Asana
AsanaExternal reviews
10,017 reviews
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Project management tool
What do you like best about the product?
I like the ability to collaborate with many other colleagues both in our organization and outside. Easy to keep track of projects that require many hands to be completed successfully.
What do you dislike about the product?
Some of the tools are not available without purchasing a more costly membership level.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We use it to organize graphic and interpretation projects across the organization. Many departments can communicate with each other and with the designers about current and future projects. Senior staff members can also see the projects submitted and the progress made as well as make comments along the way.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Easy to learn the basics and then build your project management skills from there.
Very useful for collaborative tasks
What do you like best about the product?
The good pricing model for commercial use. - Available in web and mobile App versions - Create and assign a task to multiple users is easy - recently added task portfolio option, which helps managers to track progress in real time.
What do you dislike about the product?
I think the thing I would want to change is that Asana is somewhat hard to pick up. The tutorials on the website are not super useful for learning all of the features available (which can be somewhat overwhelming) and could definitely be improved.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Helped me keep all my projects organized and cohesive. There are so many things I liked about Asana: multiple to-do lists with different teams, assigning tasks, sub-tasks, different project views for those with different learning styles, due dates, and more.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Asana is a great tool for teams who are already using other software where Asana is not needed. I like how they have templates for different industries, this made it very easy to start using the software.
A team and task management tool with advance features.
What do you like best about the product?
Asana is extremely user friendly and economical. It allows you to track your projects and tasks. It allows you to create different types of teams according to the requirement of your task. It allows coherent team communication.
What do you dislike about the product?
Setting up privacy with Asana is quite confusing. It does not provide custom forms either. It also does not automatically provide Gantt charts for your tasks.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Asana offers abundant features to plan and organize your work. It provides effective file management. It supports third party integration too. It provides collaborative workspace that ensures all users have access to all the uploaded information.
Optimize your task management!
What do you like best about the product?
What I like most about Asana is its ease of use and its simple learning curve, for people it is easier to use this software and identify with the assigned tasks.
What do you dislike about the product?
The free version is significantly limited in some way, especially in the reports that play an important role in the performance of each talent.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We use Asana to collect reports and monitor projects, it is easy to enter tasks in our workspace, and grouping the tasks and classifying them by the due date of the tasks, the software made the whole team very productive and the projects will be completed on time.
Great software that's constantly improving
What do you like best about the product?
Helps me organize tasks without relying on constant emails. Love the added timeline and boards features
What do you dislike about the product?
Power BI integration is really slow and doesn't support custom fields. Don't like how some basic features are only added to higher, more expensive tiers.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Project management. We pretty much live in Asana.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Try it for free. For small teams it's completely free and only costs money once there are more than a few users or if you want higher tier features.
Asana works well for small businesses
What do you like best about the product?
I like how you can divide each task into it's own category and assign tasks to others in your network. it is very streamlined
What do you dislike about the product?
I think sometimes the different types of views can get overwhelming.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We are delegating assignments to our team internally and are staying streamlined and working well as a cohesive task force.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
None
Good product
What do you like best about the product?
I love how this program can keep me on track with tasks due, as well as help collaborate with other team members on projects.
What do you dislike about the product?
I wish there was a better way to assign two people to a task. Right now, when assigned two people to a task, it just makes a copy of the task for the second person assigned. I wish that two people could just be assigned one original task that they would both be able to edit, update, and complete.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Our business is now trying to assign all employees to necessary projects, so that they have access to important company information that will be useful when communicating with clients.
Repetitive task? There you go
What do you like best about the product?
Asana can be used for free and in business version. A lot of people will find the free version just fine. It's great for repetitive tasks and you can customize if tasks should occur at special days, weeks, months etc. You can plan far ahead and share between teams or keep tasks to yourself. It's a software that's nice to use for these small things that you would like to keep out of your normal ticket tool etc.
What do you dislike about the product?
