How to Track Progress and Deadlines in Asana

Edited 4 months ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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Tracking progress and managing deadlines is crucial to the success of any project. Asana is a tool that offers a number of features to help achieve this. The purpose of this guide is to provide an in-depth explanation of how to use Asana for these purposes.

Understanding the basics of Asana

Asana is a project management tool designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their work. It allows users to create projects, tasks, and subtasks that can be assigned to all team members with due dates.

Creating a project in Asana

Projects in Asana are high-level containers for organizing your tasks. To create a project, follow these steps:

1. On the Asana homepage, click the “+” button beside the “Projects” section.
2. Choose whether to start with a blank project or use a template.
3. Give your project a name and select the appropriate workspace or team for it.
4. To control who can see your project, choose the project's privacy settings.
5. Click “Create Project” to finish the setup.

Once your project is laid out, you can begin adding tasks and organizing them as needed.

Adding and assigning tasks

Tasks are individual pieces of work that contribute to completing a project. To add a task:

1. Open the project you created.
2. Click “Add Task” or press the “Tab+N” shortcut on your keyboard.
3. Enter your task's name, description, and details.
4. Assign a task to a team member by clicking the “Assignee” field and selecting a name.

Make sure to fill in as much information about the task as possible to make it clear and implementable.

Setting due dates

Setting due dates is important for keeping track of deadlines. To set a due date:

1. Click on the task for which you want to set a due date.
2. Find the “Due Date” field in the task pane on the right side of your screen.
3. Select the calendar icon and choose a date. You can also specify the time if necessary.

Once set, the due date will appear next to the task in your project's task list, making it easy to see at a glance.

Subtasks for detailed tracking

Subtasks break down complex work into smaller, more manageable parts. This can help meet deadlines and track progress more efficiently:

1. Open the task for which you want to create a subtask.
2. Click "Add Subtask" below the task details.
3. Enter a subtask name and description, then assign it to a team member if necessary.

Subtasks can have their own due date, which may be different from the due date of the main task.

Tracking progress in Asana

Asana offers several ways to monitor the progress of your projects and tasks. Here are a few ways:

To-do lists

The simplest way to track progress is through a task list. Check off tasks as they are completed to easily know what has been done and what still remains to be done. This provides a clear snapshot of progress.

Boards

Boards allow you to organize your tasks into columns, similar to a Kanban board. This provides a visual representation of where each task currently stands in the workflow:

• To switch to board view, open your project and select "Board" from the view options.
• Drag and drop tasks between columns to show progress (for example, from "In progress" to "Completed").

Timeline view

The Timeline view shows a Gantt-style chart of tasks, providing an overview of project timelines and dependencies:

• Click "Timeline" in the project view options.
• Look at the tasks by deadline and see where dependencies might cause deadline issues.
• Adjust task durations and dependencies directly from the timeline to reconfigure plans as needed.

Progress view

The progress view shows the overall project status in the form of milestones and completion rate:

• Select "Progress" from the Project View menu.
• View the progress chart to see the percentage of tasks completed against the total number of tasks.
• Identify potential delays by noting overdue tasks or approaching deadlines.

Using custom fields

You can add custom fields to tasks to get more information in progress indicators:

1. To add custom fields, open a task and click "Customize."
2. Select "Add Custom Field" and create a field such as "Progress Status", with options such as "Not Started", "In Progress", and "Completed".
3. Update these fields as the work progresses.

Search and filtering functions

Use the search and filter options to find specific tasks, such as due soon or overdue tasks:

• Type keywords in the search bar to find tasks quickly.
• Apply filters such as assignee, project, or due date for refined searches.

Effective management of deadlines

Managing deadlines in Asana requires foresight and regular monitoring. Here are some tips to handle deadlines better:

Use Asana's calendar view

The calendar view helps visualize deadlines and identify potential scheduling conflicts:

• Switch to the calendar view in your project dashboard.
• Check your tasks on the calendar grid to balance workload and organize deadlines effectively.

Use task deadlines and milestones

Convert important deadlines into milestones to highlight them throughout the project:

• Set a task as a milestone by marking it under the task details.
• Keep a close eye on these milestones in the project timeline or progress view.

Frequent updates and reviews

Update tasks regularly with comments on progress and include the following in status reports:

• Add comments to tasks to provide status updates or get feedback from team members.
• Encourage team members to do the same for better visibility on progress and issues encountered.

Automate processes

Automate repetitive tasks to save time and keep the team united:

• Set up rules in Asana to automate actions like assigning a task when moved to a specific section.
• Integrate Asana with other tools your team uses, ensuring a seamless flow of information.

Collaborative tracking

Collaborative efforts greatly benefit from tracking progress and deadlines. Make sure:

Take advantage of team features

Connect with team members using built-in collaboration tools:

• Use comments to keep the team informed, keep conversations going within tasks, and @mention coworkers.
• Collaborate on feedback directly within Asana tasks to optimize communications.

Regular meetings and check-ins

Schedule regular meetings and check-ins to make sure everyone is on the same page:

• Align your Asana tasks with the meeting agenda to discuss project updates and adjustments.
• Collectively review project status displayed in Asana.

Conclusion

Asana is a powerful tool when it comes to tracking progress and effectively managing deadlines. By breaking down projects into clear, manageable tasks and using the various views and features available in Asana, teams can maintain a clear overview of what needs to be done and when. The key is to regularly monitor progress, update tasks, and foster collaboration between team members. With the strategies and tips outlined in this guide, you should be well-equipped to use Asana to its full potential.

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