I’m looking for advice on how to configure Asana so that project dates are set automatically based on an “Estimated Time” field and the current workload of assigned team members.
In our organization, we run many projects in parallel. Every day we create 1–4 new projects and assign around 20 people from our team to them. Currently, we use a project template with predefined dates and estimated effort, but in practice this is often very inaccurate. Some projects take only a few days, while others last for weeks or even months.
What I would like to achieve is the following:
After I set the estimated time, the dates will automatically update (ex. when I put 16 hours - the date moves 2 days into the future)
The project must always have a fixed, non-negotiable end date.
Ideally, Asana would also take into account each team member’s existing workload when scheduling dates.
It would be great if the system could warn me when assigning work would cause a person to exceed 8 hours of work per day.
Is something like this possible in Asana (either natively or via integrations/automation)?
If so, how would you recommend setting this up?
Thanks in advance for any guidance or best practices you can share.
Hello Michał and Happy holidays! Thanks for your detailed write-up. We feel you on templates getting out of sync with real effort, especially when you’re spinning up multiple projects a day. To answer your question, here is what you could do:
You can model effort and view capacity in Workload, and it will flag over-capacity, allowing you to rebalance quickly.
Asana doesn’t currently auto-reschedule dates based on hours or auto-level against assignee capacity.
You can get part of the way there with a custom field, dependencies, and a few rules as a workaround.
This is how you can set it up:
1. Track effort cleanly
Add a numeric custom field called Estimated hours to your project template and map it to tasks that matter for scheduling.
Use dependencies between tasks so shifting one date cascades to the rest.
2. Use Workload for capacity and 8h/day checks
Put these projects in a Portfolio and open the Workload tab.
Set effort source to your Estimated hours field and set each person’s capacity to 8 hours/day.
Workload will highlight anyone over capacity in red. From there, you can drag tasks, adjust dates, or reassign to balance.
3. Keep a fixed end date
Create a final milestone as the non-negotiable end date. When things shift, drag earlier tasks on Timeline to keep that end date firm. Dependencies help you backplan quickly.
4. Optional rule-based nudges
While rules can’t do hour to day math or look at Workload capacity, you can approximate date shifts with buckets. Example:
a. If Estimated hours is 1 to 8, then set due date +1 business day
b. If 9 to 16, then +2 business days
c. If 17 to 24, then +3 business days
This won’t be perfect, but it gives you a quick baseline that you can fine-tune in Workload.
The following are not yet possible with Asana today, but are great opportunities that the team can explore further, thanks to your feedback:
Auto-scheduling based on Estimated hours that also accounts for each person’s current load
Automatic warnings at assignment time that block or prevent exceeding 8h/day
Workload will surface overages clearly, but it won’t auto-move dates for you.
If you’re up for it, +1 this in Product Feedback so our team can see your exact need:
