Asana Workflow Specialist Certificate key terms

The defined sequence of stages, handoffs, and decisions that work passes through from request to completion. It describes who does what, in what order, and under what conditions.

Documenting each step of an existing or desired workflow, including owners, inputs, outputs, and decision points, before building it in the tool. It exposes gaps and unnecessary handoffs.

A named phase of work, such as Requested, In Review, or Complete, that tasks move through. Stages are usually represented by sections or a status field and drive reporting on where work sits.

The moment responsibility for a task transfers from one person or team to another. Clear handoffs specify what must be true before the next owner begins.

The structured process by which new work requests enter a team's pipeline, typically through a form or template that captures required details up front.

Reviewing incoming requests to decide priority, ownership, and whether to accept, defer, or decline them. Triage keeps unvetted work from cluttering active project views.

A container that holds a set of related tasks, their sections, custom fields, and members. Projects are the primary unit where work is organized, viewed, and reported on.

The smallest unit of actionable work in the system, with an assignee, due date, description, comments, and attachments. Tasks can belong to multiple projects at once.

A task nested under a parent task to break work into smaller pieces. Subtasks belong to their parent rather than directly to the parent's project, which affects how they appear in project views.

A divider inside a project that groups tasks into columns or phases. Sections provide visual structure and, in board layouts, represent the stages tasks move across.

A task marked to represent a significant checkpoint or deliverable rather than ongoing work. Milestones are typically used to track key dates in a timeline.

A link showing that one task must be completed before another can start or finish. Dependencies surface scheduling conflicts and are used to build timelines.

The single person accountable for completing a task. Clear assignment prevents work from being orphaned and enables workload reporting.

A person added to a task or project to follow updates and contribute without being the accountable owner. Collaborators receive notifications but are not responsible for completion.

A project-level attribute, such as a dropdown, number, date, or text value, added to tasks for structured metadata. Custom fields enable filtering, sorting, and reporting beyond title and due date.

A custom field, often a dropdown, that records which stage a task is in, such as Not Started, In Progress, or Blocked. It supports reporting across projects that use different sections.

A central place where custom fields are created and managed so the same field can be attached consistently to multiple projects. Shared fields make cross-project reporting possible.

A custom field type offering a fixed list of options, optionally color-coded, so values stay consistent across tasks. Dropdowns are commonly used for status, priority, and category.

A custom field, usually a dropdown, that ranks tasks by urgency or importance. It lets teams sort and filter work by what matters most.

An automated instruction that triggers when a specified event occurs and then performs one or more actions, such as assigning a task or changing a field. Rules reduce manual status updates.

The condition or event that starts a rule, such as a task being added to a section, a field changing, or a due date approaching. Every rule needs at least one trigger.

The operation a rule performs once its trigger fires, such as assigning a user, moving a task to a section, or posting a comment. A rule can run several actions in sequence.

An additional filter within a rule that must be true for the actions to run, such as only when a dropdown field equals a certain value. Conditions narrow broad triggers.

Any configured behavior that performs work without manual input, including rules, form routing, and template-driven task creation. Automation should be documented and reviewed like any process.

A saved way of displaying a project's tasks, such as list, board, calendar, or timeline. Views change presentation and grouping without changing the underlying tasks.

A layout that displays tasks as cards in columns, usually representing sections or stages. Dragging cards between columns is a common way to advance work.

A layout showing tasks as rows with sortable columns for fields like assignee and due date. It is well suited to scanning many tasks and applying filters.

A layout that places tasks on a horizontal schedule with start and end dates, showing overlaps and dependencies. It helps teams spot scheduling risk.

A saved or temporary set of criteria that hides tasks not matching specified field values, assignees, or dates. Filters focus a view on a relevant subset of work.

A summary of project or portfolio data, often shown as a chart or numeric total, built from task counts grouped by fields. Reports answer questions like work by status or owner.

A collection of charts and reports gathered in one place to monitor progress across projects or portfolios. Dashboards are typically shared with stakeholders for at-a-glance status.

A structured submission page that collects information from requesters and creates a task or project from the responses. Forms standardize intake and can map answers to fields.

A reusable blueprint that creates a project or task set with predefined sections, tasks, fields, and assignments. Templates enforce consistency and reduce setup time for repeatable work.

The level of access a person has to a project or task, such as admin, editor, commenter, or viewer. Permissions control who can change versus only see work.

An outside collaborator invited to specific projects without access to the wider organization's work. Guest access should be limited and reviewed to protect sensitive information.

The policies and practices that keep a workspace consistent, such as naming conventions, field standards, template ownership, and periodic access reviews. Good governance prevents duplicate fields and stale projects.

A collection of projects grouped for shared oversight, reporting, and status tracking. Portfolios let leaders monitor many projects without opening each one.

A view of how much assigned work each person has, usually based on task counts or effort estimates. Workload views help balance assignments and spot overload.