Asana PDF
Asana PDF
Asana PDF
A Quick Introduction
Asana is a task management system that the Focus Group creative team
uses. The core feature of Asana starts with a project that can be broken
down into tasks that can be assigned to a team member. You can set due
dates/times on tasks as well as include files, information and comments on
the task.
Asana centers around projects (#1). The Focus Group organizes them
alphabetically and has three project categories. The first category are our
templates- they are marked with a green border to the side and are
updated as needed. They are not used individually but can be copied for
future projects so that the team has a protocol and process for every
website project. The next category are our Ongoing Clients who routinely
gives us work. Active Projects and Campaigns are for projects with a start
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and end date- (important to note that whether its set on a calendar or not,
this is understood by everyone). An example would be creating and
launching a website or running a digital ad campaign for a client. It starts
but eventually is completed. Therefore can be deleted from our projects
list once its over.
#2 in the image shows each member of our Asana team. You can click on
their profile, assign them a task and see their tasks that have you as a
follower or set as public. Everyone can have private tasks that others
cannot see unless they set you as a follower of the task.
#3 is much like your team member’s task page except for you. There you
will see all the tasks that are assigned to you. Let’s talk about tasks.
Tasks
To create a task, you simply click the Add Task button at the top of your
list
You write what the task is and press “enter” or click again to be finished.
When a task is complete, click the check mark. The task will disappear into
your archive.
By default, you see incomplete tasks. But you can set view to all tasks
(incomplete and complete) or by project, due date or tasks completed in
the past day to three weeks.
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#4 is where you can attach files to a task. It is important to note that you
can find all the files that have been uploaded to a project or your list by
going to the project’s file page. This is a cheat way to find a list file.
#6 is the project this task is under. Sometimes this is empty and is set
simply to someone’s personal to do list. You can add the task to a project
simply by hovering for the option in this area and typing/clicking/searching
through the list of projects. A task can be included in multiple project lists.
Also note, that if you assign your task to a project, followers of that project
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will now be able to see the task as if it is public to them. Though, they
won’t be automatically following the task. Simply able to see and access it.
#7 are custom fields and may not be included in every project. A task must
be in a project that has custom fields set in order for them to be listed.
The Focus Group currently has the following fields: priority (ranging from
low to high), hours (meaning the hours allotted to this task), status (cold,
following up on, waiting on, in progress), type (range of type of work, from
copywriting to web programming), hours worked. The Focus Group sets
these fields purposefully and invite employees to update tasks especially
with its status if applicable on the task. This is a great way for clear
communication on tasks. If a task is missing these custom fields that you
think needs it, let us know and we will set it up for you.
#10 is where anyone can comment on the task. This is a great way for
make sure everyone is on the same page and ask questions.
For naming tasks, we recommend you keep it clear and concise. “Upload
ASPA logos to the server” tells us: the client, what logos, what to do and
where. If there are more details, simply write it in the task’s description.
Whereas “Upload to server” is unclear. What logo? What client?
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#11 shows everyone following the task. You can add followers to the task
or take someone off as a follower. Related to followers:
Above, is a task not involved with any project and by default, private to
me. I can make it public. This means anyone can see and access this task.
It will show up on calendars. If I add a follower, it will only be accessible by
that follower and me. If privacy is important, knowing how Asana’s privacy
settings work is crucial.
To make it clear, followers will not only be able to access the task but will
see any updates within the task in their inbox and notifications. Speaking
of inbox…
Welcome to your new best friend! The Focus Group loves and strongly
recommends Asana team members practice inboxing and archiving. We
do this because we found email notifications confusing and crowding. And
also because the inbox feature just works!
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You’ll find the Inbox right at the top of the screen. Once there, you will see
something like this: a list of everything that has happened since you’ve last
checked your inbox, and of all the tasks you follow or assigned to.
How will you know if there’s new information? You will see at the top of
your window an orange dot on the Inbox link:
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This is your visual cue that there is news. It will go away once you are up to
date again. This is a cleaner way to keep you up to date on Asana while
keeping your email inbox free of clutter. It does require a commitment to
create the Asana inboxing habit.
For campaigns and new ongoing clients, you’ll typically start with a blank
project. For campaigns and active projects, use the job number and name
in WMJ. We do this for clarity for the entire team. For ongoing clients,
name it the client name.
