Asana: Project management tool review

Asana has lengthy been thought of among the best in venture administration software program, and although I discovered there to be the next studying curve related to Asana relative to its rivals, my expertise is that it deserves this high-ranking standing.

SEE: Hiring equipment: Mission supervisor (TechRepublic Premium)

The cloud-based platform provides a sturdy free plan for small groups, and its premium options have the potential to rework enterprise course of administration for deployment in massive organizations. On this in-depth information to Asana, we’ll look at its key options, attainable use instances, pricing plans and venture administration software program alternate options to contemplate.

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Overview methodology

This overview relies on my private expertise registering, configuring and executing a venture in Asana. I ran a free trial of the Marketing strategy to check this instrument.

Asana alternate options & rivals

For added context relating to how this analysis was formulated, I began by familiarizing myself with Asana’s product documentation, demos, trade evaluations and recognition. I additionally accomplished a comparative evaluation of those different venture administration options:

What’s Asana?

Asana is a piece administration firm and software program that provides venture and activity administration, collaboration and productiveness capabilities for groups. The corporate’s cloud-based platform features a stack of instruments to assist crew members re-visualize and optimize venture workflows.

In 2008, Fb co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and engineer Justin Rosenstein based Asana in San Francisco, California. Impressed by a productiveness instrument developed for the social media big, Asana’s beta was launched in November 2011 with a industrial version the subsequent yr. Within the decade since then, the venture administration platform has reworked right into a public firm value over $5 billion and serving over 126,000 paying prospects.

The Asana platform consists of options for normal and area of interest venture administration groups to collaborate in real-time on venture duties. Whereas organizations more and more undertake hybrid infrastructure environments, Asana can protect communication between distant crew members, combine vital information from third-party purposes and automate widespread enterprise processes.

For a fast demo of Asana, watch the overview from our associate website, TechnologyAdvice.

Asana overview

Asana is accessible as a free trial, free plan or paid SaaS subscription, giving small and huge groups the instruments and centralized console to effectively work via venture duties.

Begin with the Asana desktop or cellular utility

The Asana platform is accessible by way of net browser, desktop utility or cellular utility via the Apple and Google Play shops for iOS and Android gadgets.

From the Asana homepage (Determine A), you may choose the Get Began button on the prime proper and enter your corporation e-mail. After verifying your e-mail, you’ll be redirected to Asana to finish the registration course of, together with the username, password, crew, kind of labor and first goal you’ve gotten for utilizing Asana.

Determine A

For brand spanking new customers, these preliminary questions are a pleasant contact to drive suggestions for roles, groups and initiatives. Whereas the highest PM instruments, together with Asana, communicate to normal venture administration wants, customers can select from a handful of different area of interest use instances like IT, advertising and finance.

Customers then select a core function for the forms of work they need to observe in Asana:

• Mission and course of administration
• Private activity administration
• Portfolio and workload administration

From there, customers can enter the primary few duties and classes for the venture. When these particulars have been entered, step one contained in the platform reveals your preliminary venture (Determine B) and the few particulars included within the earlier step.

Determine B

Asana pricing plans

Asana provides 4 pricing choices to groups and companies of various sizes: Fundamental, Premium, Enterprise and Enterprise packages.

Fundamental

The Fundamental plan, which is Asana’s free tier, serves as much as 15 collaborators and consists of options reminiscent of record and board view initiatives, limitless activity creation, messages, exercise logs, venture and crew administration, and integration with different instruments.

This plan serves as an excellent possibility for freelancers and people in search of to higher construction their initiatives without charge. Nevertheless, because the complexity of initiatives will increase and groups grow to be greater and extra interdependent, the Fundamental plan will now not be enough.

Premium

Probably the most inexpensive paid plan is Asana Premium, which prices $13.49 per consumer monthly when billed month-to-month and $10.99 per consumer monthly when billed yearly. Premium provides customers further venture administration options like superior reporting, the flexibility to set milestones, activity dependencies and customizable dashboards, and a workflow builder.

Small and mid-sized groups usually tend to recognize the Premium tier. It delivers a hen’s-eye view of complicated initiatives to venture managers and provides managers entry to key options for crew coordination.

