Add a 'Not started' project status

[Andrea_Mayer]

Welcome to the Asana Community Forum @Umair_Abiden!
I have merged your post into an existing feedback request thread. You can scroll to the top to vote

[Stefan_Claus]

Hey Andrea, is there outlook when is can be implemented? The request is open for a while?

Thanks, Stefan

[Marie]

Hello @Stefan_Claus, I know this is something our team has looked into, but there are no formal plans at the moment. We’ll keep you posted here once we have an update!

[cosmo]

ASK
Please consider adding a Not started project status.


CONTEXT
Right now there’s no way to explicitly mark a project as “Not Started” and users are forced to either (a) settle for the default No recent update status, or (b) choose from a list of statuses that really only apply to projects that are in progress (On track, At risk, Off track, On hold) or finished (Completed).


DESIRED OUTCOME
I’d like to be able to select a Project Status that accurately represents the current status of a large number of the projects currently on my team’s roadmap.

Their status is that they are known, approved, have a general plan, and are slated to begin at a future date, but work has not yet begun; aka they are Not started.


CURRENT WORKAROUNDS & THEIR SHORTCOMINGS

1. we could… ask users to not provide an initial status update to preserve the default No recent update status for projects that haven’t started yet, BUT…
   A - Then we couldn’t easily distinguish between projects that haven’t started yet vs. projects that truly haven’t had a status update in so long that the status reset to No recent update (or whether the PM just hasn’t posted an initial status update yet despite the project actually being underway, which is a separate issue with having this as the default status instead of more neutral null state),
   B - If someone went against that guidance and posted an initial status update anyway, there’s no way to manually revert back to the No recent update status—you have to go something like 13 weeks without a status update before it reverts,
   C - No recent update isn’t commonly known to mean “this project has not started” and doesn’t accurately reflect the current status of the project anyway,
   D - We actually want users to post an initial status update essentially saying “hey this work is now approved and slated to begin 4 months from now, see here for what to expect” without them then having to select a status that implies work has begun.

2. we could… ask users to refer to the “Start date” field to see whether the project has started yet, BUT…
   A - Many people avoid filling in the Start date field as it can clutter up the “Due date” field in list view —which unexpected shows both the Due date AND Start date as a date range, despite being called “Due date”, but that’s another product feedback post—,
   B - This would require users to parse dates and determine which are in the future for every project line by line,
   C - We don’t have a great way to enforce requiring users to include a Start date for every project, and
   D - Even if they did leverage the start date, the issue of choosing which status to select remains.

3. we could… use On hold to indicate the project is not actively being worked on, BUT…
   A - On hold means the project was already underway and is now temporarily suspended but expected to resume (project isn’t cancelled) in the future, which is not the same thing as a project that simply has not begun yet.

   • to illustrate why that is an important distinction… imagine you have a portfolio of 100 projects on a roadmap and 20 are marked as On hold. If 18 of those 20 were actually started and then paused, that paints a picture of potential issues and you’d likely want to dig in to understand why so many things are getting put on hold and investigate whether they are ready to resume. But if 18 of those 20 are in reality “Not started” and they’re not meant to have started, you only have 2 projects truly “On hold” and the health of your portfolio is quite good. Why create this ambiguity for ourselves and risk sounding alarms when none are warranted?

the same issues raised in (3) apply to using On track or any of the other statuses.

LARGER CONTEXT
Outside of Asana, typically statuses fall into 1 of 3 categories: To Do, In Progress, & Done.
Currently in Asana the project statuses provided only address 2 of the 3.

• In Progress: On track, At risk, Off track, & On hold
• Done: Completed

Adding a status like Not started satisfies the need for something representing the To Do category that so many projects start their lives in. Until then, the system feels woefully incomplete.

Thank you for reading and I appreciate your consideration!

[cosmo]

@Jeremy_Long my request is about Project statuses, whereas this thread is discussing Goal statuses.

Can you unmerge?

These are related but not the same.

