Asana re-releases Project Templates

One of the most powerful aspects of Asana is the ability to create dozens of tasks, assigned to the right people, in just a few clicks using templates. A template is essentially a pre-made project that’s ready to go. If you’ve planned through the template well, often the only thing you need to change is the due dates.

But the only way to create templates up to this point is to create a normal project and just label it “Template.” This gets a little tricky because the template tasks you assign might accidentally get completed which short-circuits the template’s use in the future. (There is a way around this: Before copying a template project, use the view “All Tasks” to see if any tasks have been marked completed and un-check them.)

Asana tried to introduce Project Templates in November of 2014, but the effort fell flat. Nobody used them because they were limited (essentially just a few added Section Headings with special icons) and it also was an additional step when creating a project.

Asana's initial attempt at templates in 2014. The effort flopped.

Now Asana is re-releasing the feature as an optional tab when creating a new project. There are two free templates including one that introduces the basics of Asana to new users, but most are behind a paywall requiring Asana Premium.

Asana's new iteration of project templates. Credit: Asana, Inc.

I took a look at each template. While some are somewhat helpful, none are too difficult to replicate using your own processes. They take advantage of section headings and custom fields to help you start off in creating a new project. Like any stock template, it will require customization for your own organization’s systems.

You can learn how to create even better Project Templates in the Asana Training Masterclass!

What is extremely exciting, however, is what Asana promises is coming: the ability to save your own custom templates alongside Asana-made templates. This is a feature I recommended to Asana several years ago. This will fix the pain points with labeling existing projects as templates, such as a cluttered sidebar or accidentally deleting or completing tasks in a template project.

So while this iteration is not a valuable feature worth upgrading to Asana Premium, being able to add your own custom templates will be in the near future.

What do you think of the Asana pre-made templates?

Asana guide  |  Asana-created templates