Enterprise

Priced at $30.49 per consumer monthly when billed month-to-month and $24.99 per consumer monthly when billed yearly, the Marketing strategy supplies further options to rising groups. It provides Portfolios, which is a function that provides an summary of the progress of all lively initiatives a crew has. It additionally has the Workload function, which reveals the workload assigned to each crew member. Different differentiating options of the Enterprise tier embody kinds, proofing and the flexibility to lock customized fields.

This tier is generally useful to bigger corporations and organizations that have to accurately observe all their initiatives, preserve larger inter-project and interdepartmental management, and considerably improve the customizations of their venture administration processes.

Enterprise

Asana provides an Enterprise plan that’s custom-made to the wants of enormous enterprises. It delivers SAML, information export and deletion, consumer provisioning, customized branding and extra. It’s value noting that that is the one plan that provides 24/7 help. Nevertheless, its pricing info shouldn’t be publicly out there, which means potential customers should contact Asana’s gross sales crew for extra info.

Asana options and capabilities

Importing current venture information

Customers have the choice to import venture information via a CSV file, e-mail or Wufoo. CSV is the preferred import technique, however Asana provides further steering on how one can import information from different apps like Airtable, Google Sheets, monday.com, Trello, Smartsheet and Wrike.

For our ongoing PM software program overview collection, I used to be in a position to obtain our Google Sheets template as a CSV and add it to the Asana house. From there, I noticed a clear preview of the venture information and double-checked it earlier than I confirmed the import.

Upon first look, imported information seems similar to our authentic spreadsheet with minimal exceptions (Determine C). Asana acknowledged deadlines, crew member names, activity standing, completion share and length. Nevertheless, it didn’t embody the beginning date column or share full, and it failed to acknowledge the connection between father or mother and subtasks. As seen beneath, all duties imported had been put beneath the initially submitted class, Not Began.

Determine C

To make sure venture information on Asana displays our legacy Google Sheets file, and earlier than the remainder of the crew joins, I moved columns into comparable areas and hid irrelevant columns.

The method for indenting duties into their sprints as subtasks was a tad extra concerned. Customers should first double-click the meant father or mother activity, which, on this case, is every dash. It will open an in-app window on the right-hand facet (Determine D), displaying activity particulars and instruments to connect recordsdata, create a subtask, copy and share the duty hyperlink, add a remark and extra.

Determine D

To create a subtask from current duties, I opened the meant father or mother dash and dragged every subtask from the left into the father or mother activity’s particulars part. Most PM instruments battle with the father or mother activity and subtask relationship; even so, I discovered this course of much less intuitive and extra tedious than most.

Managing venture information

A shortcut to managing venture information throughout the platform, together with columns, is the Customise button, which is discovered within the prime proper of each venture view. When chosen, an in-view window (Determine E) opens on the right-hand facet with controls for discipline information (columns), guidelines, purposes, kinds and activity templates.

Determine E

Customized controls for venture information

Via the Customise window, customers can handle a number of the top-level controls for all information associated to the venture. Listed here are some examples of these customized controls:

Fields: Set values for venture information inputs

In Checklist view, fields are the values featured in every column with corresponding row duties. In Determine E, proven above, a handful of columns are chosen to indicate within the Checklist chart, whereas Tags, Initiatives, Dependencies and different fields are hidden.

Customers can choose Add A Customized Area and select between single-selection, multi-selection, textual content or numerical values for a brand new column. Nevertheless, choices that you simply would possibly discover in different venture administration platforms, like checkboxes and formulation, don’t seem right here.

Guidelines: Automate widespread workflows

With the Guidelines part (Determine F), customers can select from an inventory of widespread workflows or create a customized workflow to automate duties.

Determine F

All automations encompass triggers that provoke one or a number of actions. Triggers may be pulled into motion when a activity is added, up to date or overdue, whereas actions are a part of a good longer record of choices that embody the next:

• Shifting or updating a activity and creating new subtasks or approvals
• Sending notifications to Slack or Microsoft Groups customers
• Creating new points in Jira Cloud or Jira Server

Asana’s deep partnerships with different purposes is clear from the big range of connections with in style trade purposes like Zendesk, Bitskout, Jotform, PageProof and Flowsana.

