Linda Nelson at To Plan Ahead is a Certified Project Manager and a Certified Meeting Professional. She routinely serves her clients by envisioning project outcomes and crafting actionable plans, navigating the complexities of project management. She’s at her best when she’s creating spreadsheets and timelines and ensuring tasks stay on track.
In the following case study, we look at Linda’s recent issue while using Asana, exploring how she created a workable project plan, but was missing one critical piece.
The Challenge
Linda is a seasoned user of Asana for project management. She has taken courses in Asana and has extensive experience with the tool. However, she needed help figuring out how to create a very important annual event-planning template for her client so that he could see specific details in the Gantt chart view in Asana.
The Solution
Paula at Tessera Virtual Business Solutions met with Linda in a virtual meeting to view the project on screen, ask some clarifying questions, and explore what Linda previously tried and what was missing from her template setup.
Paula made some initial suggestions based on how she needed the data from the project to appear. Together, Linda and Paula tested the suggestions right on the call. They created a test project, making changes and additions to Linda’s initial template.
After creating different section headings and a new custom field, they tested how the sections, tasks, and custom fields would appear in the Gantt chart view of the project. They reset how the colors were seen in Gantt chart view and adjusted a few filters for better reporting.
Implementation
After the consultation, Linda continued to work within the template, making changes as her client requested specific outcomes. She consulted with Paula through email to clarify some other ways to show the data her client needed to see in Asana.
Linda presented the final template to her client, and he was thrilled with the result. She has built additional templates in Asana to serve her client’s needs for managing the upcoming event.
Events are big undertakings, but with the Asana knowledge that Linda brings to the table and the new insights she gained from her work with Paula at Tessera, her client has great confidence in the event’s success.
The Results
Conclusion
Active Asana users still need guidance when using the large number of features available in the tool. Seeking help from an expert ensures that you see the possibilities from every angle. It ensures that you can build out your Asana projects well from the beginning, thinking ahead about how the structure will contribute to the ease of use for all project collaborators and how project owners can easily see the progress of the project.
Linda was wise enough to seek help with her questions about Asana’s capabilities even though she is a seasoned Asana user. Two heads are almost always better than one!
Need another pair of eyes to move you from stuck to success? Get in touch with Paula at Tessera Virtual Business Solutions today and brainstorm how to get the most out of Asana.
Learn more ways that Asana can help you coordinate and collaborate at work.
What Is Asana and Why Should I Use It?
How to Manage Multiple Projects in Asana
Nix the Notification Noise in Asana
About the Author
Paula Holsberry is the founder of Tessera Virtual Business Solutions, specializing in optimizing work processes for remote teams. With experience in both start-ups and larger companies, she helps teams maximize productivity through efficient Asana training and consulting.
