Time tracking has been a hit in recent years when it comes to project and team management, and frankly, it should not come as a surprise. Firstly, the ability to track what employees do in their work time has always been in the best interest of any company. Secondly, the reports with the time tracking data bring many valuable insights into how business goes and what steps to take to make it even better. The time has come for Asana to have a say in their time tracking function, as for a long time this has been non-existent. Today, we would like to shed some light on the recent Asana addition as well as propose the best way to track time and get reporting in Asana. Let's get started!
Does Asana have native time tracking?
Until recently, the function of time tracking and therefore time tracking reporting was not present within the Asana software. However, now Asana offers their users such an option. You can assess the time needed to complete tasks and keep track of the time the team actually spends on Asana tasks. This can be done with the help of an Asana timer or manual time recording. However the most crucial is a reporting feature which will significantly help in analyzing productivity.
Thanks to this time data, the managers can make informed decisions while assessing workload and assigning resources to certain tasks. Having more in-depth information about real-time estimates of project progress is crucial for forecasting and budgeting.
Furthermore, you can manually track time as well as rely on automatic calculation of total logged time against the actual time spent on a task. All calculations are based on various moments that the work on task took place.
Unfortunately, one of the bigger downsides of the native Asana time report function is its limited availability. At the moment, only the users of Asana Advanced, Enterprise, and Enterprise+ plans, and legacy plans Business and Legacy Enterprise can use the function of time tracking.
How can you track time in Asana?
Asana offers time tracking that can be performed with the use of a custom field inside your task called the 'Actual time' field. Having that field makes the task and the timer appear in the bottom-right corner of the screen. Once you click on it, the task details will be displayed.
Let us go through the whole process of setting up time tracking in Asana
Step #1: Enabling time tracking
To start with, we must enable time tracking in the given project. To do that, find the 'Customize' button in the top right corner of your screen. Once you click it, select time tracking from the displayed list.
Step #2: Adding estimated time and actual time fields
There will be two more custom fields that will appear now in the project: the 'Estimated time' field and the 'Actual time' field. These fields can also be added through the custom field library. Now, the time log can record time every time the work is performed on the task. The total time will be based on all these entries and automatically calculated.
Step #3: Time tracking data reporting
You can now report on time data in projects. Let's have a look at the examples.
Estimated time by the assignee
It is the report on the predicted time of the task completion in a project. It is based on every assignee. To create such a chart, select 'Assignee' for the X-axis, and 'Custom field' then 'Estimated time' for the Y-axis.
Estimated time by a group of assignees
Getting data on the total estimated time spent on tasks depending on a selected group of assignees is also a function Asana gives you.
Total actual time by section
This function reports on the summary of the actual time. The dashboard displays the total actual time by section. To create such a chart select 'Section' for the X-axis and 'Time entry' then 'Actual time' for Y-axis.
Total actual time by custom field
Report on total actual time by custom field in a project can be issued by selecting 'Custom field' then 'Department' for the X-axis and 'Time entry' then 'Actual time' for the Y-axis.
Reporting dashboards
Another helpful tool when it comes to time tracking and reporting in Asana is the reporting dashboard.
The reporting dashboard lets you have a direct outlook on how your team works in real-time. It only takes a few clicks to create a board but it can significantly speed up your decision-making process. Visualizing data in various ways can help to find blockers and troubleshoot possible problems. There are also chart templates, with which you can start reporting quickly, and you will not need any reporting experience either!
Building a dashboard
A reporting dashboard can be created within just a few steps. To start with, choose a suitable chart template from the library. It is also possible to customize your own chart. Input data about your projects, goals, and tasks. Now you can gather the information regarding:
Spending: A line chart will allow you to monitor how project costs change during its duration.
Progress: A donut chart is perfect for tracking the status of every task within a given project.
Revenue: A graph will help you visualize total revenue across projects at your company.
Cons of using Asana native time tracking
So is the new Asana native time tracking reporting good or bad? In our humble opinion, it is a basic functionality only sufficient for certain small types of companies or individuals. Why? Because they most likely do not need the function to be advanced and have many useful extra features. What are the downsides of tracking time and reporting in Asana? We made a list of the possible obstacles below:
Native time tracking needs to be turned on for every project
It is not possible to set up individual estimates
Project billing configuration is impossible
The project budget cannot be set up
Tracked time cannot be turned into timesheets
There is no tracked time approval
Detailed time tracking reporting is impossible
Native time tracking in Asana needs upgrading to Business and Enterprise plans, which is costly
There are probably more flaws within this still-new functionality and, with time, they will most likely be eliminated by the Asana software development teams. However, we do not want to wait around for that to happen when our business can thrive with alternative and more efficient solutions right now. What are those?
What is the best way to track time and get detailed reports in Asana?
Because the built-in Asana time tracking feature is not sufficient for everyone, you should consider using the TimeCamp time tracking integration with Asana. TimeCamp is a time-tracking solution that helps to track time spent on working on projects and tasks. Among its many benefits, it offers detailed time tracking reporting which aids in many areas of your business.
TimeCamp has more than 20 built-in report types, which give you valuable data and aid in making business decisions on its basis. You can also get real-time reporting, which will let you have a better outlook on your team’s performance, project progress, and status or budget.
TimeCamp integration will also allow you to create custom reports, which will let you analyze data according to the specific needs of your business and be more effective in doing so. All your reports can also be exported in the most popular formats and shared in a simple way. TimeCamp offers a special function of guest view and periodical e-mails, which help to keep everyone who is involved properly informed.
You can integrate TimeCamp with Asana for free by choosing our forever free plan with the basic reporting functions. If you need more detailed reporting choose one of our premium plans. Not sure which option is best for your needs? Why not sign up for our 14-day trial to test reporting features for free before you decide?
Time management
