@Carlo, what a fantastic topic. This question is at the heart of productivity and making the most of Asana as a productivity tool. I’ll start by commenting on what you all have mentioned so far and then dig deeper into how we keep track of long term goals at Asana.
@PaulMinors I think it is wonderful that you created this blog post about how to work in seasons. In a word: YES. You hit the nail on the head when you say, “It’s not always easy to link the higher-level goals and vision that you’re working towards with the day to day things that you actually do.” I’m sure we can all relate to this in work and in life in general. You also hit the nail on the head with something Asana specific: “someday tasks” aka tasks we put into upcoming and/or later and forget about. I’m still working on this and thinking about a regular Friday sweep of upcoming tasks to prepare me for next week. Also I love your chart that demonstrates the links between tasks —> projects —> vision.
Regarding your idea, @FATBOY, that “motivation is the problem,” I’m with @Carlo on this one. I’d argue motivation is easy, while motivation without an easy process is the problem. You describe this as a bridge between long and short term goals, @Carlo.
Now, into the weeds! At Asana we use a process along the lines of what @PaulMinor describes in his seasons blog post. Here’s the gist of what we do:
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Company goals (year)
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Team Goals (year)
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Team Goals (quarter)
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Project A (feeds into quarterly goal, may be longer term)
→ Project includes a list of goals, sections, and tasks -
Project B (feeds into quarterly goal, may be longer term)
→ Project includes a list of goals, sections, and tasks -
Project C (feeds into quarterly goal, may be longer term)
–>Project includes a list of goals, sections, and tasks- My tasks
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The sequence above is, generally speaking, how we do it. Each nested section is like a link in a chain. Some links are bigger than others and some are connected to multiple links. This is where I love your diagram (see below), @PaulMinors. I think we have a few more layers to get to vision, but our processes are similar. In addition, the seasons idea puts a slightly different spin on our sequence, but I think what you outline is a great conceptual alternative to the theoretical nesting I describe above. And one could argue that we’re pretty much saying the same thing.
How do we create the links in the chain?
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Task —> Project = put one task in multiple projects
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Project —> Task = list the task in a project
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Project <—> Project (A) = create a task with the project name. In the description, paste the project URL. Example of where this is especially useful: In team goals for the quarter, add a “Relevant projects” section and list all projects for the year below.
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Project <—> Project (B) = in a given project’s description, put a link to another project. Example of where this is especially useful: In team goals for the quarter, add a link to team goals for the year (project) in the project description. And vice versa.
I suggest you also look at these links in the guide for more inspiration: How to Create and Track Goals in Asana | Product Guide • Asana Product Guide + How to use Asana for product roadmaps | Product guide • Asana Product Guide. And let us know if any of you have more guide links to recommend!
This is a lot to digest! Let me know if you have any questions.