Asana tips and tricks

Project managers, developers, programmers, and businesses of all sizes use Asana to streamline workflows. If Asana is your preferred project management software, the tips and tricks in this guide could take your productivity to the next level.

Asana project management tips and tricks

Asana is project management software that helps software development teams organize, track, and manage their work. The PM software allows project managers to create and assign tasks to team members, set due dates, and track progress. Users can also create projects, organize tasks into sections, assign subtasks, and attach files and comments. Asana also has features such as calendars, timelines, and workload views to help developers stay on top of their tasks and deadlines, and it integrates with many of other tools and services, including email, chat apps, and cloud storage platforms, making it a Versatile option for development teams looking to optimize their productivity.

You can view a full list of Asana’s features and uses in our Asana Project Management Review to make sure you are taking advantage of all the PM tool has to offer.

Speaking of productivity, here are some Asana tips and tricks that can boost yours.

Save time creating recurring tasks in Asana

Asana eliminates the time-consuming need to create a repeating task over and over again. Here are the steps to create a recurring task in Asana:

• Create or edit a task that will be repeated.
• Click on the task’s due date.
• Look below the calendar for the Repeat option denoted by a pair of arrow icons.
• Click on the repeat option.
• Select when you want the task to repeat (weekly, monthly, yearly, custom, etc.)

You can stop repeating the task by clicking on Repeat and selecting the Never option. You can also remove its due date to get the same effect.

Convert Emails Into Tasks

You can send emails to Asana to create tasks. Here is how:

• To create a task in My Tasks, send an email to x@mail.asana.com.
• The email subject will become the task’s name.
• The email body will become the task’s description.
• You can assign that task to someone by adding their email address in the To: field.
• If you cc anyone on the email, they will follow that task.
• If you attach any files to the email, they will get attached to the task.

Duplicate Tasks And Assign Them To Multiple Team Members

Project managers can save a ton of time in Asana by copying tasks and assigning them to multiple individuals. For instance, you may want five specific team members to comment on a document. Instead of creating and assigning five separate tasks to get those comments, you can simply duplicate the task and assign it to all of those team members at once.

Here is how to duplicate tasks and assign them to multiple team members in Asana:

• Select the task that you have already created and would like to duplicate.
• Click on the assignee’s name for that task.
• Scroll to the bottom of the dropdown menu and click on Assign duplicate tasks.
• Select the specific team members who you want to duplicate the task to.

It is worth noting that everything will copy over except for comments when duplicating tasks.

Use The Asana Desktop App Instead Of Its Web-based Version

Asana gives you multiple ways to work. But if you want to keep distractions to a minimum, try its desktop app. Why? Because it eliminates the possibility of having a tone of distracting tabs open on the web-based version that could ruin your focus. The desktop app will give you all of the features of the web version, minus the distractions, so you can enjoy more productivity.

Create Task Dependencies

Depending on the project, developers may have some tasks that must be completed before others can be addressed. Instead of having to manually track tasks so you know when it is your turn to begin, Asana lets you mark dependencies directly on tasks. Once all other dependencies are complete, Asana will send you a notification so you can get started.

To create task dependencies in Asana that help you prioritize and organize to-do lists, do the following:

• • Navigate to your desired task.
  • Above the task description, click on Add Dependencies.
  • Type the name of the task that comes before it until a dropdown menu appears.
  • Select that task.

Once those steps are complete, your current task will appear as blocked. The task that precedes it will have to be completed so it can be unblocked.

Install The Asana Google Chrome Extension

Asana’s Chrome Extension lets project managers and developers quickly add tasks to Asana while using Google’s web browser. Besides adding tasks from any webpage with ease, the Asana Chrome Extension also lets you:

• Add a current URL as a task in case you want to share it with team members, read articles later, etc.
• Assign tasks to yourself or your teammates.
• Add custom fields to new tasks.
• Include task descriptions.

Mark Critical Tasks As Favorites

Some tasks need more attention than others. Asana lets developers mark tasks of high priority as favorites, so they do not slip through the cracks. You can mark a task as a favorite by clicking on the star icon next to the task’s name near the top of your dashboard.

Create Custom Fields For Added Detail

Custom fields help developers add crucial details to tasks, such as priority, stage, etc. while providing the bonus of making them more searchable. Asana gives users the power to create two types of custom fields:

• Fields that can be reused across your entire organization.
• Fields that are unique to a project or portfolio.

You can create a custom field in Asana by doing the following:

• Click on Customize in the upper-right-hand corner of your screen.
• Under the Fields section, click on Add Custom Field.
• Enter the field’s title.
• Select the field type.
• Add a description.

By default, the new custom field will be project-specific. To make it reusable across your entire organization, click on Add to your organization field library.

Use Video Messaging To Collaborate Regardless Of Location

Remote developers can easily connect via Asana’s video messaging feature that uses Vimeo for virtual meetings. With this feature, you can record and embed videos in Asana to communicate and share ideas without switching apps.

Video can be set to record your camera, screen, or both. All it takes to add a video to any message, comment, or task description is to click the record icon. You can preview your recordings and send them to team members so they can view them in Asana and avoid distracting context switching. Even better, Asana automatically transcribes videos, which makes them easily searchable and accessible.

Protect Sensitive Information With Private Teams

As a software developer, you may have projects where you have intellectual property you want to keep private at all costs. When you have such a project, protect that sensitive information by creating a private team in Asana. Private teams are only accessible by team members and cannot be seen by outsiders. As such, nobody except those in the know can request to join them.

There are three types of teams in Asana:

• Membership by request: A member needs to request to join the team.
• Public to organization: Any member can join the team.
• Private: A member can join the team by invitation only.

To make a team private in Asana:

• Go to the sidebar.
• Hover over the team’s name.
• Click on the three dots.
• Select Edit Team Settings.
• Select Private.

Project management and collaboration tools for developers

Looking for other project management tools and collaboration software to help boost your software development team’s productivity and communication? Check out the links below to find more PM software options: