Projects

How I Increased My Company’s Efficiency by Changing to Asana

My project was to migrate my company’s Project Management software to a more efficient and organized system. One of my main goals was to have my team adopt the new tools so that everyone frequently updates the software with new/closed tasks in Asana. We moved away from Open Project to Asana.

Why?

I saw the need for a shift in our project management system and wanted to document that process. Our current project management software was unused and not serving our needs. I took the initiative to research and lead the migration process to Asana.

A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.

Proverb

Weekly Updates

Week 1 – I decided that we needed a shift in our Project Management tool. So I started brainstorming different PM tools and working on a project outline.


Week 2 – I worked on migrating from the old project management tool to Asana.


Week 3 – I created tutorial videos and worked on assisting everyone in adopting Asana.


Week 4 – The final update about the switch and finalizing my project.



Skills

Hard Skills

  • Asana
  • Google Calendar

Soft Skills

  • Organization
  • Communication
  • Instruction

Asana

I became competent in Asana enough to start teaching others in my company how to use it in a week. I learned how to navigate through Asana to create projects and populate them with clear, concise tasks. I created “rules” in Asana that make workflows easier because it would automatically move a task to another section if you changed the status, or completed a task. I used Asana forums to find the most effective way to integrate Asana into our Agile system of working. I migrated all of our projects into Asana, using the export/import features in both the old project management tool and Asana. I experimented with ways to engage my team to start fully adopting Asana.

Google Calendar

Throughout this whole process, I leaned into using Google Calendar for scheduling meetings and time to focus on working on this project.

Organization

I learned how to properly outline a month-long project. I broke down week-by-week goals and documentation. You can check out my outline here.

Communication

In switching to Asana, I had to make sure everyone was on the same page. I focused on creating tasks and making sure that everyone knew what they were supposed to be working on.

Instruction

I learned how to explain different features and ways to use Asana in a way that people understand. I did this through different tutorial videos and communicating about Asana’s features in meetings and how to best use the tool.


Check Out What I Did/Accomplishments

https://aimeeganiere.com/2023/03/14/audit-to-switch-pm-software/
https://aimeeganiere.com/2023/03/17/migrating-from-open-project-to-asana/
https://aimeeganiere.com/2023/03/21/how-to-get-people-to-use-a-new-system/
https://aimeeganiere.com/2023/03/28/asana-vs-open-project/

Tech Tools


What Would I Have Done Differently?

  • Research more tools before deciding on Asana
    • I am not totally sold on Asana yet. I know the shift has been beneficial, but I don’t know if it’s the best one. I wish I had made a list of 3-4 different tools and compared costs and features, so I would know we are getting the best one for our needs as a company.
  • Manage my time more effectively
    • I wish that I had stuck to my scheduled time to work on my project. I was caught up in procrastinating mode when my scheduled time came to work on my project. I ended up making excuses and putting it off until the later hours of the night, messing up my sleep schedule.
  • Started creating tutorial videos earlier
    • I waited until week three to start all of my tutorial videos. I wish I had better spread them throughout the month so that I could send them off to my coworkers to improve the adoption of Asana.

Concluding Thoughts

Overall, I think that this project has been a success. I am glad that I can keep adding and changing up our projects within Asana and see how it is streamlining our communication and processes. The end goal was to get people to use the system and make work more efficient. I feel like I completed my end goal. It will still be a process and there is of course room for improvement, but overall it was a success. I am excited that this project isn’t over, and I can keep creating workflows and adding to my SOP about ways to better streamline our processes. If you want to see more content like this, check out my blog!