Hi everyone,
We recently (in the past 2 weeks) implemented Asana (& immediately upgraded to premium) and I had a question about the team calendar. This is my first posting/question.
Some background: we are a small 3-member consulting firm with about 20+ clients. I am adding the clients as projects due to the nature of our engagements which run throughout the year. Each project has a multiplicity of sections + tasks + subtasks.
When viewing the team calendar, I am not able to identify which client the calendar item is referencing unless I click/open into the actual item(see attached image). I thought I could add custom fields referencing the client or add the client name to the task but then that seems redundant/repetitive? Also, many of the tasks are common to all projects/clients e.g audits. I also color coded each client and I am quickly running out of color options:-). I would also have to remember which color belongs to which client at a glance.
Is there a workaround or tip that someone could share? What naming conventions work best?
Thank you so much team! I am gleaning so much from this community. In the few days I have been on here, I have learned a ton. Really appreciate this community.
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Hi @Wanja_Chomba! I’m the community manager at Asana. It’s nice to meet you. I’m so glad to hear that the community has been a helpful resource to you. That’s what it’s here for! 
And congrats on your first post!
There are a few different naming conventions you could use at the project and task level. I personally add an abbreviation at the beginning of a project name so I can easily find it in search or in my sidebar. For example, CS March Roadmap, where CS stands for Customer Success. So, that’s a fun tip if you aren’t already doing that.
Regarding calendar view specifically, in general a good first stop is the Guide article on the subject if you haven’t seen it already. You mention that you use color coding, but you’re running out of colors. Could you elaborate on how you’re color coding? Are you referring to color coding at the project or task/custom field level?
Although you mention your concern about redundancy, we do use color coding in custom fields in order to specify detail about each task in calendar view. In this example (below) the colors represent the custom field for priority. You could do this and see benefit in calendar view, even if it feels a little redundant. You could very easily multi select all tasks in a project and change the custom field to client name. If it feels like you’re running out of colors, perhaps each color could represent a letter in the alphabet or a customer category such as enterprise vs. smb.
There is also, of course, the option of advanced search to view your work at a glance. (Advanced search is one of my favorite Asana features!) Have you ever tried this? I think this could be a great solution for you. With an advanced search you could get into as much granularity as you’d like and sort by project, due date, custom field, and more. I suggest you explore your advanced search options here: Using Search & Advanced Search in Asana | Product guide • Asana Product Guide
Please let us know if you have follow up questions.
Hi @Alexis!
Thank you so much for your assistance I like your fun tip.
Yes, I was referencing color-coding at the project level as a means of differentiating one project from another. At present we have 15 different projects/clients entered into Asana and this number will rise shortly.
The owner of our firm is seeking an easier way to make the distinction without opening each ‘calendar item’ to see what project it is. I like the abbreviations (CS March Roadmap example). Each project has 3 sections, each of which has several tasks and a few subtasks. I am looking into reducing the incidence of subtasks, too, based on some of helpful feedback I have read on here.
I have been using the following naming convention: for each task & subtask: [Section] Task or Subtask
When we view these on the calendar, the only way to identify the project is by color. Based on your example, I will update these to: [ABC - Section] Task or Subtask where ABC is an abbreviation of the client/project. Since all of our projects have similar tasks/subtasks happening at various times throughout the year, at a calendar glance it will be much easier to see which client is coming up for audit, review et cetera.
I have also color-coded the custom-fields, (we have about 10 custom fields used variously) which is super-helpful. We don’t have a CRM so the premium functionalities tips are helping us immensely.
Once again, thanks @Alexis!
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