Privacy setting depends on the project. Since the Focus Groups employs
freelancers who use Asana, it may be something to consider if a project
has a sensitive or private nature. Keep in mind that this is simply privacy of
who can SEE and access the project. It doesn’t have anything to do with
followers.
Currently we have these templates that follow our website process. Please
note that small website process is meant for template websites.
Just click the plus sign to add team members or edit its privacy status.
Custom Fields
Custom fields are a great way to gather more data on projects and tasks.
Going through how to create them will give you an idea of what I mean.
Go inside a project and click the down arrow next to the project’s name in
the near top of the page. You will see a drop down menu with links such as
Edit Name & Description, Sync to Calendar, Print, etc. You will click
Manage Custom Fields to see a modal pop up.
Priority is a nice way to let the assignee know how important this task is so
they can plan their day accordingly.
Hours is how many hours have been allotted for the task.
Type gives you a list of what the task pertains to; administrative, logo, etc.
Hours worked allows the assignee to put in how many hours they worked
on the task.
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Budget can help with how the assignee may approach a task.
Review can verify who to go to once the task is done to review it.
As you can tell, these fields help our freelancers with tracking their hours
and help everyone know crucial details on a task.
If this modal is empty or doesn’t show all of these custom fields, simply
click the Add Field to Project button to see a list of all our custom fields
to add it to a project. You can create a custom field inside this drop down
menu too!
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You can remove a field from a project or show this column in the task list.
This means in the task list it will show this particular field and its current
entry inside the project list. If you do not show it, everyone must go inside
the task itself to see the fields. Showing it can enable quick changes to the
custom field without having to go into each task to make a change. You
simply hover over the “-“ in the task list and change it from there.
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To see what this looks like, it can look something like this in the task list.
Clicking it will give you options between tasks by project, due date, and
even further with tasks completed today, yesterday, the past 1 to 3 weeks.
This can be extremely helpful with searching for a specific task or to see
what has been done. Oftentimes, I look at web projects by All Tasks so I
can see exactly what has been done and what hasn’t. Inside projects, you
have more options: by assignee, by custom fields, due dates, and popular
tasks.
These are the recommended views. You can customize it by priority, date,
project, and even giving hearts, while also displaying it by incomplete to
completed tasks. I recommend exploring these to see how this can all
work together.
Files
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As you know, you can attach files to a task. But what happens when you
need to see that file on a task buried in a list of completed tasks? Under
both people’s tasks list and a project’s task list, you can click on Files.
From here you’ll see every file that’s ever been attached to a task assigned
to you. It is a quick way to navigate and find files. Simply scroll down to
reveal more files if you aren’t finding it in the first results.
Now
under calendar
You’ll see tasks by due date. You can see how a person’s schedule is
panning out by looking at their personal calendar. However, it is important
to note that you will only see other people’s tasks you have access to in
their calendar. If it is private, it will not show in their calendar. This goes to
the Team Calendar as well; this is above the projects in the left side
navigation. The team calendar is a great way to see how the team’s month
and week is going with what tasks they are up to and their due dates.
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Note
You can navigate between team members on the left side panel. You can
see all team members by clicking the + sign.
Inside the team conversations and project conversations you can post
comments. In team conversations, everyone in that team will be able to
see it, be notified of it, and able to comment back. The same goes to
followers of a project in project conversations.
progress.
how many tasks are in the project and how many are completed. This is all
the same as the project’s progress page.
You can select what section of tasks to count in the progress view by
clicking the gear and checking off/on what section of tasks.
You can add it to your dashboard by clicking its down arrow drop down
menu or by clicking the Add to Dashboard button on the progress page.
Obviously the key to making the progress reports and dashboard work is
to keep project and communications updated. It requires a team and
commitment as well as a project leader keeping everyone on task.
Managing an Organization
https://asana.com/guide/help/organizations/basics
https://asana.com/guide/help/organizations/team-basics
As a test, assign them a task to create a new project using the Asana
onboarding template. This template will have tasks all ready inside with
basic things they will need to do in order to complete the project. It is
simple: create a task, join a project, assign a task, add a follower and
comment, but it is a good starting point for a new user.
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Google Store
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.asana.app&hl=en