How to onboard a new team member in Asana

If you’re bringing on a new team member and using Asana to manage your projects, you need a solid onboarding system.

Otherwise, you’ll spend way too much time answering the same questions, fixing miscommunications, and trying to get them up to speed when they could already be working efficiently from day one.

Either keep reading or watch the video below:

I’ve helped clients, team members and even clients' team members transition smoothly into Asana. And I’ve seen firsthand what happens when someone isn’t onboarded properly - it leads to confusion, missed deadlines, and way too many unnecessary emails.

But don’t worry, by the end of this post, you’ll have a simple, three-step system that makes onboarding in Asana a breeze.

Plus, I’ll share how to create quick video tutorials so you don’t have to explain the same thing over and over again, an integration that will make creative teamwork so much easier, and the biggest mistake people make when onboarding in Asana - and how to avoid it! So stay tuned for all of this helpful info!

Step 1: Add Them to the Right Teams & Projects

The first step is adding your new team member to the right teams and projects. This might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how often people skip this step (or don’t do it correctly).

Why This Matters

Let's talk about why this matters: Say you hire a new team member, and they’re excited to get started. But when they log into Asana for the first time, they see… nothing. No tasks, no projects, no clear direction. Now, they’re stuck wondering, Where do I start? What am I even supposed to do?

On the flip side, you might accidentally give them too much access, meaning they can see things they shouldn’t, like sensitive financial data or private strategy documents.

So, getting this step right isn’t just about giving access - it’s about giving the right access, so your new team member has everything they need to do their job without feeling lost or overwhelmed.

How to Do It Right

Here's how to do it right. When adding a new team member to Asana, I follow a simple process to make sure they’re set up properly:

1️⃣ Assign Them to the Correct Teams

The first thing you need to do is make sure they’re added to the teams they’ll be working with. Think of teams in Asana as categories in your business.

🔹 You might have teams like:

• Marketing (for content creation, social media, email campaigns)

• Sales (for lead tracking, proposals, and follow-ups)

• Operations (for SOPs, team management, and financial tracking)

🔹 No matter how you have your organized, make sure your new team member is placed where they need to be from day one.

Now you want to keep in mind that when you assign them to a team, they will have access to all public projects within that team. If you only want them to have access to specific projects within a team, then you will want to start by adding them to just those projects instead of teams. So that leads us to the next step...

2️⃣ Give Them Access to the Right Projects

So, if you only want them to have access to specific projects within a team and have your project as public, then you are going to want to give them access to just those select projects.

✅ Inside each team, your Asana setup might have multiple projects, such as:

• Marketing Team → Social Media Calendar, Email Campaigns, Blog Content

• Sales Team → Client Leads, Follow-Up System, Outreach Strategies

• Operations Team → Standard Operating Procedures, Team Management, Financial Tracking

🔹 If your new team member is handling in charge of updating and creating SOPs, they probably don’t need to see all the other high level operations work, like team management or financials—so only give them access to what’s relevant to their role.

💡 Tip: If you’re onboarding multiple people, create a checklist of required project access so you don’t have to manually think about it every time you add someone new.

3️⃣ Make Sure They Can See What They Need (And Nothing More)

This is where things can go wrong if you’re not careful.

You don’t want someone to:

❌ Accidentally delete or edit tasks they shouldn’t touch

❌ Get overwhelmed by unnecessary information

❌ See sensitive data that isn’t relevant to their role

Here’s how to double-check permissions before finishing up:

🔹 If you use private projects → Make sure the right people have permission to view and edit tasks. Otherwise, they might not see anything at all when they log in.

🔹 If you have confidential or high-level projects → Use limited access settings so they can only view what they need.

🔹 If you’re not sure → Do a quick test. Log in as the new team member (or ask them to check) and confirm that everything looks right.

💡 Tip: If you ever need to adjust access later, Asana makes it easy to change permissions at both the team and project levels. So if someone’s role shifts, you can update their access pretty easily.

Final Thoughts on Step 1

Setting up your new team member correctly from day one saves you a ton of time, confusion, and frustration down the line.

Instead of answering endless questions like, Where do I find this? or Why can’t I see that?—you can onboard them smoothly and efficiently with just a little bit of upfront effort.

Once they’re added to the right teams and projects, the next step is making sure they actually know how to use Asana properly—which is exactly what we’ll cover next!

