When I tell you that I have a passionate love affair with Asana…I’m not kidding. Asana is literally the best business organization tool that I’ve ever come across. (And I’ve tested quite a few of them.)
If you’re looking for something that’s easy to use, yet powerful enough to provide soup-to-nuts total business organization — look no further!
Asana is a beast of a software that didn’t feel “too much” back when I was a solopreneur but was still able to grow with me as my business transformed into an agency with 15+ team members.
*This post is (surprisingly) not sponsored!
How to Use Asana for Behind-the-Scenes Business Organization
Why Using a Business Organization Tool is So Important
Whether or not Asana is your final choice, you need to get set up with a project management software in order to take your business to the next level. This is critical even if you’re planning on staying a solopreneur forever (but especially if you want to someday have a team!).
A tool like Asana can help you manage all aspects of your business. It allows you to set deadlines, achieve goals, stay on track with long-term projects, and reminds you of stuff you probably would’ve otherwise forgotten.
My husband and I have a running joke about how neither of us can remember to do anything if it’s not in Asana! Every single time I get notified by a client that I need to do something, or I think of a task I need to do — it immediately goes into Asana!
The Asana iOS app is super handy for this. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in the car, on a walk with the dog, or in the shower 😂 and needed to make myself a task!
As your business grows, the more and more moving parts you’ll need to manage and keep organized. This is why I strongly recommend setting up and getting started with a business organization system sooner rather than later.
Even if you don’t feel like you need it now, if you choose not to set it up and keep waiting until you do feel like you need it, you will 100% get to a point where your business is like a runaway train: totally out of control. You will wish you had implemented a system sooner!
It’s still possible to get yourself organized if you are already out of control, but ideally, you will have gotten things organized way before you ever get to that point!
Is Asana Right For Me?
Although I personally am obsessed with Asana, it’s not necessarily the perfect business organization tool for everybody. I do think it can be an amazing tool for any small business, but whether or not Asana works for you is really more about you and your personality.
- Are you already a fan of organization? Or do you tend to be more scatterbrained?
- Do you have trouble staying on top of deadlines? Or do you work well under pressure?
- Do you want more of a brainstorming hub with a place for notes? Or are you looking for help actually managing and completing projects?
- Are you a person who writes down lists on legal pads? Or someone who jots down random thoughts and ideas on sticky notes?
If you’re not sure, my best advice is to simply try it out for a few weeks. (I recommend more than one week, so you really get a feel for how it would function as a tool in your business.) The best part is that Asana is free, so there’s no risk involved!
While I love all the tools I use, it’s super important to me that you pick something that works for you. The tool itself is less important than how effective it is as what you need it to do.
I will say, though, that the “piles of sticky notes” or “notebooks full of lists” method is NOT a good long-term business organization strategy. I’ve been there and, yeah, the transition to using an online tool can be bumpy. But you need to use a real project management tool like Asana if you plan to run a profitable online business for many years to come. Think of this decision as “which project management tool should I use?” and not “should I use one?”
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Project Management App
Using Asana Behind-the-Scenes and Not With Your Clients
This is one of the most frequently asked questions I get about Asana. People want to know how I have it set up to work with my clients. Well, the easy answer is that…I don’t!
I use my Asana to manage my own business and to keep me on track with client projects. But I don’t have my clients added to my Asana.
There are two main reasons why I don’t do this: (1) I don’t want my clients seeing certain things, and in my opinion, it would be too difficult to separate it out, and (2) most of my clients already have their own project management system.
Typically, when you work with clients, they will add you to their project management software. This is pretty standard because you are the contractor.
Especially if you are a long-term service provider and will be working with them for a while, you can expect them to want to add you to theirs. If they don’t have one, they may request to join yours (which you can do if you want). Or you can create a brand-new Asana workspace for them (or use whatever tool they want to use).
Some project-based service providers do like to add clients to their project management system. I frequently see this with web designers. If you have a very systemized way of completing projects and it’s easier to have your clients in your workspace so you keep correspondence with the task management, that is totally fine! (You can do this in Asana, but Basecamp actually works really well for this, too.)
Honestly, there really are no hard and fast rules! You can use your project management tool however you’d like. It’s there to help you run your business more effectively.
Asana Business Organization for Your Client Projects
I have two separate areas in Asana. I have one main area for my own business stuff (like my blog post workflows, etc.). Then there’s a whole other area that I use to manage my client projects. This system of business organization works for me.
Every time I get a new client, I create a new project for them in Asana, and that’s where all their details go. Then, every time they give me a task to do (usually via email), I add all the information into Asana.
Then, I can either complete the task myself or delegate it out to a team member. When the task is complete, I simply let the client know and/or send any deliverables back over.
I used to just have clients email me and I’d hope to remember everything. Or I’d write a list of tasks down on paper. But I found myself constantly missing or forgetting stuff. Once I started using Asana religiously, that never happens anymore!
Using Asana has allowed me to feel totally on top of all my tasks. Even when I have a lot of them! As a service provider, it’s so comforting to know that I simply don’t drop the ball anymore. I don’t have to worry about disappointing my clients, because I always have all my ducks in a row with Asana.
Using Asana to Manage a Team
Like I mentioned earlier, Asana has been my project management tool of choice from way back when I was a solopreneur all the way to having an agency with 15+ team members!
I have an online business manager who helps me keep on top of everything, and she loves Asana, too! Together, we ensure that I’m actively delegating everything out to my team members and completing all of my own work.
With Asana, I can assign tasks with due dates and details to my team members. I love using subtasks on bigger projects so that I can look at the whole thing from a birds-eye view.
Since we also use Asana to organize client information, team members can easily go into each client’s “Admin” section to find details like their logo files, project briefs, and brand voice information.
This makes it really easy to delegate because I no longer have to list out all the information every time I delegate a task. While I always give an overview, a lot of the project details are easy for them to find. This helps eliminate the need for questions or just winging it because they don’t have all the details.
Are you ready to give Asana a try? Setting up a business organization system online can be time-consuming but so worth it. Never drop the ball again!