Asana is a great tool and it's really hard to find something to put a finger on. User management in regards to private tasks could be better as people do get sick every now and then. You need to get used at customizing repetitive tasks to your need and the search index is not always precise.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We needed a cheap and simple tool to create tasks and follow tasks for colleagues on sick leave. Asana do this really well and it's really easy to set-up.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Think about in what context you will be using the tool. It's great for tasks etc but will still be lacking some in regards to project management. Also evaluate if you need the business version or if the free version will be enough.
Easily undertake your projects with Asana
What do you like best about the product?
It is ideal for me because it allows me to manage my activities and projects, I can work together with my colleagues and assign specific tasks to each one, and visualize how each project is developed, this software is very easy to use.
What do you dislike about the product?
Once I wanted to make a change in the type of project on a blackboard, but there was no way to do the modification, it would be a good suggestion that I had this option to change, in general, I like the Asana.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
This program is very good and quality, since it gives me the facility to work on the same project with my colleagues, and each one can take a different task and exchange information, we can see how it develops until its completion.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
It is an excellent way to work in a group, without having to be alone in your office, you only have an account and Internet connection and it is also free.
Power and flexibility can either help or hurt, depending on how you use them
What do you like best about the product?
Asana has clear advantages for teams that seek to drive task completion by combining powerful and flexible functionality across a range of devices.
First, Asana takes collaboration to the next level using tasks and subtasks. Powerful subtasks hardly matter for shopping lists but are transformational for team projects. For example, task A could break down into tasks B and C, and then task C into tasks D, E, and F (and so forth). Asana makes it possible to define the work, establish the sequence, set due dates, and assign the right people across all of these tasks and subtasks. In contrast, many other task management software tools suffer from underdeveloped subtask functionality. Robust task structures in Asana enable everything else to fall into place.
Second, Asana provides a full view of tasks and status. This is accomplished by combining features that are available separately across other task management software tools. Checklist projects are available to track task completion. “Board” projects enable tasks to flow through phases of completion, like sticky notes on a whiteboard (similar to Trello). Certain projects, such as ongoing programs, work best as a board instead of a checklist. For example, editorial articles could flow through stages (eg. ideas, written, published, etc.). It’s also possible to add the same task to multiple projects. This enables you to track the task for different purposes. Tags can also be used to group tasks together. Asana provides a powerful viewpoint using this mix of features.
Third, Asana is accessible across nearly every device and inside other tools. This makes it easy to view and update. While Asana might not have the best look and feel across every platform, it's functional everywhere. For example, it’s easy to quickly create new tasks using the (somewhat clunky) browser extensions. Tasks can be emailed to projects, and due dates synchronized to calendars. Additionally, it’s possible to build custom integrations using tools such as IFTTT, Zapier, Microsoft Flow, or the API. For example, using these tools you can speak tasks directly from virtual assistants, such as Alexa and Siri, into Asana.
First, Asana takes collaboration to the next level using tasks and subtasks. Powerful subtasks hardly matter for shopping lists but are transformational for team projects. For example, task A could break down into tasks B and C, and then task C into tasks D, E, and F (and so forth). Asana makes it possible to define the work, establish the sequence, set due dates, and assign the right people across all of these tasks and subtasks. In contrast, many other task management software tools suffer from underdeveloped subtask functionality. Robust task structures in Asana enable everything else to fall into place.
Second, Asana provides a full view of tasks and status. This is accomplished by combining features that are available separately across other task management software tools. Checklist projects are available to track task completion. “Board” projects enable tasks to flow through phases of completion, like sticky notes on a whiteboard (similar to Trello). Certain projects, such as ongoing programs, work best as a board instead of a checklist. For example, editorial articles could flow through stages (eg. ideas, written, published, etc.). It’s also possible to add the same task to multiple projects. This enables you to track the task for different purposes. Tags can also be used to group tasks together. Asana provides a powerful viewpoint using this mix of features.
