Portfolios

Portfolios are available to all Business and Enterprise customers.

Portfolios provide a holistic view of all your important projects in one place. With project portfolio management you can organize your most important projects, monitor their health in real-time, and drill down for more information, while keeping your team updated on progress. You can also access portfolios on Android & iOS devices.

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You can also access workload through portfolios - Click Portfolios in the sidebar, select a portfolio and then navigate to the workload tab.

Create a portfolio

Dashboard 1

To create a Portfolio:

  1. Click on Portfolios in the sidebar
  2. Click on the New portfolio tile
  3. Name the portfolio
  4. Click Create portfolio

Portfolio view

When you click on one of your portfolios, you will be able to see a holistic view of all the projects contained within.

Portfolio View

From the portfolio view, you can:

  1. Add another project to the portfolio
  2. View the latest status of each project
  3. View the progress % of each project
  4. View or edit a project's due date or date range
  5. View or edit a project's priority
  6. View the custom field values for each project
  7. View the project owner

To add a project to a portfolio

Add project to portfolio

You can add projects from within a portfolio in the following ways:

  1. Click Add work to search for an existing project
  2. Create a new project by clicking on the drop-down arrow beside + Add work and selecting Create new project
  3. Add a project from a project template by selecting a template from the drop-down arrow beside + Add work

You can remove a project from your portfolio at any time.

Remove project from portfolio

To remove a project from a portfolio:

  1. Click on the three dot icon that appears next to the name of the project
  2. Click Remove from portfolio

To add a project template to a portfolio

Add project template to portfolio

  1. Click on Customize
  2. Scroll down to Project templates
  3. Click on + Add project template

Once a project template has been added to the portfolio, it will appear in the drop down menu beside Add work and can be used to create new projects from within the portfolio.

To add new templates to your portfolio:

Add template to portfolio

  1. From + Add project template select a template from the left bar and click the + Add to portfolio button.

To remove a template from your portfolio:

Remove template from portfolio

  1. To remove a template from the portfolio, click the Remove from portfolio button. The Remove from portfolio option will only appear for templates that have been added to the portfolio.

Project overview

Click on any project in your portfolio to view the project's overview.

Portfolio 3

From the project overview, you can:

  1. Select a project owner
  2. Add or edit a due date or date range
  3. Access the project directly to view its tasks, resources and timeline
  4. Add or edit a project's priority
  5. View the latest status of a project or update the project's status yourself

Status updates

The portfolio progress section gives you an in-depth snapshot into the status of any portfolio you’re working on. Status reports make it easy to create rich, repeatable, actionable status updates and share your work with key stakeholders.

portfolio overview

Portfolio progress

When you click into the Progress tab in your portfolio, you’ll be presented with a snapshot of your portfolio’s current progress status.

portfolio status

From the Progress view, you can:

  1. Check if the portfolio is on track, at risk, off track, or on hold
  2. View the number of projects that are on track, at risk, off track, or the total number of projects
  3. Update your portfolio’s status
  4. View or change the portfolio owner, date range, or description
  5. View or change goals associated with the portfolio
  6. See the most recent status update

How to create a portfolio status update

You can update your portfolio's status at any time. The templatized block structure allows you to incorporate the actual work being done in Asana with narrative context to explain the status of work.

Creating your status update

status update creation

To create a new status update:

  1. Click the Update status icon from your portfolio’s progress view

status update screen

From the status update window, you can:

  1. Add a title
  2. Fill in your status update details, including progress, portfolio owner, and dates
  3. Show or hide custom fields
  4. Include a summary
  5. Highlight accomplishments
  6. Outline what's blocked
  7. Drag highlights into your update to help tell your story
  8. Once you've entered an update, click the blue Post button.

Please note that you must select a portfolio status of on track, at risk, off track, or on hold and at least one block of text before you can post a portfolio status update.

Adding highlights to your status update

You can drag and drop highlights such as projects that are on track or at risk into your status update to help tell your story. Adding these highlights gives a visual insight into recent achievements or potential blockers for your team.

Once you’ve added your highlights and published your status update, Asana will remember the block structure and ordering for future updates.

highlight ordering

You can also reorder your What we’ve accomplished, What's blocked, and Next steps section by dragging and dropping them into place.

Adding charts to a status update

Adding charts to your status updates gives a visual insight into the work being done across your team. You can drag and drop your chart blocks into your status update.

chart

Access controls

Users can add collaborators to a status update that might not have access to the project. If this happens, a user can see all of the content of the update, but if they click on a project highlight or element they don’t have access to, their access will be blocked.

For portfolios this means that public portfolio status updates will be fully visible in the progress tab, even if users don’t have access to all projects in the portfolio.

Portfolio view options and milestones

If there is a specific way you and your team prefers to sort portfolios, you can save it as the default view for everyone.

Portfolio 5

To change your portfolio view:

  1. Click on the slider icon on the upper right of your screen
  2. Choose either Tasks or Milestones as the progress type displayed
  3. Select to view your Portfolio by Status, Project owner, Due date, or Alphabetical

Milestones in portfolio view

Milestones are visible on a portfolio's timeline.

A blue diamond signifies a milestone. They show key events and map forward movement in the project plan. Milestones act as signposts through the course of your project, helping ensure you stay on track.

Milestones in portfolios

You can then click into the milestone symbol for more context on the task within the project.

milestone task

A maximum of 12 milestones can be displayed in your portfolio view, before the list becomes truncated.

You can also view each project's milestones in the project overview by clicking on any project in a portfolio.

Milestones in project overview

From a project overview in a portfolio, you can:

  1. Click the + icon to add a new milestone
  2. View the project's completed & incomplete milestones

You can also add custom fields directly from the drop down and then sort your portfolio by your chosen field.

