Trying to use Asana to manage a bunch of machines, and common tasks that pop up and need to be a

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So, I am brand new! Here is what I am trying to do and I am not quite sure how…
Lets say I have Machine1, Machine2… etc… maybe 20 of those.

Occasionally, I am given a task which applies to all those. I would like an easy way to create a task - which may even end up being a subtask - and I want to quickly copy it to all those machines. Then, as I complete the task one at a time, I can check the box for each machine.

Questions I have pondered… Do I make each “Machine #” a section? Or a task? etc…

When I approach a machine, I want to easily see all the tasks associated with that machine. Some of these machines are spread throughout the country, and I have missed opportunities to perform tasks on them - which is why I am checking out Asana.

I see that you can duplicate tasks and subtasks, but the problem is how do I easily copy a seperate instance to each and every machine?

I hope this makes sense! If you have any input, I would be most grateful!

Brian

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Hello @anon74039873, welcome to the Asana Community Forum :wave:

Working with a lot of subtasks has pros and cons and everybody has a different opinion about this.

Now I’d say it really depends on how many tasks per machine you think you will have and there are a few solutions I can think of.

  1. Create one team with separate projects per machine and one project where you multi-home tasks or that you use for general things such as creating and storing all your task templates.

Whenever you have a new process to perform create a task template and create xx tasks from that template. Then you have a multi-select custom field with all machines as drop down. In list view quickly select a different machine per task. Then a rule will trigger that will add each task to the correct project. So for example if “Machine 1” is selected in the drop-down a rule will trigger and add this task to the accurate project and assign the task, etc

Now, of course, you can just use one project and have sections per machine but over time the more tasks you have the messier it gets so I’d definitely recommend separating that.

  1. Create one team and then create an Asana project for every Machine. Also create one project in which you multi-home all tasks from all machine projects. This will serve as the main project to have a key overview and when you want to see tasks per machine you can check the individual projects.

In the main project you can create template tasks (if required for recurring processes)

I’d then set up custom fields for different things, one being a multi-select custom field for the machines so the options are “Machine 1”, “Machine 2”, and so on.

Another custom field with actions, for example the options “Repair” or “Maintenance”

Depending on the options you select in the machine drop-down custom field and the actions custom field a rule will trigger the adding subtasks.

The only downside is that currently rules do not apply to subtasks so you can also not add a subtask to another project. You can upvote this feedback request thread here.

However, you can achieve this with Flowsana

  1. Create one task with clear instructions on what has to be done and assign task copies: Asana tasks - understanding the basics | Product guide • Asana Product Guide
    Task copies can be assigned to teams as well

  2. Duplicate the task manually
    Screenshot_1333

I hope that helps.

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