Creating Custom Automations in Monday.com to Save Time
Monday.com is an incredibly powerful project management tool, and one of its standout features is its ability to automate repetitive tasks. Automations in Monday.com allow teams to save time, reduce errors, and ensure that processes run smoothly without the need for constant manual intervention. Whether you’re managing a marketing campaign, a product development project, or just routine team tasks, creating custom automations can streamline your workflow and free up valuable time for more important work.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to create custom automations in Monday.com, explore the different types of automations, and provide tips on how to set them up to maximize your team’s productivity.
What Are Monday.com Automations?
Automations in Monday.com are rules-based actions that you can set up to automate tasks and processes across your boards. These automations help your team stay on track by automatically performing actions when certain conditions are met. You can automate a variety of actions, including:
- Changing task status
- Assigning tasks to team members
- Sending notifications or reminders
- Moving tasks between groups
- Updating fields (like dates, priorities, or tags)
- And much more…
The goal is to make your workflow more efficient by reducing the need for manual updates, helping your team focus on high-priority tasks instead of getting bogged down by administrative work.
Why Use Automations?
The power of automations lies in their ability to save time, reduce the risk of human error, and ensure that tasks follow a predictable path. Here are just a few ways automations can improve your workflow:
- Save time: Set up automatic actions so your team doesn’t have to manually update statuses, assign tasks, or send reminders.
- Improve consistency: Automations ensure that actions are carried out the same way every time, reducing the chances of missing important steps.
- Increase productivity: By removing the need for repetitive tasks, your team can focus on high-value work, like creative problem-solving and collaboration.
- Boost accountability: Automations can notify team members about updates, tasks, and deadlines, helping everyone stay on track.
Types of Automations in Monday.com
Monday.com offers a wide range of pre-built automation recipes, and you can also create custom automations tailored to your needs. Here are some common types of automations you can use:
1. Task Assignment Automations
Automate the process of assigning tasks to the right team member when certain conditions are met. This helps eliminate the need for manually checking each task and assigning them one by one.
Example:
- Automatically assign a task to a specific team member when the task status changes to “In Progress.”
- Assign a task to the next available team member when a task is moved into a specific group (e.g., a “New Tasks” group).
2. Status Change Automations
You can create automations that change the status of tasks when certain conditions are met, keeping everything up to date without having to manually track progress.
Example:
- Change the status of a task to “Done” when all subtasks are completed.
- Automatically set the status of tasks to “In Progress” when a due date is approaching.
3. Reminder and Notification Automations
Set up automatic reminders and notifications to keep your team informed about important deadlines, meetings, or updates.
Example:
- Send a reminder to the assignee when a task’s due date is coming up.
- Notify the team when a new task has been added to a board.
- Notify a project manager when a task has been completed.
4. Date and Time Automations
Use automations to manage due dates and time-sensitive tasks. These automations are great for ensuring deadlines are always met and to keep your projects on schedule.
Example:
- Automatically set a task’s due date to a specific date when the task is created.
- Adjust a task’s due date based on changes to the start date.
5. File Management Automations
You can also automate file management to streamline your workflow. For example, automatically move or upload files based on the task’s progress.
Example:
- Automatically attach files from Google Drive or Dropbox when a task’s status changes to “Completed.”
- Create a new item and attach files whenever a project is marked as “Ready for Review.”
6. Task Movement Automations
Move tasks between groups or columns based on changes to specific fields (such as task completion or status changes).
Example:
- Move tasks to a “Completed” group automatically when their status changes to “Done.”
- Move tasks to a “To-Review” group once they’re marked as “Ready for Review.”
How to Create Custom Automations in Monday.com
Creating automations in Monday.com is simple and intuitive. You don’t need to be a developer to set up custom workflows—everything can be done through a user-friendly interface.
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Custom Automations
- Open Your Board: Start by navigating to the board you want to create automations for.
- Click on “Automations”: At the top of the board, click the “Automations” button (it’s usually found next to the “Views” and “Integrations” buttons).
- Explore the Automation Center: Once you click on “Automations,” you’ll be taken to the Automation Center, where you can see a variety of pre-built automation recipes. Browse through the options to get an idea of what’s possible.
- Create a Custom Automation: Click on the “Create Custom Automation” button to begin building your automation from scratch.
- Define the Trigger: The trigger is the event that will kick off your automation. This could be a status change, a new task creation, a deadline approaching, or a specific field being updated. Example: “When status changes to ‘In Progress’…”
- Define the Action: After choosing a trigger, you’ll define the action that will happen automatically. This could be changing the status of a task, assigning someone, sending a notification, or updating a date field. Example: “Assign the task to [Team Member]…”
- Set Any Conditions: If you need to specify conditions for when the automation should run (e.g., only if the task priority is high), you can add conditions to fine-tune the behavior of your automation.
- Test the Automation: Once you’ve set up the trigger and action, test the automation by manually updating a task to trigger the automation. This will ensure everything works as expected.
- Save and Activate: Once you’re happy with the setup, click “Save” to activate the automation. From now on, this automation will run automatically whenever the conditions are met.
Examples of Custom Automations for Specific Use Cases
1. Marketing Campaign Management
- Trigger: When a task is marked as “In Progress.”
- Action: Automatically assign the task to the relevant team member based on the campaign’s stage.
2. Product Development
- Trigger: When a task’s status changes to “Review.”
- Action: Notify the product manager and move the task to the “In Review” group.
3. Customer Support
- Trigger: When a new ticket is created.
- Action: Assign the ticket to the next available support team member and notify them via Slack.
Tips for Creating Effective Automations
To get the most out of automations, here are some tips:
- Start Simple: Begin with simple automations, such as changing task status or sending reminders. As you get more comfortable, you can set up more complex workflows.
- Limit Over-automation: While automations are powerful, too many can clutter your boards and overwhelm your team. Be strategic about the automations you use.
- Use Notifications Wisely: Notifications can be incredibly helpful, but too many can cause “notification fatigue.” Be selective about what triggers notifications.
- Monitor Performance: After setting up automations, periodically check in on how they’re working. Are they saving time? Are there any issues or conflicts? Make adjustments as needed.
- Leverage Integrations: Use integrations to enhance your automations. For example, integrate with Slack to notify team members automatically or connect with Google Drive to attach relevant documents as tasks are completed.
Conclusion
Custom automations in Monday.com are an invaluable tool for saving time, reducing manual work, and increasing team efficiency. By setting up automations tailored to your specific needs, you can streamline workflows, improve consistency, and allow your team to focus on more strategic and creative tasks.
Here’s a quick recap of the key steps to create your own custom automations:
- Choose a trigger that starts the automation (e.g., status change, task creation).
- Define the action that should occur when the trigger is met (e.g., assign a task, send a notification).
- Fine-tune your automation with conditions, if needed.
- Test and activate the automation.
By following these steps and using automations strategically, you can make your Monday.com boards even more powerful and maximize your team’s productivity.