Step 2: Train Them on Asana’s Essential Features

So, now that your new team member has access to the right teams and projects, the next step is teaching them how to actually use Asana effectively.

I know what you might be thinking—Wait, do I have to train every single person on every little feature?

Well, no. You don’t need to overwhelm them with every single feature and setting in Asana.

Instead, you just need to focus on the essentials—the features they’ll use every single day to stay organized and communicate with the team.

In my experience, there are three things that every new Asana user must know:

1. How to Use the Inbox (and Turn Off Email Notifications!)

One of the biggest mistakes new Asana users make? Not checking their Asana inbox regularly.

📩 What the Inbox Does:

• Asana’s Inbox is where you get real-time updates on task assignments, due dates, comments, and team mentions.

• It replaces the need for endless email threads, keeping all project updates in one organized place.

❌ What Happens If They Don’t Use It?

• Their inbox gets cluttered, and they start missing important tasks.

• They communicate via email or messaging apps instead of updating tasks in Asana—leading to confusion and causing team members to not know where to check for status updates.

And if they don't use it correctly, they could get bombarded with emails instead.

That's why one of the first things I tell teams is to disable Asana email notifications.

🔹 Here’s how they can do it:

1️⃣ Click their profile picture in the top right corner.

2️⃣ Go to My Settings → Notifications.

3️⃣ Turn off email notifications for "Activity updates" and "Daily summaries."

4️⃣ Teach them to check their Asana Inbox instead of relying on email.

💡 Tip: If they’re worried about missing updates, let them know they can adjust Inbox filters to see only what’s relevant to them—like tasks assigned to them or messages from their manager.

2. How to Set Up Their Profile

Next, you want to make sure your new team member sets up their profile so everyone on the team knows who they are.

Here's Why This Matters:

• A blank profile can make it hard to recognize who’s who—especially in larger teams.

• Having a real name and profile picture helps build connection and accountability. It's like you're actually interacting with and working with another human lol.

Here's What They Should Do:

1️⃣ Upload a profile picture (so they’re easy to recognize).

2️⃣ Fill in their full name and role (so others know what they do).

3️⃣ Optionally, add a short bio or contact details if they work cross-functionally.

💡 Tip: If your team works remotely, encourage everyone to use a clear, professional photo—not a blurry selfie or random avatar. It just makes collaboration so much easier when you can put a face to a name!

3. How to Use the “My Tasks” View

Finally, they need to know how to track their work—and that’s where the My Tasks view comes in. This is one of my favourite features of Asana that other similar tools don't have!

📌 What “My Tasks” Does:

• It shows all tasks assigned to them, across all projects.

• It helps them stay on top of deadlines and avoid missing anything.

• It allows them to prioritize and organize their workload.

❌ What Happens If They Don’t Use It?

• They lose track of their assignments and forget what’s due.

• They constantly ask, “Hey, what should I be working on?”

• They slow down team progress because they’re not aware of pending tasks.

💡 Solution: Teach Them How to Use It!

Here’s what I walk them through:

1️⃣ Click on My Tasks in the left sidebar.

2️⃣ Show them how to view tasks by due date, priority, or project.

3️⃣ Explain the different view options.

If they prefer list or board view, Explain the different sections:

• Today → Urgent tasks they need to work on today.

• Upcoming → Tasks that are due soon but not urgent.

• Later → Tasks that aren’t due anytime soon.

If they prefer calendar view, like I do, show them how to see tasks without a due date and show weekends.

4️⃣ Encourage them to check My Tasks daily—just like they would check their email!

💡 Tip: Some people find it helpful to set up custom sections in My Tasks (e.g., "Priority Tasks," "Waiting on Feedback," etc.). If that sounds like something they’d use, show them how to do it!

Final Thoughts on Step 2

Once your new team member knows how to:

✅ Check their Inbox (instead of relying on email)

✅ Set up their profile (so they’re recognizable)

✅ Use the My Tasks view (to stay organized)

They’ll feel way more confident navigating Asana—and you won’t have to micromanage them every step of the way!

The next step? Making sure they actually use Asana consistently—which we’ll cover in the next part!

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Step 3: Provide a Simple Training Resource (Video is Best!)

Alright, here’s where a lot of people go wrong when onboarding new team members in Asana:

❌ They try to train every new person one-on-one—over and over again.

