TL;DR
New highlights in awork include planned effort hierarchy (with a practical example), Gantt view & MFA
Coming up on the roadmap: project and task keys, complex filters & cross-project task lists
Recommended read on "Why we're building awork for agencies (and how)" by CPO Lucas
Feature highlights overview
New planned effort hierarchy
Planned effort in awork now follows a clear hierarchy: from project to lists to individual tasks and subtasks. This solves a real agency problem: previously, you could quickly see whether you were generally still within a project's budget – but not whether the planned effort for specific line items like "Creation" had already been exceeded.
Example: You plan a project with a 100h budget, split into Strategy (30h), Creation (50h), and Implementation (20h). If Creative takes 60h instead of 50h, but you're only at 90h total, everything looks fine at first glance. In reality, though, you're missing 10h somewhere else – often exactly where higher hourly rates apply.
This impacts profitability and quickly leads to uncomfortable renegotiations with clients.
How to use the new planned effort hierarchy:
Create a separate list in the project for each proposal line item (e.g., Strategy, Creation, Implementation)
Set the corresponding planned effort directly at the list level (e.g., 30h, 50h, 20h)
Distribute the list's planned effort further across tasks and subtasks to "consume" the budget at the list level
You can now see during the project how much effort per list (line item) is still available – not just for the overall project. This gives you early signals when something's going off track, so you can course-correct in time.
Gantt view for projects
You can now visualize project plans in the timeline as a classic Gantt view with one click. This makes all dependencies clear and helps you keep timings under control. It's especially useful for projects that run in distinct phases (like campaigns) and also helps with clients who expect a clear timeline report (tip: just export as .svg or .png).
MFA for high compliance requirements
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) can now be activated for all users in a workspace. In addition to the usual password login, you can also secure login with an email code or authenticator app. This is particularly important when working with confidential client data that requires higher security standards.
What's coming next
We're focusing awork even more on agency workflows and working on highly requested features:
Project and task keys: Quick and unique identification of projects and tasks
Complex filters: Create, combine, and share filter groups
Cross-project task lists: All tasks across projects at a glance
Recommended read
Our CPO Lucas recently started a LinkedIn newsletter where he explains why we're deliberately building awork for agencies and not trying to be everything to everyone. Highly recommended if you want to know where awork is heading. As a bonus, there's also a sneak peek at the new UI design.
Got questions or feedback on this format? Just send us a message – we're grateful for any suggestions!