Every SaaS tool comes with its own data model; a fancy word used to describe a the system's structure and how user can store, access, and manage data. In a work management tool, the data stored in the system are projects, tasks, files, and other assets a team might use to collaborate. The Asana Data Model is hierarchical and defines the how teams manage their projects, processes, workflows, and information in the system. There are two structures in Asana depending on the plan you purchase.

• Users using a free plan with a personal email address have access to a Workspace model, in which all projects reside within a central hub.
• Users subscribed to a paid plan with a company email address have access to an Organization model, which is further organized into Teams where Projects reside.

In this Cubetorial, we're discussing the Organization model on paid plans. The structure is as follows:

1. Organization
2. Team
3. Project
4. Task
5. Subtask

Organization

An Organization in Asana is a central hub for all users who share a business domain name. For instance, any users using the domain thecoffeco.com will automatically become members of the organization when they sign up. Any user who logs into Asana using an email domain other than the one set for the organization will become a Guest in the system.

An example of an Organization:

• Everyone who works for “The Coffee Company”, an organization specializing in providing industrial coffee makers to small businesses. Any employee using the  @thecoffeecompany.com email domain set for the organization can join as a member.

You can configure your Organization's setting in the Admin panel.

Team

A Team in Asana is a functional group in an organization made of members and guests who share a designated workspace for all of their projects. Teams commonly reflect a single department or team within a company such as Marketing, HR, Sales, or Executive committees.

An example of a Team:

• Marketing
• Sales
• Operations

An example of Teams listed on the left sidebar

An example of a Team space‍

Project

Projects are stored within Teams to track actionable steps toward achieving an objective, managing a process, handling requests, or tracking information. Projects are equipped with a variety of features like project views and custom fields which enable users to display project data in different formats and track specific components of a task such as status, cost, or other details.

An example of a project:

• Weekly Email Campaign
• New Business Development
• Coffee Maker Logistics Tracker
  ‍

An example of a Project in List view. We created a sample project to show how it can be used to manage a process, like onboarding company new hires.

Task

Tasks are stored within Projects and by default, clearly answer the question, “Who’s responsible for what, and by when?” This information is captured using the default Assignee and Due Date fields. Tasks can be used for multiple use cases such as establishing actionable steps for an objective, brainstorm ideas, track information, set reminders, and even as a personal task tool.

An example of a Task:

• Create an email announcing our new product lineup
• Set up Joe’s Toyland with 7 coffee dispensers across campus
• Conduct inventory of all coffee makers and secondary units at our Warehouse

Subtask

Subtasks are additional tasks (or micro-tasks) stored within the main task. They are used to track more specific action items that support the parent task and generally must be completed before the parent task is marked complete.

An example of a Subtask:

• Design email template and gain approval from the team
• Schedule installation time for the technician
• Update Excel spreadsheet with most recent inventory

The structure for all of your work

Understanding the Asana Data Model is key to building your work management solution and establishing conventions that work seamlessly with both the system and your team's flow. Organizations are a great way to manage all users using an email address with your company's domain name and organize work in the context of their team's functions.

Thanks for learning about the Asana Data Model.

Check out other Cubetorials below :)