How can you summarize project data in Smartsheet?

Utilizing the "Summary" fields is the correct approach to summarizing project data in Smartsheet because these fields are specifically designed to aggregate and present key information about your project in a concise manner. Summary fields allow you to define calculations such as totals, averages, and counts for data across rows in your sheet. This functionality supports project monitoring and management by providing quick insights into progress and performance metrics.

While options like generating a pivot table, filtering the sheet, or creating a dashboard can also provide insights, they serve different purposes. Generating a pivot table focuses on detailed data analysis and requires a similar structure to traditional spreadsheet software, which may not directly integrate into Smartsheet’s workflow. Filtering the sheet is primarily about viewing subsets of data rather than summarizing information. Creating a dashboard provides a visual representation of data but relies on summaries, metrics, or reports generated from other sources, rather than summarizing the data directly from the sheet itself. Thus, "Summary" fields are specifically tailored for summarization in Smartsheet, making them the most efficient and effective choice.