Monday vs Asana: The Leading Competitors in Task Management

The bigger an operation gets, the more glitches and problems you will come across when it comes to organizing workflow. If you are a freelancer, a small start-up, or a massive enterprise you need to have a smooth output of work in order to maintain deadlines and above all else, maintain quality. It is easy to get by without using a task management system if you are working on your own or running a small business but the more people in your team the more you require the correct tools. This will help you in reaching a higher quality while also sustaining this level of output.

Here, we will be discussing Monday.com pitting it against Asana while also referring heavily to Basecamp and other task management systems that are currently popular in the market. We will pass you through Monday.com vs Asana, Basecamp, Toggl Plan and others, showing you the pros and cons on each side and create a space where these task management systems can be seen from different perspectives.

To start off with, using any shared task management system is a great move for your business, let it be Asana, Toggl, Teamwork, Basecamp or Monday, any system is the correct system if you were using nothing beforehand. Spreadsheets or one big whiteboard will not be enough when more staff members are put in the mix. All of these tools have one shared goal, which is making workflow easier. You will be able to see your list of tasks while also having access to other people’s tasks and this will help the company share, input ideas, and give employees a larger perspective. The difference is that they all go about it in a different manner all with their own unique qualities that set them apart from one another.

The system that you actually use is the one that works. We don’t suggest that you stress too much on which system you use as long as you use one. If you are not keen on spending, you can find free ones, if you are looking to spend a bit you can have a cleaner system with more features. The most important thing is that you use a system, you can always migrate to another tool if you are having problems or simply do not like your choice.

How To Go About Your Decision Making

What you are looking for in a Management System is how easy the software is to use when it comes to a company-wide integration of workflow, how many functions it has which may help you progress your business further, and how accessible/ easy is it to have people review and comment on your work. A great company works on peer-to-peer reviews and finding the correct tool for such a need is imperative. This is what we will be discussing heavily with regards to Monday with comparison to other tools.

We will be dividing our article into Workflow Management and Task Management in order to give you the clearest picture possible.

It is important to keep in mind that more features do not necessarily result in better work output. Find a system that works with you and your team if the team would want a more simple layout than the system for them would be something more straightforward and easy to manage. Avoid wasting time and start doing!

It is important to note that Basecamp was one of the firsts systems to come into the market as a management system, hence you can see that a lot of the software in today’s market built on foundations that Basecamp created so many years ago. If we look at Monday or Asana vs Basecamp we can see that Monday and Asana are much bigger than what Basecamp is, but this does not inherently mean that they are better, it just means that they offer more if the need to use such features arises.

Workflow Management

With regards to workflow, Basecamp is a simple tool used to create tasks for your employees, with clearly defined start and end dates, while also making it extremely easy to post comments and reviews on it. You can tag whoever you want and you can easily see your to-do list. This is the main idea behind Basecamp, there are other features but the main aim is for it to be minimal and simple to use, making it a household name with a lot of businesses. It shines brightest with task management. Monday, on the other hand, takes what basecamp has to offer and adds on to it, making it a more efficient option if you are looking to maximize your efficiency. 

Companies that use Basecamp usually accompany it by using tools like toggle plan, formerly known as Teamweek. This will have the Toggl Plan handling the workflow side of things and Basecamp handling the task management side. As much as these tools are great to use we prefer tools that encapsulate everything in one, tools like Asana and Monday.

If we are to compare Monday and Asana to Basecamp and Toggl we can immediately see that both Monday and Asana offer the feature whereby you can manage workflows from different viewing options. You can see your workflow using different perspectives, helping you to visualize your to-do list in the manner which you prefer.

You can view them in the traditional grid/list format, pie charts, maps, and Gantt charts.

Monday and Asana both allow you to drag and drop tasks and edit anything you want from any view, which is a massive plus for anyone looking to move away from the visualization of the traditional list format. 

Monday vs Asana is becoming a more common comparison due to the fact that they both are at the top of the market and their features are both unique and similar. The manner of execution is key here. Monday and Asana differ greatly when it comes to task management.

Task Management

Asana takes a more traditional approach when it comes to task making. It will prompt you to create a task, assign people, deadlines, and attach any files you need for it.

Monday, on the other hand, moves away from such a traditional approach, instead, the software lets you create Pulses that can be whatever you want them to be, including but not limited to, creating tasks. Pulses receive a name, responsible team member, deadline, status, and dependency on other pulses if need be. You can create groups for your pulses. These may be used for regular product management, but you may also use them for product portfolio management.

This is where Asana and Monday differ, Asana uses a more traditional approach so let’s say you require a status update, you will get an employee to comment and have a back and forth going on but with Monday, this is much cleaner and easier. Monday has a status bar available in the Pulse itself. Monday.com also offers a comparable feature called Groups. When you create a Pulse you will have the option to choose which Group you want to add it too. Groups are not tasks or projects, instead, they are open-ended, making them whatever you want and whatever you are comfortable with. You can either align them with a client, work event, seminars, and anything of the sort. These are small yet effective features that we find make or breaks the decision.

We do suggest trying them out, check out what features Monday and Asana have, this will give you an even clearer vision on what your future task management may be. Make sure to not simply check which one has most features but be sure that it does what your company requires in an efficient and easy manner. If it holds up and maintains operations smoothly without having a lot of extra features than you have found the right system. Simplicity is the key to avoid distractions from other daily tasks!

Integrations

This is an essential part of our Monday vs Asana review and most other task management systems out there. It is important to be conscious of what accompanying tools you will be using with your project management system. You may use many tools in order to maximize your workspace, or it may be just a handful or none at all! The important note is that you are aware of what you have available. 

An interesting note is that Monday.com integrates with Asana. Whatever task you create on Monday will be reflected in Asana.

You can take a look at both systems’ integration list on their website because the list is vast and extensive but to sum it up we can say that here Asana has more integration tools than Monday.com. You will not end up using them all or any of them for that matter but it is important you are aware of this point. Having more options is always the best way to go but keep in mind that you might not use any of them, so don’t let this cloud your judgment.

Make sure to note that more integrations does not mean better workflow. If you do not like the project management system you are using no integration tool will help you make it better or convince you otherwise. Be sure you are comfortable with the base product and after you are familiar look beyond the project management system and search the integrations.

We can see that Monday and Asana share some integration tools, a few of them are: 

Security

It is good to note that any management system will be properly secured and safe. Asana offers Single Sign-On (SSO) for Premium Plans whereas Monday.com has two-factor authentication (2FA) for all its plans. This is where Monday might have a slight edge depending on what level of security you are on.

Final Words

We will give Monday.com a slight edge over Asana but not by much, it has some minor details which make using it easier and quicker. Both Monday and Asana have great features, the ability to change workflow visualization is a key factor in making them better. That being said Monday moves away from the traditional approach to task making and this is what sets it apart from the beginning. 

As mentioned previously, do not overthink too much on which management system you are going to use as long as you use one and stick to it. Anything can be better than not having one. The simple spreadsheet will not be of any use once work starts piling on and more and more people get involved with the company. Migrating from one tool to another can be a pain and it is obviously better to choose the correct system from the beginning, but it is not the end of the world. Once the migration from one tool to another is complete you will notice the difference. Always remember that any system is better than having no system at all.

Needless to say, if your operations are not the biggest you might get by, by simply using Basecamp and tools like Toggl Plan, this solely depends on if you do not have a problem using more tools.

>> Make sure to check our other arcticles about product and project management