Third, Asana is accessible across nearly every device and inside other tools. This makes it easy to view and update. While Asana might not have the best look and feel across every platform, it's functional everywhere. For example, it’s easy to quickly create new tasks using the (somewhat clunky) browser extensions. Tasks can be emailed to projects, and due dates synchronized to calendars. Additionally, it’s possible to build custom integrations using tools such as IFTTT, Zapier, Microsoft Flow, or the API. For example, using these tools you can speak tasks directly from virtual assistants, such as Alexa and Siri, into Asana.
What do you dislike about the product?
While it’s great to have features and options integrated into a single software platform, power and flexibility also increase the complexity. In my opinion, this is the biggest obstacle with Asana.
First, Asana has many features and setups to uncover. Unfortunately, the right organizational approach is difficult to anticipate. For example, it might not be obvious whether a project should be set up as a list or board. Unfortunately, this up-front choice cannot be easily changed. In other cases, the best subtask structure for a complicated task might be unclear. Getting started on the right foot can be a major challenge, and it's not always straightforward to rearrange later.
Second, Asana has a steep learning curve. Critical functions buried under deep menus and keyboard shortcuts are especially tricky for some users. Even basic setups frustrate beginners, such as the difference between lists and boards. These hiccups can sabotage the best of intentions to get an entire team moving in the same direction. It’s death by a thousand (digital) paper cuts. In fact, it's possible to work HARDER than before because processes fall apart when any tool is used inconsistently.
Third, human factors matter. Results from any tool come from deep integration into daily routines. Setup and training are only the beginning with Asana. People have varying levels of comfort and won’t use something just because it exists. Furthermore, even though Asana is marketed as “project management” and borrows features from classical project management software, formal project managers will likely be dissatisfied. Asana is best characterized as “task management” because it lacks maturity in certain capabilities that traditional PMs expect, such as cost analysis and resource scheduling.
First, Asana has many features and setups to uncover. Unfortunately, the right organizational approach is difficult to anticipate. For example, it might not be obvious whether a project should be set up as a list or board. Unfortunately, this up-front choice cannot be easily changed. In other cases, the best subtask structure for a complicated task might be unclear. Getting started on the right foot can be a major challenge, and it's not always straightforward to rearrange later.
Second, Asana has a steep learning curve. Critical functions buried under deep menus and keyboard shortcuts are especially tricky for some users. Even basic setups frustrate beginners, such as the difference between lists and boards. These hiccups can sabotage the best of intentions to get an entire team moving in the same direction. It’s death by a thousand (digital) paper cuts. In fact, it's possible to work HARDER than before because processes fall apart when any tool is used inconsistently.
Third, human factors matter. Results from any tool come from deep integration into daily routines. Setup and training are only the beginning with Asana. People have varying levels of comfort and won’t use something just because it exists. Furthermore, even though Asana is marketed as “project management” and borrows features from classical project management software, formal project managers will likely be dissatisfied. Asana is best characterized as “task management” because it lacks maturity in certain capabilities that traditional PMs expect, such as cost analysis and resource scheduling.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Asana eliminates the need to flip between different software programs for checklists, boards, messaging, notes, and files. Too many tools results in confusion about where to work and constant updates to keep everything synchronized. While not perfect, Asana is the simplest unified tool with the muscle to manage task priorities, what the team is doing, and how everything is interconnected. Integration options are great to bridge any gaps.
With everything in the same place, Asana provides visibility. Whether dealing with a small or large project, it’s simple to see the details, who is responsible, and related tasks. It’s totally possible to maintain visibility even when working with large teams because the building blocks are adaptable and scalable. Of course, it’s important to avoid getting too sophisticated with unnecessarily complex structures.
Through this clearer picture, it’s possible to focus on priorities in Asana. Without structure, it’s easy for urgent disruptions to distract from important work. Sections, task order, tags, projects, reports, and other Asana tricks prevent this from happening. Staying organized around priorities drives satisfaction with clients, customers, and stakeholders. Integration with time tracking tools keeps billable projects in view, which is important for revenue.
