IT helpdesk

How to create an IT helpdesk request project in Asana

There are a few ways to create your project. To get started quickly:

1. Start with our IT helpdesk template and customize it for your team’s needs.
2. Import an existing spreadsheet where you currently track requests.

For sensitive IT issues, you can create a private project that only the IT team can see.

How to access all Asana templates

If you’re a free user, prefer to build your own helpdesk project from scratch, or want general best practices for Asana projects get started here.

Tips for tracking IT requests

1. Capture requests uniformly to action them faster with forms

Going back and forth on basic helpdesk request details slows work down. Instead, create forms to capture the right details every time for any IT request. Forms are directly connected to your request project to ensure your team starts with the information they need, while making it easy for those making a request to give you what you need.

Forms can be submitted by anyone—even if they don’t use Asana—by sending them the form link. Once submitted, the form response becomes a new task in your project so it can get prioritized and assigned to a teammate with all the information they need.

Set up a form by following the steps outlined here. And add project rules to automatically assign form submission tasks to an IT teammate to make sure requests get prioritized after submission.

2. Keep requests in conversations and emails actionable

If you get a lot of requests via chat or email, you can always send the requester the link to your form, but you also have the option of using integrations to quickly action the conversation.

If you get chats or emails with actionable work or questions, you can add them to Asana right from your inbox or message to assign them as a task, add to your request project, and more.

For email, use the Asana for Gmail, Outlook, or other email client add-ons. For chat, try the Asana for Slack integration.

3. Prioritize and organize requests with custom fields

Once you’ve set up a form, custom fields will help you prioritize incoming requests and sort them into categories. If you’re used to spreadsheets, you might do this by filtering and sorting columns. Custom fields are a more powerful replacement, because they track this information in context with the work (instead of a place only a project manager or team lead can see.)

If you add a “request type” field in your form, you can map it to the same custom field in your project. Then when submitted, the new task will specify if someone is trying to troubleshoot a technical problem, or get new hardware.

4. Prevent duplicate work by tracking request tasks in more than one project

It’s common that an IT request feeds into larger IT work and initiatives. Instead of making two separate tasks, you can store tasks in multiple projects to track the work in both projects. Work won’t get duplicated, and you can see the right information in the right context.

1. Start in the task and type Tab + P and type the name of any additional projects you want to add a task to.

For example, your IT team might have a private project tracking loaner computers. If a new request to borrow a computer comes in, you can store the task in IT requests and the loaner computer project, but keep the rest of the loaner project private.

5. Never lose track of timely deadlines

For requests that are time sensitive, you can use due times to make sure that any issues are resolved before presentations, demos, or leaving for company travel. Select a time by clicking the due date of a task and selecting Add a Due Time.

If a certain task needs to be repeated at a regular interval, you can set it as recurring to make sure you never miss an account renewal or monthly ordering cycle again.

Tips for reporting on and staffing requests

Monitor project progress and manage IT staffing with Portfolios and Workload

To understand project progress and gauge team bandwidth, IT leads usually piece together information in meetings, emails, or spreadsheets, which can be time consuming and inaccurate. Instead, create a project portfolio with all key IT projects and your IT helpdesk to see real-time progress, deadlines, and priority all in one place.

Then use the Workload tab to visualize your team’s capacity based on tasks they’re already assigned in Asana. Workload helps you make informed staffing decisions to keep workloads balanced and important IT work on track.

Workload defaults to task count, but we know not all tasks are created equally. You can set up effort custom fields across portfolio projects to get a better sense of the total hours or effort level going into each task.

Resources for IT helpdesk

Want more tips? More of a visual learner? Want to see how customers like you manage IT requests? Check out these resources: