Thank you Larry.
Thank you for the feedback on current workarounds. Our team has tried these work arounds and they only further add to the stress of trying to ensure all tasks are being taken care of.
We rely on Asana as a straightforward task management and collaboration platform. Our workflow is intentionally simple:
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Projects → matters/customers
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Tasks → phases or categories of work
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Subtasks → actual actionable items with assigned owners and due dates
In practice, subtasks are our primary unit of execution.
Core Limitation
Currently, there is no reliable way to:
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Filter or sort a Project view by subtask due dates
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View all subtasks with due dates across a project in a single, unified view
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Consistently include subtasks in standard filters (e.g., “Due this week,” “Overdue”)
This creates a significant visibility gap. At the project level, we cannot easily determine what work is actually due or in progress without manually opening each parent task.
Feedback on Suggested Workaround
We have tested the commonly suggested workaround of “homing” subtasks into projects (i.e., adding subtasks to the same project as their parent). In practice, this introduces substantial friction and undermines the reliability of the platform:
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Manual dependency & error risk:
The workflow depends on every team member remembering to manually add subtasks to the project. Any missed step results in incomplete or inaccurate visibility, which is unacceptable in a deadline-driven environment. -
Ongoing administrative overhead:
Subtasks must be manually added when created and often removed upon completion, creating unnecessary, non-value-added work. -
Breakdown of task hierarchy:
Subtasks effectively become duplicated or semi-independent tasks, weakening the intended parent-child structure and making it harder to understand relationships between work items. -
Project clutter and duplication:
Subtasks appear both under their parent task and separately at the project level, leading to visual clutter and confusion about what has been accounted for. -
Loss of organizational clarity (Sections):
Subtasks added to projects are often surfaced at the top or outside their parent task’s section, making it difficult to determine where they belong within the workflow. -
Reduced reporting and filtering accuracy:
Mixing true tasks with manually surfaced subtasks results in less reliable and harder-to-interpret filtered views. -
Poor scalability and adoption risk:
As teams grow, reliance on manual steps increases the likelihood of inconsistency. It also creates friction in onboarding and reduces compliance with the system. -
Misalignment between tool and workflow:
Our workflow is simple and logical—subtasks represent the real work. The workaround forces us to adapt our process to the limitations of the tool rather than the tool supporting how teams naturally operate.
In short, this workaround introduces manual steps, data inconsistency, and structural confusion, which undermines the platform’s effectiveness as a task management system.
Requested Enhancement
We would greatly benefit from the following capabilities:
1. First-class treatment of subtasks in Project views
- Optional toggle: “Include Subtasks in View”
2. Full filtering and sorting capabilities for subtasks
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Filter by subtask due date, assignee, and status
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Sort all items (tasks + subtasks) by due date within a project
3. Unified “All Work” view within a Project
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A flattened view of all actionable items regardless of hierarchy
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Ability to group or sort by due date, assignee, or parent task
Why This Matters
Many teams, including ours, use subtasks as the primary execution layer, not just supporting detail. Without project-level visibility into subtask deadlines, the platform loses effectiveness as a true task management system.
Addressing this limitation would:
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Improve clarity and accountability at the project level
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Reduce reliance on error-prone workarounds
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Better align Asana with real-world team workflows
We value Asana’s simplicity and project structure, which is why we’ve continued using the platform. Resolving this issue would significantly improve our ability to manage work effectively within your ecosystem.
Thank you for your consideration. I’m happy to provide examples or further detail if helpful.
Best regards,
Jayme