Drive employee impact: New tools to empower resilient leadership

In this new era of work, leaders have an opportunity to equip teams with clarity, alignment, and focus. Today, we’re proud to unveil a suite of new enhancements designed to help you do just that. 

According to the 2022 Anatomy of Work Index, workers spend 58% of their time on work about work, with 42% suffering from burnout and imposter syndrome at the same time. But great leaders recognize that employees are an organization’s most valuable assets and their well-being directly affects all aspects of the business.  

From charting a clear path around goals to forging lasting connections with employees, we have up-leveled our offerings to enable you to keep teams engaged and drive high-impact results. 

Connect individual tasks to the bigger picture

Our recent study found that nearly 1 in 3 employees can’t see how their efforts contribute to their company’s goals. The result? Employees struggle to prioritize and lose interest in their tasks.  

Employees are better positioned to do their best work when they clearly understand the value their skills bring to the table. Asana Goals enables you to link your organization’s mission with day-to-day work in one shared space. And with My goals, team members can see how their projects ladder up to larger initiatives. 

“Great leaders recognize that employees are most engaged when their effort directly contributes to the purpose of the company.” 

ANNE RAIMONDI, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, ASANA

Automatic progress roll-ups allow you to track the advancements of the team’s goals and identify roadblocks in real-time—reducing micromanagement and time-consuming meetings. Also, with Comment-only Goals launching this summer, you will soon have the option to share your objectives with the entire organization while preventing any unintended edits. 

Achieving a goal should be a rewarding experience. To recognize and celebrate your colleagues, activate the Appreciations feature in Goals each time a milestone is reached. With this positive reinforcement, you can give the team the boost they need to feel valued and keep imposter syndrome at bay. 

Activate focus mode

When teams maintain their focus and flow, they can accomplish anything. Yet, it’s tough to stay in the zone when we are constantly sidetracked by alerts. Our research found that over half of workers feel they have to respond to notifications immediately, and over a third feel overwhelmed by endless pings. Thankfully, there are ways to limit these distractions, take back time, and bring more focus to top priorities.  

“Leaders need to focus on reducing the distractions for their team so everyone can prioritize the most important work and shed work that’s not impactful.” 

SONJA GITTENS OTTLEY, HEAD OF DIVERSITY, INCLUSION & BELONGING, ASANA

By activating Do Not Disturb on your profile, you set an example for your team to set boundaries and take full control of when notifications are delivered. Want to take it a step further? Our upcoming desktop feature will grant the ability to reserve time and pause notifications for specific tasks, so you can direct your working hours to what matters most—without interruptions.  

Also, we will be rolling out a new mobile feature that will allow teams to start their weeks with greater intention by setting a focus of the week. And with Connected Work Links, employees can get all the details they need to jumpstart work straight from their activity feed.  

Cut distractions with integrations

Did you know that, on average, workers switch between 9 apps a day? This heavy reliance on too many apps leads to a distraction tax—causing missed deadlines and longer hours worked. 

To eliminate tool fatigue and increase efficiency, you can add everyday apps—like Zoom, Salesforce, Clockwise, and more—right in Asana. We’re also bringing these integrations to My Tasks, so that you can take the team’s productivity to the next level. For example, with the Slack integration, it’s easy to turn Slack messages into actionable tasks that appear in a user’s My Tasks, so nothing falls through the cracks.

“When IT leaders build strong relationships within the business, they are in a unique bird’s eye position to connect the dots and aggregate technology needs across departments.” 

JOHAN DOWDY, GLOBAL HEAD OF IT AT ASANA

Plus, we’ve expanded our Asana Partners ecosystem by adding FigJam and upgrading our Google Chat experience. Also, we will release enhanced features with Zapier and Google Drive in the coming months.

Listen and ask for feedback

The best leaders create a safe space where workers are heard. At Asana, we understand that 1:1 meetings are important for managers and employees to foster alignment, build rapport, and promote open communication. With our reimagined 1:1 project template, you can plan your meetings, keep goals top of mind, and have actionable conversations.  

“It’s important to go into conversations with curiosity, to ask questions that shape your team’s thinking, and to hear your team’s ideas. By doing so, your team will feel more empowered to come up with innovative solutions.” 

PAIGE COSTELLO, CORE PRODUCT LEADER, ASANA

Forms are a powerful way to gather, organize, and track employee feedback on a larger scale. Soon, you can embed forms directly onto your internal sites, creating a more streamlined experience for workers to provide input that could shape and improve your organization’s processes and culture. 

Take action today

Visit our new destination for leaders to gain more insights and best practices to navigate this new age of work.

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