How to sync a task in different projects automatically

[Sandra_Fernandes-Mac]

Hi there,

I have project 1 and project 2 (board view). I would like to make sure that when I add a task to one
column in project 1 it is also added AUTOMATICALLY to one column in project 2.

Is this possible ?

Many thanks

[Marie]

Hi @Sandra_Fernandes-Mac. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to automatize this process in Asana; that said, when creating a task in “project 1”, you can easily add it to one column in project 2 using the multihome function (How to Complete Task Fields in Asana | Product Guide • Asana Product Guide).

[David_Löfgren]

Hey - ping on this one. Has this functionality been developed yet? My use case is connecting my own kanban board to a team kanban board and thereby allowing me to structure my tasks independently of my team while keeping transparency between my tasks towards the rest of the team. I.e. I would have 4 categorical columns in my personal board that would feed into 1 column in the team board (consisting of all my tasks). Perhaps you’d suggest another approach?

Thanks!
David

[lpb]

@David_Löfgren, If you have a Business plan, you can now write custom Rules for this:

Using Rules in Asana | Product Guide • Asana Product Guide

Larry

[Phil_Seeman]

Hey @lpb,

Actually I believe using Asana rules won’t work for this because they don’t fire as the result of automation-made changes; it’s discussed here:

Change column of task from another project

Thanks for the reply Ivan. Yep tried all of this - and what’s being asked for above doesn’t work. And for what it’s worth - Asana confirmed that this does not work. Their reasoning: “*…the Action/result of one Rule can’t serve as the Trigger of another Rule – meaning that moving a multihomed Task to “Section: In Progress” in Project A will trigger that Task’s Custom Field to flip to “Field: In Progress”. However, that flip to “Field: In Progress” will not trigger that Task to move to “Secti…

However, Flowsana’s rules don’t have this limitation, so I know this can be done using Flowsana rules.

@David_Löfgren, because sections are specific to projects and are not shared between projects, you can’t accomplish this directly.

So, if you want to use my Flowsana integration to accomplish it, what you can do is use a custom field (you can also use a tag) to in essence link the two projects together, and then create rules in each project.

I.e. in Project A you create a rule like "If task gets moved to Section ‘In Progress’, set the value of custom field ‘Status’ to ‘In Progress’. Then in Project B, you create a rule like "If value of custom field ‘Status’ gets changed to ‘In Progress’, move the task to the ‘In Progress’ section.

Note that you have to make sure the custom field is a global one; that is, it lives in your organizational custom field library.

I should also note that you can add your vote for Asana to have this “sync columns between projects” capability here:

Link board column and section names to user selected field or custom field

This would allow users to set (and change as required) standard workflows across multiple projects as they see fit without the need to use multiple unnecessary rules every time a new project is created. In my opinion this is how sections / board columns should have been implemented in the first place. The flexibility and ease of use would have been amazing.

[David_Löfgren]

Thanks for your replies, much appreciated. I simply wanted to “export” all tasks from one project into a specific section in another and that seems to work well by using the rule “Task added to this project → Add to another project”.

My next inquiry is around the Field customization as this seems to be “imported” from the project to where the tasks will be directed based on the rule mentioned above, which is great. It’s just that I dont get the fields to show up as “labels” on the specific task in the kanban view and instead I have to go into the “detailed plane” to the right to see values such as priority etc. Is there a way to have them being shown ON the “task card” instead?

[lpb]

@Phil_Seeman, I was suggesting a set of one-way rules as @David_Löfgren alluded to which wouldn’t encounter the problem you mention, though of course there’s extra flexibility with Flowsana.

@David_Löfgren, Custom Fields do appear in Board View Cards for me; maybe you can be more specific and include screenshots of what you mean so it’s more clear to me or maybe Phil understands?

Larry

[Phil_Seeman]

@David_Löfgren, custom fields show up for me as well on task cards in board view. As @lpb says, if you could post a screenshot indicating what you’re missing…

[David_Löfgren]

Thanks for looking into this. Set-up explained and picture attached:

1. I’ve "connected my own project board with a one that my whole team is using by applying a rule
2. All my tasks in my own board feed into my specific column in the team board
3. the custom fields from the team board are “imported” into my own board and it is possible to modify from my own board
   
   
   
   Promblem: I don’t seem to be able to view the custom “labels” on the task cards in my own board the way that way are shown in the team board

[Phil_Seeman]

Hi @David_Löfgren,

So, two things to note:

Regarding the project on the right in your screenshot - you’re 100% correct, the custom field values appear on the card in Board view but not the labels. I’m sure that was done so as to take up less space and not make the cards bigger.

Regarding the custom field values not showing on cards in the project on the left - I’m sure this is because those custom fields are project-specific custom fields that are specific to the right-hand project. They’ll need to be global (i.e. in your organizational custom fields library) for them to show on multiple projects.