When creating a brand new rule, customers’ choices embody 17 triggers and nearly 40 actions groups can use to construct workflows. For Premium plan holders and above, Asana’s guidelines engine can ease workloads for crew members whereas sustaining communication between stakeholders and transferring duties alongside within the venture pipeline.

Apps: Join vital integrations

Along with the automation-focused purposes listed above, customers can discover Asana’s in depth record of integrations that handle file sharing, reporting, gross sales, operations and software program improvement wants. You’ll be able to try Asana’s full Software Listing if you happen to don’t spot your favourite app within the in-platform window.

Determine G highlights quite a few in style connectors.

Determine G

Different notable enterprise IT purposes embody:

• Azure Energetic Listing
• Drata
• Exterro
• Google Workspace SAML SCIM
• MuleSoft
• Okta
• OneLogin
• OneTrust
• Panther
• ServiceNow
• Splunk
• Workato
• Zylo

Varieties: Convert survey responses into venture information

The Varieties engine offers shoppers a user-friendly type generator with a customized cowl picture, type description, questions and settings. A typical function among the many prime PM instruments, kinds are a handy technique for service groups to gather information, and Asana mechanically locations responses into the duty information of a venture.

Process templates: Simplify activity creation

Groups that often execute comparable processes — like fulfilling an IT service ticket or monitoring utility bugs — can convert workflows into activity templates for constant setup. Like some other activity particulars, customers can arrange the info that repeats from activity to activity and re-use the template with changes when organizing future sprints.

Duties are straightforward sufficient to create, and capabilities like these lower the general variety of clicks and energy a venture lead or crew member must make to appropriately prepare information. Like so many options out there on Asana, these instruments can straight cut back the time spent on monotonous duties and provides extra time again to stakeholders.

Visualizing and modifying venture information

To assist venture stakeholders acquire perception into the standing of their initiatives, Asana provides a handful of visualizations to view and work together with venture information. Whereas one crew member can stick with the acquainted Checklist view that resembles an Excel spreadsheet, different customers can change activity information via a kanban-style board or calendar. Adjustments are pushed to every of those views in actual time.

Inside a person venture, customers can discover the instruments listed beneath or add recordsdata and ship team-wide messages for ongoing communication and updates.

Checklist view: The superior spreadsheet

For professionals who’re snug with the basic spreadsheet, Asana’s Checklist view (Determine C, proven earlier) provides the same really feel with out the formulation and features that generally lavatory down newer spreadsheet customers.

Area values are decided by column circumstances, whereas rows characterize duties with the extra choice to divide rows into separate sections. Whereas spreadsheets are all rows, it did take me a second to regulate to this preliminary division of duties into sections. In any other case, customers can view and alter objects simply or add a brand new column.

Board view: Playing cards throughout a whiteboard

The Board view features a kanban chart that includes playing cards and duties cut up throughout lanes primarily based on a set situation. Customers can simply drag and drop these playing cards vertically or horizontally to vary a card’s standing.

In Determine H, my Board view reveals lanes cut up by part names beforehand set within the Checklist view. This provides one other good technique to see venture duties over every dash, however kanban charts actually shine in the case of displaying the focus and motion of duties primarily based on progress standing.

Determine H

In its present state, my Board permits me to maneuver duties from one dash to the subsequent, however I don’t need the expectation of delaying duties or shifting them to future sprints. To make the best association of lanes, I want to regulate sections and duties. Sadly, I didn’t discover a simple or intuitive technique to make this shift for the venture information.

In the course of the onboarding course of, I chosen the above background; nevertheless, upon seeing my venture in Board view, I used to be not a fan. After a number of minutes of on the lookout for a technique to change the background, I gave up and embraced the forest the place my venture’s board would reside.

Timeline view: Duties over time

In a Gantt-style chart, the Timeline view provides the rows of duties seen in Checklist view throughout a timescale. This attitude offers a stable overview of how lengthy every dash lasts and the dependencies between duties.

In Determine I, I switched the view to Quarterly to see the whole thing of the three-month venture and the connections to every.

Determine I

The skinny blue line between Dash one and two marks the present date for contemplating progress towards objectives, and customers can filter the view via begin date, due date and assignee. Like Checklist and Board views, the Timeline additionally permits customers to open and modify activity information mirrored throughout all the venture.

