Help resolving rules conflict causes tasks to be assigned and immediately reassigned

Hey there, hoping to get some help with this head scratcher.

We have a support form that assigns tasks to various team members based on two single-select fields. Here is an example of the rules:

Rule 1. If Brand = A, or Brand = B: Assign to Sarah
Rule 2. If Brand = C, or Brand = D: Assign to Joe
Rule 3. If Brand = E: Assign to Julie
Rule 4. If Brand = F, or Request Type = X: Assign to Mark

Essentially, most tasks are assigned to team members depending on Brand. However, anytime “Request Type” is set to X it needs to be assigned to Mark regardless of which Brand is set.

Using the rules listed above, tasks which have Request Type set to X are immediately assigned to Mark. But then very quickly re-assigned to either Sarah, Joe, and Julie if Brand is set to A, B, C, D, or E even if Request Type is set to X.

Being a developer, the logic I need seems pretty straightforward but the conditions available in Asana Rules just don’t seem to be capable of it:

Rule 1. (If Brand = A, or Brand = B) and (Request Type != X): Assign to Sarah
Rule 2. (If Brand = C, or Brand = D) and (Request Type != X): Assign to Joe
Rule 3. (If Brand = E) and (Request Type != X): Assign to Julie
Rule 4. If Brand = F, or Request Type = X: Assign to Mark

I think the answer here is no, but is there a way to prioritize rules so I could ensure Rule 4 is always triggered last? This would ensure Mark is always assigned tasks with the Request Type of X (even if it’s assigned then re-assigned depending on the order Rules are triggered in).

So then the question is, are there any workarounds or tricks I can use to accomplish this logic? That is, without needing an individual rule for each possible combination of Brand/Request type… that would require 56 individual rules in my case.

@Matt_Ondo,

At this time there is no way to do this by using “is not” or prioritizing your rules. The only way to set this up, presently, is by creating a rule for each brand type with the request type being equal to “x”, and then assigning it to Mark.

@Phil_Seeman, does Flowsana support “is not” rules?

Christine

Flowsana doesn’t currently have a “not equal to” option. (It is something we’re considering!)

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Yes I do understand there isn’t a “is not” option, just wondering if anyone out there has faced a similar issue and may have found a reasonable workaround.

After sleeping on it, I actually may have come up with a more reasonable solution to this (at least at the scale I’m working at). Setting up additional rules to reassign tasks with “Request Type = X” to Mark. For example:

Task is assigned = Julie, and Request Type = X: Assign to Mark
Task is assigned = Joe, and Request Type = X; Assign to Mark

This way any “Request Type X” task that is assigned to anyone but Mark is reassigned to Mark.

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Just wanted to come back after a few days and confirm this solution is working consistently and as intended well for us!

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