Finding Projects without Next Actions

Tips and Tricks
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#1

I am responsible for managing 40+ projects and am looking for a way to do the following:

  • Mark a Task as Next Action
  • Create a report showing tasks across projects with Tasks tagged Next Action
  • Create a report showing projects without an incomplete task tagged Next Action

Even better, if a Project has no tasks assigned with a Next Action, then generate a task linked to that project to create a Next Action.

I’ve got the tagging and first report set up. It’s the identifying of projects without a next action that’s holding me up. I looked into Rules as well as reports and came up empty.

Ideas??

#2

Tough one… No clever idea idea…

#3

I wish that Asana Rules would work on Projects, not just Tasks. Then this could be simple.

In the meantime, I’ve changed the workflow a bit:

  • Using a Custom Yes/No field called Next Action instead of a Tag
  • Using Rules to Assign those Tasks to a Next Actions project
  • Using Rules to Change the Next Action to No once that Task has been completed

This way I can share the Next Actions project with people who need insight into the status of their projects and hopefully include a Dashboard.

#4

This doesn’t solve Projects with Next Actions, but does allow easy adding to the Next Actions Project:

Projects without Next Actions
Projects without Next Actions549×592 26.7 KB

I bookmarked this Report and then Select All Tasks and Add to the Next Actions Project.

#5

Hi @David_Limiero,

The main blocker at the moment is that Asana search results do not return “projects”, it only returns tasks and conversations. If you haven’t yet, I’d recommend upvoting Project search options.

If you have access to Portfolio, you could use a combination of project and portfolio custom fields to identify which project has a next action task.

I’m curious if any other Forum Leaders have a good workaround to share here? @Bernie_Orelup, @Christine_Bolton, @Jason_Woods, @Jerod_Hillard, @Julien_RENAUD, @Charlie_Pilch, @Kenichi, @lpb, @Leonarce, @Masanori_Misawa, @Matt_Dickinson, @Phil_Seeman, @Paul_Grobler, @Rashad_Issa, @ShunS?

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#6

@Marie,

Thanks for the reply. Project Search options would be great and I will upvote that one.

Our team really needs PPM, and the current Portfolios could use some features including searching, sorting, and filtering on Projects and their fields, just like we have with Tasks.

David

#7

@David_Limiero ,

I’m not complete confident in what you are trying to accomplish, so my apologies if this is less than helpful…

Can using dependencies, custom fields, and rules help you accomplish this?

For example, create a rule in each project: once a task is no longer waiting the custom field should be updated to next task?

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#8

@Christine_Bolton - thank you for that idea. This will help! Not all tasks have dependencies, but every bit of automation helps this project. Thanks!

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