Calendar view: Mark the date

Calendar view will be one other helpful function for seeing venture information on a normal net calendar. Nevertheless, relative to different calendar parts in PM instruments, I used to be underwhelmed by Asana’s model.

Customers can scroll via the calendar to see pertinent activity dates and add new duties, however they don’t have the choice to import an current calendar or export the venture calendar to a most well-liked calendar utility.

Dashboard view: Break down information with charts

The Dashboard view is one other handy technique to visualize venture information via acquainted charts and graphics. Whereas different views are all-encompassing for venture information with the choice to filter, dashboards give customers the flexibility so as to add charts primarily based on venture information factors and enhance observability for crew members.

In Determine J, I set charts to show activity information by dash, standing, assignee and completion fee.

Determine J

These charts, in addition to the choice to create others with a variety of circumstances primarily based on venture information, imply groups can rapidly break down information into insightful charts for crew entry. Because the venture strikes ahead, my chosen charts will assist inform decision-making round team-member workloads, venture progress evaluation and future activity planning.

Overview view: The homepage of the venture

For each venture, the Overview web page seen in Determine Okay provides a house for customers to see their venture standing, roles, milestones, objectives and key sources like pertinent documentation. Mission managers can add a private message and configure remaining sections to present crew members a full view of venture tips and progress in day-to-day workflows.

Determine Okay

Asana use instances and viewers

Asana has over 126,000 prospects throughout a variety of trade and crew wants. The venture administration chief highlights its core use instances and goal shoppers as listed within the sections beneath.

Use instances

• Agile venture administration
• Automated localization
• Marketing campaign administration
• Content material calendar planning and administration
• Artistic manufacturing
• Occasion administration
• Mission administration
• Request monitoring

Roles and groups

• Firm-wide and managers
• Designers and design groups
• Engineers and software program improvement groups
• Occasion planners
• Finance groups
• Human sources groups
• IT departments
• Product administration groups

Execs and cons of Asana

Asana benefits and advantages

• Quite a lot of import choices: Loads of import choices for migrating current venture information to the Asana platform.
• Amenable to team-specific workflows: Instruments and options for addressing quite a few area of interest crew workflows.
• Varied venture information visualizations: A number of methods to view, regulate and analyze venture information.
• Time monitoring: Free integration possibility for time monitoring to quantify time spent on venture duties.
• Entry to third-party options: In depth entry to vital third-party purposes and connectors.

Asana disadvantages

• Studying curve: Preliminary studying curve for brand spanking new customers adjusting to a full-featured interface.
• Unintuitive UI: The GUI can really feel much less intuitive relative to different prime PM platforms.
• Process limitations: Duties are restricted to 1 assigned crew member.
• Difficulties with superior options: Even steeper studying curve for deploying superior options and instruments.
• Occasional efficiency points: Further evaluations spotlight occasional error messages and lagging when switching between venture views with a big dataset.

For larger insights into the professionals and cons of Asana, contemplate studying this overview on Mission-Administration.com.

Conclusion

In abstract, that is what I’ve to say about Asana after utilizing it and researching it in-depth:

• It’s a chief in workload administration that’s match for small groups and enterprise organizations alike.
• Its huge function set supplies venture managers with loads of instruments to allow collaboration and venture momentum.
• There’s an evident studying curve, however climbing it opens the door to automating workflows and optimizing productiveness for groups.

Asana is certainly among the best decisions for venture administration software program, with a pleasant sufficient consumer interface and superior capabilities for general-to-niche crew wants. Potential prospects will discover Asana’s pricing plans are much like rivals, permitting for a real feature-to-feature comparability with platforms like Smartsheet and Wrike.

SEE: Guidelines: Mission administration (TechRepublic Premium)

With a sturdy free plan, crew leads and smaller groups can’t go incorrect giving Asana a strive. The 30-day entry to a Marketing strategy — earlier than it reverts again to the free Fundamental version — supplies sufficient time for potential consumers to discover the platform, make the most of premium options and contemplate the long-term advantages of adopting this venture administration utility.

For PM wants throughout totally different industries, Asana provides one thing for each crew to boost portfolio, venture and course of administration.

Learn subsequent: Finest venture administration software program and instruments (TechRepublic)