carries a concise summary to the people who need it. You’re not asking recipients to go rack their brains for what’s due next week; you’re giving them a snapshot—what’s in progress, who’s assigned, what’s due, and what’s changing. It’s communication, but it’s automated, reliable, and easy to adjust.

How to set it up, step by step

This is where the practical, “let’s get it done” part comes in. Here’s a straightforward path to get weekly reminders flowing through email.

1. Build a representative report

• Create a report that pulls in the key rows from your project sheets: tasks, owners, due dates, status, and any fields you want to highlight.

• Filter to include only items that matter for the week ahead, such as tasks due this week, or tasks assigned to specific teams.

• Keep the report lean. The goal isn’t a novel—it’s a digest you can skim quickly.

2. Schedule the report delivery

• In Smartsheet, set the report to run on a weekly cadence. Pick a day and time that makes sense for your audience—ideally a little before the workweek begins, so people see it first thing.

• Choose the recipients. You can add distribution lists or individual emails. If you’re using a shared mailbox or a project channel, you can include those as well.

• Decide on the format. The report can arrive as an attachment or as an accessible link in the email body. You might include a compact table in the body for quick glances and attach a CSV or PDF for deeper dives.

3. Fine-tune the content

• Use a clear subject line that signals urgency without being alarmist (for example: “Weekly Task Outlook – Team A + Team B – [Date]”).

• Include a short narrative in the body to set context: “Here’s what’s due next week and who’s got it.” A sentence or two helps someone not intimately familiar with the project to understand the snapshot quickly.

• Add any relevant filters or highlights. If a task is overdue, flag it; if a task is at risk, a subtle color cue in the report can help. The aim is readability, not clutter.

4. Test, then trust (and adjust)

• Run a test delivery to yourself or a small group. Check that the right data is included, that the formatting looks clean on mobile and desktop, and that the time of delivery lands where you expect.

• After a couple of weeks, revisit the recipients and the content. If some people never open the email, consider adjusting the distribution list or the subject line. If others want more detail, you can add a secondary, more expansive report for executives.

What makes automated email reporting a better fit here

Here’s the distinction in plain terms:

• Notification settings: Great for real-time alerts tied to events (a change in a sheet). They’re immediate, which is fantastic for urgent updates, but they don’t automatically bundle a weekly brief for the whole team. If you want one friendly weekly digest, this isn’t the right tool for that cadence.

• Scheduling in worksheet settings: This tends to focus on timelines and automation that move with the sheet’s lifecycle. It’s powerful for keeping schedules on track, but it’s not the same as sending a curated weekly email to a broad audience.

• Task reminders within the application: These keep individuals aware of tasks inside Smartsheet, which is valuable. Still, not everyone checks Smartsheet first thing in the morning, and getting everyone’s attention via email tends to be more reliable for cross-team visibility.

• Automated email reporting: Exactly what you need when the objective is a regular, outbound update to multiple people. It’s designed for scheduled delivery, with content you tailor to the audience and cadence. It’s the steady drumbeat that keeps everyone in the loop without manual intervention.

A few practical tips to get the most from automated email reporting

• Be selective about recipients. It’s tempting to blast the update to everyone, but relevance matters. Start with core team members and stakeholders, then expand if necessary.

• Keep the report readable. A weekly digest should be skimmable. A few bullet points or a compact table often beats a long paragraph of numbers.

• Use clear milestones. Highlight overdue items and upcoming deadlines so the email surfaces what needs attention soon.

• Consider time zones. If teams are distributed, pick a delivery time that makes sense for most recipients, or offer regional variants if Smartsheet allows.

• Include a call to action. A sentence like “Please confirm ownership by Thursday” or “Update status by Monday noon” gives people a direction and a deadline.

Beyond weekly reminders: where this approach shines

Automated email reporting isn’t only for a weekly status push. It can become a habit that improves overall project visibility. For example, you could:

• Schedule monthly health reports that summarize progress across multiple projects.

• Send milestone reviews to stakeholders with the key decisions and next steps.

• Deliver follow-ups after important meetings, with decisions captured directly from the last update.

A tiny digression that still lands back on the main point

If you’ve ever organized a potluck, you know the value of a head count. A weekly email report is like a recurring RSVP note for your project work. It sets expectations, reduces back-and-forth, and helps people plan. When the data is tidy and the timing is reliable, people stop chasing information and start focusing on what actually matters: delivering good work.

Closing thoughts: making weekly reminders feel effortless

There’s a certain satisfaction in watching a system do the busywork for you. Automated email reporting gives Pierre a predictable rhythm: a fresh, concise briefing lands in inboxes every week. It’s not about replacing human communication; it’s about ensuring the right people get the right snapshot at the right time. When teams receive timely, clear updates, priorities align, accountability shines, and momentum builds.

If you’re exploring how to streamline team communication around tasks, consider starting with automated email reporting. Create a focused weekly report, schedule it to the right audience, and keep the content crisp. You’ll probably notice something pleasant: fewer late emails, fewer status meetings, and a smoother path to meeting those deadlines.

In the end, it’s about choosing a tool that matches the cadence you need. For weekly, email-based reminders that keep everyone in the loop, automated email reporting is a reliable companion. It’s not flashy, but it’s effective—and sometimes that’s exactly what teams need: something steady, something dependable, something that simply works.