Sifting through emails, digging through documents and askingcolleagues about their progress on projects are cumbersome tasksthat can consume excessive time for any organization.

Two credit unions said they’ve recently eliminated theseday-to-day annoyances and transitioned into a more collaborative,transparent work environment with help from a tool provided byInternet technology company Smartsheet.com in Bellevue, Wash.

Smartsheet, an online project management tool that bringsemployees’ tasks, emails and files into a single, interactiveplatform, was launched seven years ago by a group of Internetsoftware professionals, including Brent Frei, co-founder andchairman for Smartsheet.

Frei said Smartsheet founders realized their industry lacked aproduct that exemplified the idea of fundamental work tracking.

“Ultimately, people use spreadsheets, and they use them foreverything,” Frei said. “But they’re not set up to give you alertsand they don’t roll into one view across the enterprise. So wethought, if we take the spreadsheet interface and integrate it withthe characteristics people need, theoretically, we have a killerapp.”

The tool resembles an Excel spreadsheet and allows users toassign and view the progress of tasks, share files, create alertsand reminders, run reports and follow comment threads. Multipledepartments within an organization, from IT to human resources, canutilize Smartsheet for projects ranging from conferences to expensereports, according to Frei.

While many types of industries have taken advantage of the tool,Frei said it’s an especially good fit for credit unions and otherfinancial institutions as they tend to use more spreadsheets. Forexample, during audits, credit unions can use Smartsheet to importand organize all of their compliance documents, update them in realtime and share them with auditors, he said.

“Credit unions are always looking at how they can do thingsbetter,” Frei said. “Competition is ferocious and efficiency is abig deal, and they’re hungry for that. Credit unions also have anincreased interest in internal collaboration. Operationalcoordination is a priority.”

Smartsheet begins charging clients after they’ve completed a30-day trial. Prices are determined according to an organization’snumber of licensed users. Because of the collaborative nature ofthe tool, individuals outside of that licensed user pool such asvendors and remote employees end up utilizing it as well, accordingto the company.

The $86.4 million Motion Federal Credit Union in Linden, N.J., began usingSmartsheet about two years ago after Arp Trivedi, the creditunion’s manager of administration, discovered it through the Googleapps marketplace. Trivedi said he was seeking a tool that wouldhelp Motion manage several projects, including the opening of a newbranch. The credit union used Smartsheet to track every task fromcontractor negotiations to legal duties.

Trivedi said Motion has also used to the tool to manage a newphone system launch and marketing campaign, and plans toincorporate it into a due diligence project and organization-widebusiness plan in the near future.

“The big draw was the democracy of it all,” Trivedi said. “It’savailable to everyone at the click of a button, and that’s whatmakes it compelling. It puts things in perspective and provides ared light, green light system.”

He added that Smartsheet allows the credit union to easilyaccess historical project information, such as original notes aboutexpectations and timelines. In terms of return on investment,Trivedi said Motion has saved significantly due to the time andeffort the credit union eliminates on a day-to-day basis.

“Just considering the time we would have spent looking atdocuments and going through emails, we’re not chasing the samepaper or conversation around the block,” Trivedi said. “We’retaking strategic planning and turning it into strategic executionand outcome.”

The $1 billion EliLilly Federal Credit Union in Indianapolis, Ind., has alsoreaped benefits from Smartsheet. It is currently using the tool inits marketing department, but expects it to soon spread toother departments, said Michelle Payne, communications andeducation manager for Eli Lilly.

With almost two years of Smartsheet use under their belts, EliLilly’s marketing employees now incorporate the tool intoevery assignment they touch, such as promotional campaigns andevents. Payne said it helps the department to operate in a leanmanner, improve workflow and efficiency, and increasecommunication.

Eli Lilly’s marketing department also uses Smartsheet to archiveold versions of documents and create marketing request forms forother credit union departments, Payne said.

From a cost savings perspective, Smartsheet fills the role of amarketing coordinator for the credit union. According to Payne, ina single year, Eli Lilly spends approximately $1,000 on Smartsheet,which is far less than an employee’s salary.

Both credit unions noted that their use of Smartsheet has led tosomewhat of a culture shift in their offices. Instead of seeingemployees work independently and privately, they’ve noticed anatmosphere that breeds team building and a better understanding ofeach person’s role in the credit union’s big picture goals.

“Everyone is working from the same page, so they know what we’reworking on as a team,” Payne said. “We can record our comments anddiscussions, keep an archive of history, and see what ourcolleagues are doing and how it all fits together. It also createsa healthy accountability; we feel a responsibility to keep ontrack.”

Trivedi said while the public display of employee actions cancreate some angst in the workplace, in the end, the accountabilityincrease leads to more tasks getting done.

“For those who are lagging behind, they start feeling a peerpressure to catch up.”