To make projects very efficient, an organization needs to be able to identify which projects have need of discussion (issues with scope, cost, schedule, etc.) from those that do not have need. The best way to address this is to alter a project’s status (not at the task level…but the project level) and provide a short description of what is the concern/issue.
Allowing any at an organization to do this, then allow the PM(s) to mitigate those that they can and getting them back on track has proven to be very efficient … and for those that can not, allow upper management/leadership to weigh in on what to do with this small subset of projects.
At present, Asana can do this at the Task level (somewhat) but not at the project level. It is soooo close to being very user friendly for handling broader sets of projects … but not there yet.
Any feedback would be welcome. I have seen several others in the Forum post on this too. (I did my Six Sigma MBB on this topic and stats showed well).
Welcome, @Eric_Hiebert,
A project member can choose to see project-level status updates, so if they’re monitoring their Asana Inbox (or email with that setting turned on), then they would see the discussion and could be @mentioned as well.
For a higher-level approach, if you’re on Asana Business or Enterprise, the Portfolios feature could help in a couple ways. You could use any manner of custom fields to track outstanding issues at the project level, and a portfolio status, with a potentially higher-level membership, to note issues.
Hope those help,
Larry
Thank you Larry.
I did notice that ‘Portfolio’ was an option … but also that we had to move up to Business level to get that. I am okay with that if we can contain most of the edits to a small group of people.
But I would like to know how a Supervisor could allow people on his team to view and then make a few changes to only a few fields and not be included on the Business license.
I will buy a month of the Asana Business license and do some testing. I can flex some muscle here to get approved if it works and if there are not too many contributors, at that price point.
Really appreciate the review and feedback.
Eric
Hey Larry,
Here is a look at the layout we are trying to work towards. This one is by ‘Stage’ or Section in Asana’s terms.
There are two different departments’ projects listed, which helped us see the similarities and differences.
All of these have ‘Project Status’ as Active (or On Track, etc.). I do not have any that have a different status to show here.
Thank you
Eric
Hi @Eric_Hiebert,
You should be able to click the “Upgrade” button and get a free Business trial for 30 days, or perhaps contact sales@asana.com if you don’t see that.
It sounds like you’re referring to a screenshot but there’s no attachment here. But anyway, I think to discuss at this level of detail, it’s important to work interactively and in real time, and with added details of goals, needs, constraints, app landscape, etc., which I do with clients regularly if you’d like to contact me at:
or reach out to another Asana partner.
Thanks,
Larry
Your suggestions on improving project efficiency through the use of thorough issue descriptions and dynamic project status modifications are much appreciated. Your suggestion to handle issues at a project level shows a calculated strategy to quickly reduce risks as companies manage intricate projects. The focus on easy-to-use technologies is in line with how project management is changing. Your commitment to data-driven improvements is shown in the strong analytical layer that your Six Sigma MBB perspective adds. These kinds of cooperative conversations are very helpful in improving project management tools and promoting innovation in the industry.