Create streamlined project management workflows using database automations

As a project manager (or anyone who manages work), you might be inundated with repetitive tasks — updating project statuses, adding and assigning new tasks, sending out reminders, and so on, all the way from project kickoff to sign-off.

The manual workload increases as your team grows, but with Notion these tedious tasks can become database automations you set and forget.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to use database automations to set up custom workflows to streamline your processes and make sure nothing slips through the cracks.

Database automations consist of trigger events and the sequence of actions that follows. You’ll set up triggers and subsequent actions which are based on changes within database properties. The automation is structured as follows: “When any of these occur (a trigger), do this (an action).

So, for example, your trigger could be when a new page is added to the database, and the resulting actions might fill up some properties with your chosen responses.

Database automations can complete or update properties, add or edit pages in another database, send Slack notifications, and more. You can customize automations as needed and have several running in the same database for different scenarios.

While this feature is available in any Notion database, it’s uniquely powerful in the context of project management, where you need accurate workflows where nothing gets lost, missed, or forgotten.

By creating database automations, you can:

• Reduce wasted time between tasks — Instead of your team members waiting around to be assigned their next project, they’ll be notified whenever something new lands on their plate.

• Prevent human error — When your team is juggling multiple projects, it’s often the manual tasks (like re-assigning a task) that get forgotten. Setting up automations will reduce everyone’s cognitive load and prevent anything from getting missed.

• Consolidate project management — Because database automations are native to Notion, you don’t need to create complex workflows using third-party tools. You can do all your project management in Notion to keep your team focused and reduce context-switching.

You can set up database automations in a few simple steps.

In your projects or tasks database:

1. Go to the options menu … and select Automations or just click on the lightning bolt icon.

2. Choose New automation and rename it if you wish.

3. Next, select your triggers, which can be when a new page is added, a certain property (or properties) are edited, or Any property is edited. Triggers are formatted as “or” statements, so if any one of the triggers occurs, the automation will occur.

4. Choose the resulting actions, such as adding a new page to this database or another database, editing a property (in this database or another), send a Slack notification.

5. Click Create to save the automation.

Anytime you want to edit your automations, come back to the menu and make your changes.

Ready to start building your own automations?

Here are some helpful examples to try out in your projects and tasks databases.

Every time you add a new task to your database, you can assign that task to someone, send them a notification, and give it the correct status.

To do this, create a new task and call it something like “New task flow”. Go to + Add trigger