Before the training, teammates were frustrated and lost in Asana. They didn't know how to use it to tell project managers what they needed.
Mostly, only tasks the project managers created were tracked, and those were campaign tasks. Much of the work people did on their own never appeared on a board.
Project managers can't plan around steps they don't know exist. The cost was missed deadlines, time lost hunting for resources, and good work that no one could see.
First, I asked three questions: what frustrates you most in Asana, why do you want to get better at it, and how could it help your well-being and the organization? I told them we'd come back to the answers.
Then I gave a walkthrough of Asana and of how I use it, so they had a working example to start from.
When we revisited, they chose what to dig into from what they'd seen, and I shared my own system for each.
The point was never Asana itself. It was a practical daily benefit: less time looking around for things, more productivity, and good work that others can see.
Neither teammate ranked in the top 10 of about 150 people for completed tasks before the training. Over the last four months, they rank first and second, ahead of me. Over the full 12 months I still rank first.
Redrawn from Asana reports of tasks completed by assignee. Names and photos removed. Tasks completed measures output, not quality. Pace before the training is the 12-month total minus the last four months, divided by eight.
The training worked because each step connected the tool to a benefit people already wanted.