I work in Product Marketing as a Project Manager and have a Project Template we used for new product introductions. We know the approximate amount of time it takes to develop each deliverable, so I am looking for a way to input the launch date of the product and have it populate the due dates for all of the tasks based on the due date (Ex: If the product launches on November 1 and it takes 8 weeks to produce X deliverable and 4 weeks to produce Y deliverable then it would set X for September 1 and Y for October 1). I also need the functionality where if the launch date shifts up or out, it automatically shifts the rest of the dates. I have found the ability to create dependencies between tasks and set the dependency to maintain buffer so when the downstream tasks shifts, it moves the preceding task also. The issue with this is I must input dates for both to create that time buffer between them. What I am looking for is a way to define the time between tasks (ex: 7 weeks) so when a date is input in one, the other populates. The goal would be to do this for dozens of tasks and then when I enter the launch date (end of the time-bound workflow) all tasks that lead to that populate a date. These product launches are complex and have almost 400 tasks, so this automation would be VERY helpful. Thank you in advance for any tips yall can give!
I will add that I have seen this may be possible with Flowsana, but I’m unsure if our organization will approve this so I’m hoping to find a solution that doesn’t involve additional cost to the company.
I recommend you read about Project Templates in help.asana.com. It explains how you can set relative dates for any/all tasks/subtasks in the template. When setting the first one, use the option to set (once only) whether you want to make these dates relative to the project due date or the start date. It sounds like due date would be appropriate for you, and consider that due date to be the launch date. Your X and Y would be expressed as negative numbers of days prior to the due date. When you create the project from the template it will ask you for the due date, then value all the tasks’ relative dates based on that.
Re your other question, it sounds like you’re familiar with the Manage dependencies dialog for your project. Given the above, default relative dates will already be set for your tasks, so you should be able to resolve the no date issue.
Thank you for the quick reply. I will review the link you provided as I was not aware of I could set relative dates for any/all tasks/subtasks in the template. My only question would be if I can also create this relative date relationship between tasks so dozens of tasks can all be connected with varying timelines and when the Due Date (launch date) changes it shifts back all dates. To expand on my X/Y example in the original question - what about T task that need to be done 3 weeks before task Y? If the Due Date moves up 10 weeks does it move Y up 10 weeks which in turn shifts T task up?
I want the tasks to be connected to each other and then connected to the due date like a critical path vs connecting all tasks to the due date. I have concern it would lose the relationship between tasks and (I think) remove the visual from the Timeline view.
After reading the help on both mentioned topics, make a tiny example project template with just a few tasks and try it.
Think of this in two separate phases:
before you create the project from the template, anything you do in the template will be carried over to the project, and you have one opportunity to turn all relative dates to actual, based on the due date (or start date)
after the project is created, you have date shifting options for dependent tasks