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How to choose the right project blueprint for your work

In This Article

Every project is unique, but they all fall into one of three categories that can help you set up your work more effectively. Understanding which "blueprint" your project fits into makes it easier to choose the right features and organize your work for success.

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What are project blueprints?

Project blueprints are frameworks that help you identify the best way to structure your work in Asana. There are three main types:

  1. Deadline-bound projects - Work that happens in sequence and culminates with a final deliverable
  2. Ongoing processes - Work that moves through stages in an evergreen pipeline
  3. Reference projects - Information storage and organization without actionable work

Blueprint 1: Deadline-bound projects

Deadline-bound projects are probably what you think of when you hear "project." They're like a checklist where tasks happen in sequence and everything builds toward a final deliverable or due date.

Key characteristics

  • Tasks are completed in sequence
  • Represents a discrete body of work
  • The project has a final deliverable or due date
  • Project ends when the goal is achieved

Common examples

  • Product launches
  • Event planning
  • Employee onboarding
  • Marketing campaigns
  • Website redesigns

Best practices for deadline-bound projects

Set milestones for major markers

Mark key progress points with milestones to help your team see major achievements and stay motivated.

Use dependencies for sequential handoffs

Draw dependencies to connect work as you create your project plan. Dependencies refer to the connections between tasks that dictate the sequence in which activities should be executed. With task dependencies, you can mark a task as blocking another task, or blocked by another task. If you spot a timing conflict, you can adjust the due date on the timeline. Your team will receive notifications when blocking tasks are completed.

adding dependencies to tasks.png

Create templates for repeatable projects

If you run similar projects regularly, save time by creating custom templates you can reuse. To convert a project to a template, use the drop-down next to the project name and click Save as template.

When to use this blueprint:

Choose deadline-bound when your project has a clear start and finish, with work that needs to happen in a specific order.

how to organize a dead-bound project in Asana.png

In the example above, you can see the project is organized by:

  1. Adding sections
  2. Breaking up work into subtasks
  3. Using custom fields
  4. Including milestones

Blueprint 2: Ongoing processes

Ongoing processes are evergreen workflows where the same type of work moves through multiple stages repeatedly. Unlike deadline-bound projects, these never really end - they're more like pipelines that work constantly flows through.

Key characteristics

  • Work moves through stages
  • Project serves as an evergreen pipeline
  • No specific end date
  • Same process repeats for different pieces of work

Common examples

  • Creative requests
  • IT helpdesk tickets
  • Content calendars
  • Weekly meeting agendas
  • Work intake processes
  • Bug tracking

Best practices for ongoing processes

Add forms for work intake

Create forms so people can submit requests directly into your project with all the information you need. With forms, you can standardize how work gets kicked off for your team, gather necessary information, and ensure that no work falls through the cracks. You can use forms with internal and external teams to collect and consolidate information and minimize back and forth.

Set up automation rules

Use rules to automatically move tasks between stages, assign work, or update fields when certain conditions are met.

Create task templates

Standardize how work gets created by using task templates that include all necessary fields and subtasks.

Visualize with board view

Board view works especially well for ongoing processes since you can see work moving through different stages.

When to use this blueprint:

Choose ongoing processes when you handle the same type of work repeatedly, and each piece follows similar steps from start to finish.

 

 

 

Jamie is the Creative Producer at Phoenix Corp. The Events team often submits design requests for images. Jamie sets up a project in board view to streamline and automate their team's creative request intake process.

setting up an ongoing process in Asana.png

  1. Jamie sets up the request project in board view. It is intuitive to track the stages of a process horizontally across the board.
  2. The sections show the stages that work moves through, from New Requests to Recently Completed.
  3. From the Customize menu, Jamie adds custom fields. They have added fields for priority, approval stage, and estimated hours.
  4. Jamie views subtasks in board view by clicking on the branching item in the bottom corner of a task.

Blueprint 3: Reference projects

Reference projects are for capturing and organizing information rather than managing actionable work. They're like digital filing cabinets that help you store and find important information.

Key characteristics

  • Main purpose is information storage or organization
  • Items may not represent actionable work
  • Focus on visibility rather than completion
  • Can be time-bound or evergreen

Common examples

  • Employee handbooks
  • Vendor lists
  • Content catalogs
  • Meeting notes archives
  • Resource libraries
  • Brainstorming collections

Best practices for reference projects:

Choose your preferred view

Pick the project view that makes the most sense for your information (list, board, timeline, or calendar).

Use tasks for static items

Each task can represent a piece of information, document, or resource you want to track.

Organize with sections and custom fields

Group related items using sections and add custom fields to make information easy to filter and find.

Link to related work

Connect your reference project to active projects and tasks where the information is relevant.

When to use this blueprint:

Choose reference projects when you need to organize information, resources, or long-term plans that people will refer back to over time.

Additional resources

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How to choose project blueprints | Asana Help Center