Asana Review: How This Task Management Software Makes Our Team More Efficient
HeiPro Digital is a busy place! Building a website is an intricate process, and there are multiple steps needed at every stage and multiple stages in every project. The nature of our work means we always have several projects going on at one time, each with their own timelines, due dates, and project requirements. Although we stagger the projects to maximize our capacity, we still have overlap. Adding to the complexity of our work is the fact that our team is entirely remote, scattered across the country and across time zones.
How do we manage to keep projects on track, moving forward, and team members informed and accountable in this situation? That's where project management software comes in. We realized very early on that we needed a way to set project deadlines, assign tasks, and streamline communications in a way that worked for a remote team.
After trying a few different project management software solutions, we found Asana – and it's just what we needed.
Asana Review: Why this Task Management Software
Asana gives us a birds-eye view of projects. At the start of each project, we create a plan, assign tasks, and set deadlines and goals. It all goes into Asana where everyone on the project team can view and access the plan. We all know what is due when and from whom. Asana allows us to:
Coordinate cross-functional work.
Every website has multiple people working on it, from brand designers to web developers to content writers and account managers. Each person has a specific role to play at a specific point in the project. Using Asana, we can determine who will be working on what piece at what point in time. Furthermore, we can look at this information in a single project or compare projects against one another to ensure we have assigned our team adequate time to get their pieces done on time.
Set goals & track progress.
The goal-setting feature supports cross-functional work by delineating due dates so everyone on the team has an idea of when the current phase ends and the next phase begins - as well as all the little things that need to happen in between.
Reduce time spent in meetings.
By providing the entire project team with access to the software, we greatly reduce the amount of time spent in meetings. There's no need to rehash deadlines and due dates or ask for status updates in a meeting when we can all see the progress just by logging in to Asana. This allows us to spend precious meeting time on big-picture items and meeting with clients.
Help the team meet deadlines.
Two of our favorite features in Asana are Reminders and My Tasks. Reminders provide notifications for upcoming due dates or deliverables. My Tasks is an organized view of what is upcoming and when it is due. These two features help reel us back in and get back on task when we inevitably get pulled in a different direction.
Increase accountability.
The ability to assign tasks and duties and set deadlines coupled with project team-wide access helps hold us accountable to ourselves and to each other. It's motivating to see how your piece supports the entire project and we have to admit to feeling a little peer pressure when we know everyone can see what we are supposed to deliver and when.
Multiple viewing options.
One of the greatest features of Asana is that projects can be viewed in multiple formats. We all see and interpret information differently. One person may love calendars, another spreadsheets/lists, and a third Gantt charts. Asana offers all of these viewing options and more so you can track project progress in the format that works best for you. It's all the same information, just presented in a different format.
Asana is an easy-to-use, practical project management tool. We have absolutely noticed an improvement in our project efficiency since we started using it and it seems like we learn new ways to maximize our use of Asana all the time.
Do you have a favorite project management tool? Have you used Asana? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
Cheers!