Hi 
,
When you discovered the Automation feature, with its triggers and actions, you probably thought âyeah that is cool, I could use it to automate a bunch of stuff like complete a task when a status changesâ. I was pretty excited myself, and I was even more excited when innovative and fun ideas started popping up here and there about how to use rules in new ways⊠Here is a list of the coolest Asana Rules you probably did not think about!
The Cry for Help
The Butler
The Clock Master
The Date Equalizer
The Lurker
The Architect
The Template Perfectionist
The Finisher
The Protector
The Storyteller
The Middle-Man
Out of Office
The Gentle Whisperer
The Cleaning Lady
The Standup Robot
The Cry for Help
- Goal: have a âask for helpâ action on tasks.
- Idea: create a custom field called âActionâ with an option âAsk for helpâ that adds the task to a project followed by a group of senior staff and another rule to assign it to a guest account (like the Invisible Man). Then set up a rule to reset the custom field to the value « -« (you need to actually create that option).
- Why itâs cool: you never know who you should ask for help? This rule will do the work for you.
The Butler
- Goal: use a custom field as an action list.
- Idea: create a custom field with options like âComplete, un-assign and archiveâ, and create rules to do just this whenever this value is chosen for the custom field. Then set up a rule to reset the custom field to the value « -« (you need to actually create that option).
- Why itâs cool: because we always see custom fields as âdumbâ values, never as actions you could trigger. And you can save time by combining multiple actions.
The Clock Master
- Goal: get notified of any due date change.
- Idea: create a project called âCheck due datesâ and create a rule to add any task with a due date changed to that project.
- Why itâs cool: you donât need to forbid people to change due dates anymore, you can watch from behind the curtain.
The Date Equalizer
- Goal: have the due date always match the completion date.
- Idea: set up a rule to change the due date to â0 daysâ whenever a task is completed.
- Why itâs cool: for reporting reason, you might need the due date to match the completion date. You are welcome.
The Lurker
- Goal: automatically watch tasks assigned to a junior employee
- Idea: set up a rule to be added as a collaborator whenever a task is assigned to someone.
- Why itâs cool: you can quietly watch work without disturbing or stressing anyone.
The Architect
- Goal: automatically build a master project, from various sources.
- Idea: in various projects, create a rule that automatically adds any task created to a master project.
- Why itâs cool: your master project will always be up-to-date with all its childrenâs tasks.
The Template Perfectionist
- Goal: be notified of new task added to a template so you can update existing projects.
- Idea: create a rule in a template project to add a new task to a project called « Update existing template implementation »
- Why itâs cool: when a template is updated, it does not update all projects based on it.
The Cancellor
- Goal: store together all tasks you were not able to finish and tag with them for a specific reason.
- Idea: create a project called « Cancelled tasks » with a drop-down custom fields and various reasons. Also, create a user account with a guest email, call him « The Finisher » and add a nice avatar with a superhero mask. Create rules with a trigger « Assigned to The Finisher » and actions are « Mark as complete », « add to canceled tasks project ». Then just choose the reason for cancellation.
- Why itâs cool: it will be fun to actually cancel tasks, youâll get a nice cancellation history on which you can run stats.
Thanks @lpb for coming up with this one.
The Protector
- Goal: when using 3rd-party apps, you donât want to give them access to your whole Asana. For some rules, like « Add task to project » you can use « The Protector » to prevent apps from accessing your whole Asana.
- Idea: create a guest account in your Asana with a single project called after the specific use case (like « Zapier PipeDrive »). Connect to the 3rd party with that limited-access account and make it add tasks to the project. From an admin account, set up a rule with the trigger « Task added » and action « Add task to another project » and target your accounting project.
- Why itâs cool: you donât want to give 3rd party access to everything!
The Storyteller
- Goal: automatically comment when a step is chosen in a drop-down custom field to explain what that step involves.
- Idea: create one rule per value in a drop-down field to comment automatically, the comment should include what the step means in terms of deliverables for example or what it involved.
- Why itâs cool: sometimes it is hard to track the steps a task went through + you might need to keep track of the âdefinitionâ of a step at one point in time.
The Middle-Man
- Goal: automatically add to an inbox project any task being added or commented on by a client.
- Idea: create a project to hold any task with an unanswered question and create two rules. The first one adds any new task inside your client project to this project. The second one adds any task commented on to this project. Your team should be notified of any new task coming into the âUnanswered questionsâ project.
- Why itâs cool: because you can be very reactive to client needs!
- inspire by @Chris_Labatt-Simon
Out of Office
- Goal: warn people when they assign task to you while you are away.
- Idea: âAnother great one is the âOut of Officeâ. If youâre on leave, you can create a rule where if someone assigns you a task, Asana automatically comments with an Out of Office message so people know that you wonât see/be able to action a task until youâre back. Great for working with clients. And then you just turn it off when youâre back.â from @fitz2
- Why itâs cool: enjoy your holidays, Asana got you covered!
The Gentle Whisperer
- Goal: gently remind people that the due date is near.
- Idea: for some projects, respecting the deadline is critical, especially when your clients are involved. The idea is to set up a rule, when the due date is approaching (3 days out for example) you post the following comment mentioning the project manager âYou still have time, just wanted to send a gentle reminder that this due date is approaching!â.
- Why itâs cool: there is nothing worse than discovering a critical task is due today and you are missing inputs to work on it. The comment makes it gentle enough to not disturb the workflow of the team.
The Cleaning Lady
- Note: alternate name is âThe Cleaning Dudeâ obviously
- Goal: remind people that a really overdue task is not acceptable
- Idea: if you manage to add every single task to a single project (by having the same reroute rule in every project) you can setup a rule sending a comment if the due date is more than a month overdue. That situation should probably never happen, the due date should be re-assessed or the task completed or delete.
- Why itâs cool: a report with manual comment could achieve the same thing, but some automation is nice!
The Standup Robot
- Goal: automatically fill in the weekly or daily standup agenda
- Idea: if you team has a daily standup meeting or a weekly meeting, add a rule to automatically multi-home a task due today (or this week) to the meeting project.
- Why itâs cool: you wonât forget to talk about something that is due!
I loved the names, especially âThe Cry for Helpâ one 
).