Struggling to setup

We are a design and manufacturing firm that has a CRM program but leaves many tasks that need to be monitored out of it. We have definitive set tasks initiated by one group, then decided by two different groups who will work on it. These groups will give an estimate on time needed to complete which may be before or after due date. This flags the group initiating that there may be an issue. Eventually if we win the project one group has to complete their task so two other groups can work on theirs, both need to be complete before the final group can complete theirs. We work backwards from a final delivery date based on what manufacturing needs to make to automatically set due date for other tasks. Currently we use Smartsheet to do this but are looking for a more user friendly, efficient manner to do this. Also need to track timeframes to improve estimates based on project complexity as well as current performance. Afraid I am asking too much of the program but looking forward to others inputs as well as anyone who can walk me through setup up of templates for this.

Hi @Dan_Richter. How exciting that you’re starting with Asana. It sounds like Asana will definitely be able to address your team’s needs.

It certainly sounds like templates and dependencies will work for you. However, before we dive in too deeply you may find it helpful to explore Asana’s onboarding resources if you haven’t already.

Intro resources I recommend:

When you’re ready to dive in a bit more:

Please reach out if you have more questions about setup and more. The community is here to help.

Hi Dan, you should also have a look at Instagantt which is a gantt chart planning platform that links with your Asana account. The really nice thing about planning projects like yours in Instagantt is that you can create dependencies, then when you adjust a task due date or timeframe, it adjusts the dates of all other tasks that are dependent on it (and syncs the new dates back to Asana).

Hi Dan! Based on your comments the following makes sense to me:

  1. Build Asana templates taking advantage of the “Mark as waiting on…” feature to demonstrate dependencies.

  2. If some of your processes are standard (like “this happens 2 days after this” as opposed to “we need to custom quote how long this takes”) I suggest you use Zapier to automate some of these template creations.

  3. Use custom fields to track “estimated time” and “actual time.” This gives you data you can analyze after the fact.

If you’re looking for someone to actually build this out for you, I’d be happy to help. I’ve worked with large manufacturers like Leatherman and Grecian Delight to set them up on Asana.

Todd Cavanaugh
Asana Training