[Jeremy_Long]

My apologies, please be sure to re-add your vote!

[cosmo]

thank you!

[Claire_Franklin]

Hello!

An ask was brought up quite awhile ago to add a Cancelled Project Status option to the existing suite (i.e., On Track, At Risk, On Hold). This continues to prove as a needed enhancement on our team for efficiency & clarity in our reporting.

Past threads (below) indicate that they were merged into an existing topic: Mark Projects as Cancelled, however, that link is no longer available.
2022 Threads

• Project Status - Add Canceled - English Forum / Product Feedback - Asana Forum
• Cancelled Project Status - English Forum / Product Feedback - Asana Forum

Any idea on where this forum thread went for vote tracking & development progress?
Is this on the roadmap for development if it is not already in progress?

Thank you!

[cosmo]

Any thoughts on adding a Not started project status from our Top Forum Contributors?
Is there something to this idea or am I missing something/barking up the wrong tree?

cc: @lpb, @Richard_Sather, @Stephen_Li, @Bastien_Siebman, @Phil_Seeman

[lpb]

I agree entirely, @cosmo, and added my vote and encourage others to as well. (And you were in a great sitcom!)

Another workaround would be to add your own single-select portfolio-level custom field and use it instead of/alongside the official Status, though that’s not as good (hence, workaround).

Also, you would probably want to vote for the following, but I think it’s good not to merge because the requests are different, though both would offer you a solution.

Customization of Update Status options / Icons

It would be amazing if we could customize the Update Status green, yellow and red Icons. Idea: If you could customize with photos imagine the project manager with a satisfaction face if it was green, a not so confident face for yellow and a “oh ****” for red. I think it would be amazing, be helpfull to make bounds between workers and for team build in general. Thanks!

Thanks,

Larry

[Stephen_Li]

Definitely agree, and I second Larry’s nod to the linked custom status request (as every team tracks their projects in a different way).

[Richard_Sather]

@Julio_V , I think @Claire_Franklin is right and the correct thread she is referring to, appears to be missing.

Perhaps we should start a new one?

[Claire_Franklin]

Can we just get it added to the H2 Roadmap instead, @Richard_Sather?

Functionality would operate the same as a “Completed” status selection (queue the unicorns), but would just show a “Cancelled” title in project statuses, portfolios & reporting, etc.

[Richard_Sather]

Hi @Claire_Franklin , I would love to but unfortunately I don’t work for Asana.
I’m a volunteer forum leader and an Asana Solutions Partner that services customers to make the most out of Asana.

[Claire_Franklin]

No worries @Richard_Sather!

@Emily_Roman, @Marie, @Julio_V - It looks like you all have been the Asana team members previously engaged in this post. Could we get the “Cancelled” project status added to the H2 2025 Roadmap?

Functionality would operate the same as a “Completed” status selection (queue the unicorns), but would just show a “Cancelled” title in project statuses, portfolios & reporting, etc.

[Mike_Hoefer]

Added my vote here. Adding options for “Pending Start/Not Started” and/or “Canceled/Postponed” would improve the ability to use portfolios for high level PMO type activities.

Frankly it seems like it could be a good thing allow some custom values. I currently use a project as if it were a portfolio (each task represents a project) to allow additional flexibility in the regard.

[cosmo]

how did my “Add a ‘Not started’ project status” topic get merged with all these other threads again? Now it has a history going back before my initial post and it doesn’t show up in my list of created topics?

[lpb]

Similar to @Mike_Hoefer’s custom field is this one I created quite a few years ago to encompass both state and status in a single field:

I know the request is to have Asana permit additional values in its built-in, currently unmutable Status field, but should anyone decide to workaround it by using a single-select custom field, I just wanted to offer these ideas.

And the colors provide good meaning in Timeline or Gantt view in a tab there that sets color to be set by this custom field:

• Green/blue hues: Degrees of good/neutral
• Yellow/Orange/Red hues: Degrees of not-so-good/worse

Thanks,

Larry