❌ They spend way too much time answering the same questions.

❌ They don’t document the process, so everyone learns Asana differently (leading to confusion).

If this sounds familiar, don’t worry—you're not the only one. The solution? A simple video training.

Why Video Training Works Better Than One-on-One Training:

• It saves you time—no more repeating the same explanations.

• It ensures everyone learns the system the same way.

• New hires can re-watch it anytime instead of asking repeat questions.

This one small change can completely transform how smoothly your team gets up to speed in Asana.

How I Do This for My Team & Clients

I personally use two different approaches, depending on the situation:

📌 For My Own Team:

When I bring on a new team member, I don’t start from scratch. Instead, I send them straight to specific videos on my YouTube channel that show:

✅ How to get everything set up and the basics on how to use Asana

✅ How to use Asana as a team

🔹 Why This Works:

• The videos are already made, so I don’t have to keep re-explaining things.

• It keeps the training consistent for every new team member.

• If they forget something, they can re-watch it instead of messaging me.

💡 Tip: If you don’t have your own videos yet, find tutorials on YouTube and send those instead! Just make sure they align with how your team actually uses Asana.

📌 For My Clients’ Teams:

When working with clients and their teams, my approach depends on my role:

🔹 When I was an Online Business Manager:

I would record a custom video walkthrough of how their Asana workspace works. This includes:

🎥 A step-by-step tour of their Asana setup.

🎥 How tasks, projects, and workflows are structured.

🎥 Any key processes or automations they need to know.

And anything else that's relevant to how they use Asana as a team, since every team is different.

🔹 If I’m Mentoring Them through Back-pocket support:

I help them outline what to include in their own training video so they—or another team member—can record it themselves.

What Every Asana Training Video Should Cover:

1️⃣ The basics of how to set up and use Asana in case they are brand new to it, such as setting up their profile and using My Tasks and Inbox as we discussed previously.

2️⃣ How Your Team Uses Asana (your unique setup & workflow).

3️⃣ Where to Find Key Projects & Tasks (so they don’t waste time searching).

4️⃣ How to Communicate in Asana (when to use task comments vs. messages).

5️⃣ Common Mistakes to Avoid (to keep everything organized).

💡 Tip: The video doesn’t have to be fancy—just a simple screen recording with your voice explaining things works perfectly.

And you can easily do this with tools like Tella, which is my favourite screen recording tool right now.

And lucky for you, I have a discount link for you. Just click here to save a lifetime 30% off your subscription!

Final Thoughts on Step 3

By creating a simple video training, you’ll:

✅ Save hours of repetitive one-on-one training.

✅ Ensure every team member learns Asana the same way.

✅ Give new hires a resource they can refer back to anytime.

This is one of the easiest ways to streamline your onboarding process and get new team members comfortable with Asana fast.

Biggest Onboarding Mistake to Avoid

Now, I promised to share the biggest mistake people make when onboarding a new team member in Asana—here it is:

🚨 They Don’t Assign a Team Asana Expert 🚨

Even with a great video training, new team members might still have questions.

Assigning them a Team Asana Expert—someone on your team who’s already comfortable with Asana, knows the ins and outs, and helps them feel supported and speeds up the learning curve.

This will be the point person for any Asana-related questions every time you hire a new team member and on an ongoing basis.

This small step makes a huge difference in how quickly they adapt.

If you're a relatively small team, or you're just hiring your first team member, then that Team Asana Expert might just be yourself and that's totally fine!

As long as there is someone knowledgeable about Asana and who stays up to date with any changes, that other team members can go to.

Before we wrap up, let me share a quick personal experience when onboarding new team members into Asana.

One thing I always prioritize is making sure my team members feel comfortable using Asana and comfortable asking me questions. Because when they feel supported, they’re much more likely to use the system correctly and efficiently.

I also do regular check-ins to make sure everything is running smoothly. And if they’re missing something or not following a process properly, I gently remind them and guide them back on track.

For larger teams, I’ve seen businesses benefit from having a dedicated Asana expert on their team, as mentioned—someone who can answer questions, refine processes, and keep everything running efficiently.

If you don’t have time to do this yourself and aren't ready to hire a dedicated person for this just yet, that’s exactly what I can help with inside Back-Pocket Support. I can be your back-pocket Asana expert!