I'll often use Google's spreadsheets as a sort of checklist - the collaboration function is great when you're working with others. However, looking at a long list of items and trying to see what has been completed vs what needs to done can become a task in itself. That's why I like to use conditional formatting to change the background colour of cells - helps me determine where to focus my energies.
Let's pretend I'm building a house and I have the framing all in place. I'm trying to co-ordinate 2 trades: electrical and drywall. Obviously, the electrical needs to be in before the drywall goes up. Once those two tasks are done, I can go in and paint.
As each trade is finished a room, I ask them to place a Y (Yes) in their column. Once both columns show green, I know the room's ready for me to go in and paint. This spreadsheet will also let the drywaller know when he can go into a room and do his work. Here are the steps you need to do this:
- Select the cells you want the conditional formatting to run on.
- Select Conditional formatting from the Format menu.
- Select the condition you want met (in this case, text contains Y).
- Select the colour of the text/background you want when this condition is met.
- Save the rules.
As I like to visualize where the holdups are, I add an additional rule that makes the cell red if empty.
Check out the spreadsheet in action!