With the important details up-front, Asana facilitates better conversations and fewer meetings. While back-and-forth from meetings and web conferences won’t go away, Asana constrains them. For example, it's easy to pull tasks together into a meeting agenda (using a tag), get conversations out of email, and link tasks to relevant context. Needless conversations get minimized when all the information is easily accessible.
With everything in the same place, Asana provides visibility. Whether dealing with a small or large project, it’s simple to see the details, who is responsible, and related tasks. It’s totally possible to maintain visibility even when working with large teams because the building blocks are adaptable and scalable. Of course, it’s important to avoid getting too sophisticated with unnecessarily complex structures.
Through this clearer picture, it’s possible to focus on priorities in Asana. Without structure, it’s easy for urgent disruptions to distract from important work. Sections, task order, tags, projects, reports, and other Asana tricks prevent this from happening. Staying organized around priorities drives satisfaction with clients, customers, and stakeholders. Integration with time tracking tools keeps billable projects in view, which is important for revenue.
With the important details up-front, Asana facilitates better conversations and fewer meetings. While back-and-forth from meetings and web conferences won’t go away, Asana constrains them. For example, it's easy to pull tasks together into a meeting agenda (using a tag), get conversations out of email, and link tasks to relevant context. Needless conversations get minimized when all the information is easily accessible.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Power and flexibility can either help or hurt depending on how you apply them. I recommend several principles to get the most out of your Asana implementation.
First, establish your underlying goals and define what you seek to accomplish using Asana. There are so many possibilities that it’s easy to get carried away by the tool. Keep these definitions close at hand.
Second, create your own business systems around Asana to accomplish your goals. Willpower is not enough. Simple systems that do not rely on human failure modes include automatically creating a new task in Asana when a specific trigger happens, or scheduling time on the calendar each week to keep Asana projects maintained.
Third, remember that Asana will not replace every other software program. It often makes sense to continue using specialized tools such as CRM, G Suite, etc. You can use integrations in Asana so that they all work together.
Fourth, don’t expect a turn-key solution. Asana does not work well after a quick setup call. Prepare for implementation challenges and growing pains. The good news is that Asana is configurable for almost anything.
Finally, incorporate team members that know Asana well. Asana takes time to learn and there are many possibilities. Otherwise, you might still be uncovering features and optimal setups for years.
These experiences come from my own internal projects and helping others with Asana. How these recommendations apply depends on how they relate to your own situation. While I do not have any formal relationship with Asana, my background with enterprise software projects in general, in over fifteen countries and almost every business function, enables me to assess the technical features and business impact of Asana from a bigger picture context (https://www.mergencesystems.com). Whether these specific recommendations are useful to you depends on the way in which you apply them.
I invite you to contact me through G2Crowd by clicking on my profile image if you have questions.
First, establish your underlying goals and define what you seek to accomplish using Asana. There are so many possibilities that it’s easy to get carried away by the tool. Keep these definitions close at hand.
Second, create your own business systems around Asana to accomplish your goals. Willpower is not enough. Simple systems that do not rely on human failure modes include automatically creating a new task in Asana when a specific trigger happens, or scheduling time on the calendar each week to keep Asana projects maintained.
Third, remember that Asana will not replace every other software program. It often makes sense to continue using specialized tools such as CRM, G Suite, etc. You can use integrations in Asana so that they all work together.
Fourth, don’t expect a turn-key solution. Asana does not work well after a quick setup call. Prepare for implementation challenges and growing pains. The good news is that Asana is configurable for almost anything.
Finally, incorporate team members that know Asana well. Asana takes time to learn and there are many possibilities. Otherwise, you might still be uncovering features and optimal setups for years.
These experiences come from my own internal projects and helping others with Asana. How these recommendations apply depends on how they relate to your own situation. While I do not have any formal relationship with Asana, my background with enterprise software projects in general, in over fifteen countries and almost every business function, enables me to assess the technical features and business impact of Asana from a bigger picture context (https://www.mergencesystems.com). Whether these specific recommendations are useful to you depends on the way in which you apply them.
I invite you to contact me through G2Crowd by clicking on my profile image if you have questions.
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