How to manage custom fields

From the fields icon in Projects view a drop down menu will give you an option to click on +Add field

add custom field

From here a pop up window will appear allowing you to add a custom field.

If the toggle button is blue, the field is enabled.

create new

How to add a custom field:

  1. Click on Create new
  2. Type in your new custom field name in the Field title bar
  3. Click Create field to add your new field

Sort by fields

From the Sort slider in project view you can sort your workload by a range of field options.

sort

You can now categorize, prioritize or diagnose work phases and sort based on your particular needs.

Export your portfolio to Google Sheets

Once you've created a portfolio, you can export it to Google Sheets at any time.

sheets export

To export a portfolio to Google Sheets:

  1. Tap the three dot icon next to the portfolio title
  2. Hover over Export and select Google Sheets

Export your portfolio to CSV

You can also export your portfolio to CSV. Custom fields are also included in the CSV export.

csv export

To export a portfolio to CSV:

  1. Tap the three dot icon next to the Portfolio title
  2. Hover over Export and select CSV

Portfolio membership and sharing

You can share portfolios at any time with your teammates in Asana or add them as portfolio members.

share portfolio

When you click the Share button and access the portfolio membership screen, you can:

  1. Copy the portfolio link and share with colleagues
  2. Add portfolio members
  3. Set a member as the portfolio owner or remove them from the portfolio

share portfolio 2

When you have been added as a member of a portfolio, you will receive an inbox notification. You will also see a New icon next to the portfolio in question when accessing your portfolios page.

If you have been added as a member of a portfolio, you will receive a weekly report email provided you have your email notifications turned on.

share portfolio 3

If you share a portfolio containing some private projects, the person you've shared it with will see the above notification at the bottom of the screen.

Portfolio timeline

Portfolio timeline allows you to visualize, share, and adjust how initiatives are sequenced so you can best utilize your resources and hit your deadlines.

Accessing your portfolio timeline

To access your portfolio timeline, first click on the Portfolios tab and choose your desired portfolio.

portfolio timeline

Then click on the Timeline tab to view your portfolio timeline.

portfolio timeline view

Portfolio timeline toolbar

portfolio toolbar

From your portfolio toolbar, you can:

  1. Filter projects by day
  2. Filter your view by day, week, month, quarter, half-year or year
  3. Set color or choose custom fields with a particular color

You can use your advanced search to search for information within a portfolio.

portfolio search

From your homepage:

  1. Click on Search
  2. Then click Advanced search

portfolio timeline search

From here, fill out your search parameters and click Add filter then In portfolios to search within your portfolios.

You can also search for a portfolio by @mentioning the portfolio in any description or comment field in Asana. Please note that if the portfolio is private, you must have access to the portfolio in order for it to appear in your search results.

Nested portfolios

Adding portfolios to portfolios allows you to integrate and track your work across multiple projects seamlessly. This enables you to monitor your work effortlessly and communicate progress to stakeholders.

Adding a portfolio to a portfolio

To add a portfolio to your current portfolio, click on the Add work icon and select or type a portfolio's name.

add work 1

Timeline and workload view in nested portfolios

Portfolios that contain portfolios will have disabled timeline and workload tabs. This can be undone by removing any nested portfolios.

Portfolio privacy settings

The portfolio owner has the option to make a portfolio private or public.

Making the portfolio private, will mean that only portfolio members will have access to the content within the portfolio and it won't be discoverable across your organization or workspace. Making the portfolio public will mean it will be discoverable across your organization or workspace.

To toggle between public and private portfolio settings:

portfolio search

From within your portfolio:

  1. Click on the Share icon

portfolio privacy

From here choose to keep the portfolio private or make it public to your organization or workspace.

Portfolios FAQ

Frequently asked questions about portfolios.

Who can see my portfolio?

If your portfolio is set to public, anyone you share the url with in the organization will be able to access your portfolio. Once they visit the url, it will automatically show up in their recents section in portfolios view. If any of your projects in the portfolio are private, they will see a notification at the bottom of the screen letting them know some projects are private.

Private portfolios can only be accessed by portfolio members.

Does anything happen to the project when I add it to my portfolio?

Yes, you automatically become a project status follower for all of the projects. You will get notified when any of the projects in your portfolio have a status update.

How do I add a custom field to my portfolio?

If there is a specific way you and your team prefer to sort portfolios, you can save it as the default view for everyone. Alternatively, from the fields icon within the portfolio view, a drop down will give you an option to click on +Add field. From here a pop up window will appear allowing you to add a custom field.

add field

From the Add field tab you can:

  1. Add a field title
  2. Select the field type
  3. Add a description
  4. Add the field to your organization's field library so that it can be reused across the organization.

How do I create a custom field from the toolbar?

To add a custom field from your toolbar, click on Customize and then +Add field.

export

From the Add field tab you can:

  • Add a Field title
  • Select the Field type
  • Add a description
  • Add the field to your organization's field library so that it can be reused across the organization.

You can add up to 20 fields per portfolio. 5 fields can also be shown in the portfolio view at any time.

What are the Portfolio Limits?

  • How many portfolios can I create? There is no limit

  • How many portfolios can appear in my Recents at the same time? A maximum of 20 portfolios and there is no time limit

  • How many projects can I add to a portfolio? A maximum of 500 (including archived projects)

  • How many custom fields can I add to a portfolio? A maximum of 30

  • How many custom fields can be shown in portfolio view at one time? A maximum of 30

  • How many portfolio Weekly Report email notifications can I receive per week? A maximum of 20

  • How many projects are included in each weekly report email? A maximum of 50, however a link provided will allow you to view more.

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