How to send weekly project task updates in Smartsheet by scheduling a task list report as an attachment

How to send weekly task updates without the endless back-and-forth

If you’ve ever spent Friday afternoon chasing down who’s doing what next week, you know what a time sink it can be. The dream is a simple, reliable way to push out every team member’s tasks without logging into Smartsheet each time or sending a thousand emails. It turns out there’s a clean, smart method that fits that bill: create a task list report and schedule it to send as an attachment every week. Let me show you why this works and how to set it up.

Why the task list report is the star of the show

Think of it this way: a task list report is a dedicated, pull-from-everywhere summary of what people need to do. It pulls relevant tasks from multiple sheets, but it presents them in one tidy view. That means:

• Recipients get only what’s important to them (the tasks assigned to them or to their team).

• The data stays current—every week the report is refreshed with the latest statuses, due dates, and owners.

• The delivery is hands-off. No one has to log in to Smartsheet to see their assignments; they can simply read the attachment in their email.

That last bit matters more than you might think. People are busy; they don’t want to hunt for tasks. An email with a clean report attached makes it easy to scan, plan, and act.

A quick note on alternatives

You’ll come across a few other options, and they’re not bad—just not as convenient for this particular workflow:

• Building a summary report and sending it weekly can be useful, but a summary often condenses details. If your teams need the nitty-gritty (task owner, due date, status, notes), a full task list is better.

• Sharing the sheet directly with teams is great for real-time collaboration, but it assumes everyone will log in, remember passwords, and check the sheet frequently. When you want a “once-a-week pulse” rather than ongoing access, the attachment method wins.

• Manually emailing each team member their tasks is exactly what automation aims to reduce. It’s possible, but it eats time and invites human error.

Now that you see the advantage, here’s how you set this up without drama.

Step-by-step setup: from concept to weekly delivery

1. Identify the sources and the fields you need

• Decide which sheets hold the tasks you want included. It’s common to pull from multiple project sheets or a central “tasks” sheet.

• Choose the essential columns: Task name, Assigned To, Due Date, Status, Priority, and any notes or links. You want enough detail to be useful, but not so much that the email becomes a slog.

2. Create the task list report

• In Smartsheet, go to the menu and look for Report or Reports (the exact path can vary by UI updates).

• Start a new task list report. The goal is to pull rows where the relevant people are assigned and where your filters show active work.

• Add the fields you decided on. Arrange them in a logical order—usually Task, Owner, Due Date, Status, and then any special notes.

• Apply sensible filters. For example, you might filter by tasks assigned to a specific team or by tasks due within the next week. You want a focused, actionable list, not a waterfall of everything ever created.

3. Fine-tune the presentation

• Grouping can help readability. You might group by team, by project, or by due date. The idea is to make scanning fast.

• Turn on a simple header that tells recipients who the email is for and what the report contains.

• Consider a brief footer note with a contact in case a task needs clarification. It’s a tiny touch that save emails back-and-forth.

4. Schedule it to go out weekly as an attachment

• Here’s the neat trick: use the scheduling feature for reports. You’re not sending from a single person’s inbox; you’re automating a report delivery.

• Set the frequency to weekly. Pick the day that makes the most sense for your teams—often a Friday or a Monday so people can plan ahead.

• Choose the attachment format. PDF is clean and widely viewed; CSV or Excel can be better if someone wants to do a quick filter or sort. PDF is usually the easiest for most readers.

• Specify recipients. You can add distribution lists, or point to individual emails if you want to tailor the delivery. If your company is privacy-conscious, double-check that only the right people can access the attachments.

• Name the file consistently. A predictable naming convention—like TaskList_TeamName_YYYYMMDD.pdf—helps recipients know exactly what they’re opening.

5. Test, then schedule with confidence

• Run a test delivery to yourself or a small pilot group. Check formatting, verify all the right fields appear, and confirm the email subject line reads clearly (for example: “Weekly Task List — Team Alpha, 2025-11-06”).

• After you confirm it looks good, push the schedule live. You’ll probably want to set reminders for yourself to review the setup every few months, in case team structures shift or new sheets get added.

6. Maintain a clean, reliable process

• Review the report periodically. If a new sheet gets added or a field is renamed, update the report so the data stays fresh.

• Keep the recipient list tidy. If someone leaves the team, remove their address; if someone joins, add them. A small hygiene habit saves a lot of confusion later.

• Consider a weekly “pilot” clause for the first couple of weeks. If you notice a Thursday or Friday deadline creeping into the schedule, shift the delivery to a more convenient day.

Why this method sticks in real life

• It respects people’s time. Team members get a single, focused email with the information they need, not a flood of updates scattered across apps and threads.

• It reduces the chance of missed tasks. Automatic delivery keeps everyone on the same page, even if busy weeks throw schedules off.

• It creates a predictable rhythm. A consistent format and delivery schedule let teams plan their own work more effectively around the tasks they’ve been assigned.

A few practical considerations that matter

Scope and privacy: If some tasks are sensitive, segment the report by audience. Create separate reports for different teams or restrict the distribution list. It’s a small step that pays off in trust and clarity.

Data freshness: The power of this approach hinges on up-to-date data. Make sure owners update statuses or mark progress in Smartsheet. If a task isn’t in a good state, the report should reveal that clearly—don’t bury red flags in the middle of a page.

Tone and readability: A weekly task list is meant to be read fast. Use clear, concise task titles. If your team uses acronyms, ensure they’re universally understood to avoid confusion.

A few quick tips to sharpen the experience

• Combine filters with a sensible date window. “Due within 7 days” is a sweet spot for many teams. If something is urgent, it stands out without overwhelming the reader.

• Use a consistent column order. People scan more quickly when they know where to find the due date or owner each time.

• Add a tiny bit of formatting magic. A subtle bold for overdue items or a gentle color cue in the attachment can help priorities pop without clutter.

• Set expectations in the subject line. A predictable subject line—“Weekly Task List for Team X — Friday Edition”—lets readers know what to expect and when.

Common questions you might have

• Can the report include tasks from multiple projects? Yes. The beauty of a task list report is that it can aggregate data from different sheets, giving teams a unified snapshot.

• What if someone’s a late addition to the project? The next weekly run will pull in their tasks automatically, as long as the new owner has a task assigned in the included sheets.

• Is it better to send a PDF or a CSV? It depends on what your recipients prefer. PDFs are friendlier for quick reads; CSVs are handy for people who want to sort or filter in a spreadsheet.

A gentle closer

Automation isn’t about replacing human teamwork; it’s about giving people one clear channel to understand what’s on their plate. By creating a task list report and scheduling it to send as an attachment weekly, you create a reliable cadence that keeps projects moving without turning into a mess of back-and-forth emails.

So, give it a try. Set up that task list report, test the delivery, pick a weekly day that makes sense for your crew, and watch the rhythm settle in. The teams that stay aligned are often the ones that don’t drown in the noise. With a simple, well-crafted weekly email, you can help everyone focus on the work that actually matters—and cut down on the clutter that keeps slowing people down. If you need a quick checklist to get started, you can reuse the steps above as a mini-guide. And if you’re optimizing for a larger rollout, consider pairing this with a light-touch automation to nudge owners when a task goes overdue. After all, small, steady improvements add up over time.

If you’ve already experimented with this approach, share what worked for your team. The little tweaks—like adjusting the delivery time or changing the report’s layout—can make a big difference in how quickly information is absorbed and acted on. And if you’re still weighing options, remember: sometimes the simplest solution, done reliably each week, outperforms the most elegant setup that never actually gets used.