Project Templates- Dynamic Due Dates (T+)

[Jacob_Silber]

We would like to be able to create a project template and assign dynamic due dates, so that if we choose a “start date” for the first task or an “initialization date” for the project, the other tasks get dynamically allocated a due date based on their proximity to the start date. Example:

I want to create a debt collection project template which I can initialize with every delinquent account:

1. On date X initalize the project.
2. On X+10 days- send a reminder email.
3. On X+20- get the CFO involved.
4. On X+30- get a collection agency involved.

Right now, Asana doesn’t allow dynamic due dates, and we cannot implement this use case. I think templates don’t really make sense without this, and I’d like to try to push this into an upcoming release.

[Chelsey_Morrison]

This would be a huge help to us! We are considering switching to another project management system because each of our recurring projects will have due dates based on the project date and we have hundreds of tasks per project. I know about the workaround with selecting the tasks and bumping the dates, but it is still time consuming to do that and doesn’t end up formatted correctly (task grouping titles are out of order/mixed in with tasks).

[Kim_Khensawan]

We are in a similar boat. My team is interested in creating a project template where the tasks’ due dates automatically adjust to the due date of the project.

For example: A project is due on 01/15/18. We have some tasks we would like completed 10 weeks prior, some tasks 8 weeks prior, some 2 weeks prior, and some a few days prior. Since we have this project 3-4 times a month, we’d like to be able to just change a project template’s due date and have the date of the tasks automatically adjust.

[Colleen_Pickford]

Many people in my organization have asked for this functionality, we have some projects that replicate 70-80 times annually and the ability to dynamically populate due dates across a projects would be a real game changer for us.

[Sarah_V]

Exactly this. We are just beginning to use Asana and it is disappointing to see this is not an option. I am hoping this feature will be added soon, as I don’t know if it will work for us without some kind of dynamic due date assignment.

[Anna_Wells]

Has anyone used Instagantt to solve this issue? https://www.instagantt.com/ I saw this link on another forum - would love to know if this is a good workaround.

[Shana_Solarte]

Every time I have to create one a task that requires me to manually assign due dates as X-3 days, X-7 days, X-14 days etc., I think of this post. Just trying to keep it alive…

[Rachel_Tosh]

This functionality for due dates that can be set as lag/lead times based on another date in a project template is the reason we have been holding off implementing Asana across our entire organisation. We do a lot of replicable project frameworks. For the type of work/projects we need to do it’s just too much manual data entry for things that we know need to happen with specific intervals. Please create this function!

[scrysler]

From another post similar to this:

Linked Dates (dependent Tasks)

I am not aware how to do that inherently in Asana but why don’t you set up a CSV import and use date math in an Excel spreadsheet. There are plenty of Date commands that can even avoid weekends. Here is an example https://www.extendoffice.com/documents/excel/3445-excel-add-days-to-date-excluding-weekends-and-holidays.html#a1

Would love to see this implemented in Asana instead of having to import from excel.

[James_Carl]

I agree, I used another package at one time that had this feature in its templates. Before importing a template you would change the Start date of the first task and it would conduit through albeit it was a pain because it did not have the same functions of Excel to avoid weekends and holidays. So if Asana does this hopefully they will allow these two options. In the meantime I think the Excel template could be setup and imported pretty easily subject to any constraints of the CSV importer.

Good idea’s

[Nicholas_de_Swardt]

This is critical for us. We have several recurring interdependent projects on the go and need to be able to automatically replicate them each month without having to set up all the dates to avoid public holidays and weekends.Also the recurring dates need to be linked to a day of the week, (i.e. second Friday of the month), rather than in X days time (which could be a weekend). Is there any update on whether these features are planned and when they might be implemented?

[Matthew_Martin]

This is crucial for us. Templates must have dynamic date abilities or else when a template it used, you’re still having to set due dates for everything. Please add this feature, and if you really want to be competitive with against other project management systems, consider the ability to omit certain days/weekends from the counting. An option for “business days” only or I suppose a a way to tell the system what days to count and which ones not to (addressing more use cases).

[Colin_Dowling]

Adding in my support for this feature. Considering project management is often about dates and timelines, it is surprising that a product as old/mature as Asana doesn’t have this functionality.

[Kristina_Getty]

I thought this already existed in Asana and wanted to learn more about how to set it up. Coming to this thread and learning it is not a feature is very disappointing.

Can we get an update on where this is in the product plan?

[Sean_Williams]

Asana, please add the dynamic due date, AKA auto-scheduling feature to Asana!! This is a key function for PM tools.

[Chris_Simon]

I’m going to completely agree. I moved to Asana from another system that had this feature. With the amount of projects that we do this takes up WAY too much time signing dates in Asana, especially on Website development projects. PLEASE make this feature a reality.

[Nicholas_de_Swardt]

Once this dynamic date structure is set up for projects it would be useful to add some standard project management metrics (critical path analysis, earliest start/finish, latest start/finish, drag, slack, float etc).

[Justin_Maxwell]

I also arrived at this thread just assuming Asana would have the feature, and wanting to know how to use it.

It doesn’t need to be overly complex - Just something that showed due-dates in template projects as T+ (however many days) rather than a specific date, and then set the due dates by default from the date the project was created from the template (with an option to change the ‘creation’ date when creating the project from the template).

[Tony_Visconti]

Ditto, this feature would be helpful for onboarding employee templates, where the initialization date is the start date of the employee. It would also be helpful to have task that can be X days back from the initialization date.

[Corne_Lategan]

Any update on this? I think most people using asana would benefit greatly from this feature.