Overview

You’re going to be creating a lot of new projects in Asana. Some from scratch and others from a template. So, we created this guide to help build project creation muscles – until they become reflexes.

A basic project setup should take ~3-5 mins once you’re familiar with the process. For more complex projects, consider collaborating with your teammates and scheduling follow up time to review and evolve the project once you start using it.

⚙️ Initial Project Setup:

1. Invite your teammates to the project!

2. Update the project settings via the Project Menu (down arrow next to the project name)

   1. Make a clear project title

   2. Set the start and end dates, if applicable

   3. Set the project owner

   4. Set the icon and color

   5. Add to portfolio(s), if relevant

3. Update the project Overview

   1. Update the "How we'll collaborate" section to "Project Resources" or "Overview" and add any information everyone will need throughout the project (project goals; links; information, scope; budget details, etc.)

   2. For more complex/long-term projects, add a project brief and keep it updated. Add links to other project resources here as well.

   3. Setup milestones – Project goals, inflection points, or the very end of a multi-part process (optional)

☑️ Project Tasks and Workflow:

1. Setup your list view

   1. Add Custom Fields from your library, or create new fields. Hide fields you don't need to see daily.

   2. Add/update tasks as needed, add due dates, assignees; comment on specific tasks to add context. (you can multi-select tasks to speed some of this up)

   3. Sort your project by due date (within sections) – this is most common.

   4. Save your default view

2. Repeat for Board view as needed.

3. Check/Update the work in Timeline view

   1. Does the timeline make sense? Are tasks due on weekends? Is this timeline achievable?

   2. Change view settings, timespan, etc, to see your project from different angles.

   3. Adjust start/due dates (drag ends of tasks),

   4. Create dependencies (use connectors to create)

   5. Try toggling “Prevent dependency conflicts” in the action menu (three dots in the upper-right corner) as you move tasks around

4. Add/update any Rules to help keep the project organized or communicate automatically. Think about how to use your custom fields and sections to trigger other actions.

🚀 Project Kickoff:

1. Send your first Status Update – tell everyone what they need to know about this project. It's often good to remind people they can find project information in the Overview tab and more specific information in the tasks assigned to them. 

2. Set a time to discuss and collaborate.

3. Share task links when you need to.

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