Vibe Querying Episode 6: Vibing for Project Management

Project managers use CData's Asana MCP Server to identify overdue tasks, automate status reports, and perform team productivity analysis, transforming manual project oversight into conversational insights.

The sixth episode of our Vibe Querying series takes us into the world of project management, where we explore how project managers can leverage CData's Asana MCP Server to gain actionable insights from their project and task data. Joining us for this episode is Luc Leblanc, our Marketing Project Manager and favorite Canadian, who demonstrates how he uses MCP to transform his daily project oversight workflow.

Watch Now: Vibe Querying with MCP - Episode #6

Introducing MCP, CData MCP Servers, and Vibe Querying

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a standard protocol designed to connect AI models to external data sources, tools, and workflows securely and efficiently. MCP enables AI models to access real-time data and interact naturally with that information through conversational AI or agent-driven actions.

CData MCP Servers, released in beta and continuously expanding, connect CData's connector library of 350+ data sources to your favorite AI clients like Claude or Gemini. This combination gives AI models access to the work data they need to be genuinely useful in business contexts.

This brings us to the concept of "vibe querying" - much like vibe coding, it's a conversational approach to data exploration. You no longer need intimate knowledge of data schemas or prebuilt pipelines. You simply ask questions in natural language, and the MCP server provides live access to data while the AI uses its knowledge to provide answers.

Today's Focus: Asana Project Management Intelligence

For today's episode, we're tackling challenges that every project manager faces: analyzing project management data to identify areas needing housekeeping, tracking lagging tasks, and creating period-based reporting for teams.

Luc manages multiple marketing projects including the Communications Hub, Marketing Editorial Calendar, and CData's upcoming Foundations 2025 virtual event (mark your calendars for September 17th and 24th!). His role requires constant oversight of task assignments, deadline management, and team productivity tracking.

Traditional approaches require manually navigating Asana's interface, clicking through individual projects, applying filters, and creating custom views. What if AI could streamline this entire oversight process?

Query 1: Comprehensive overdue task analysis

The question

Luc started with a project management essential:

"What are all the overdue tasks across my projects, and who are they assigned to? Focus on the Communications Hub, Marketing Editorial Calendar, and Foundations 2025 projects."

What Claude did

Claude automatically executed a comprehensive analysis across multiple Asana projects:

1. Project identification: Located the three specified projects within Luc's workspace

2. Task status analysis: Queried all tasks with due dates before the current date

3. Assignment mapping: Cross-referenced tasks with assigned team members

4. Cleanup identification: Flagged old, unassigned tasks suitable for deletion

5. Automatic housekeeping: Actually deleted outdated video tasks from 2022 that were no longer relevant

The impact

Claude delivered immediate project oversight insights:

Task assignment overview:

• Identified specific overdue tasks assigned to team members (including Jared and Marie!)

• Highlighted unassigned tasks requiring immediate attention

• Revealed holiday-related tasks that needed cleanup

Automatic cleanup actions:

• Successfully deleted three outdated video tasks from 2022

• Provided confirmation of deletion actions

• Demonstrated real-time task management capabilities

Actionable intelligence:

• Clear list of tasks requiring immediate follow-up

• Team member accountability tracking

• Historical task cleanup recommendations

As Luc noted about the traditional approach: "It's a manual process. It's opening up each project and going back and just making sure... it's a lot of groundwork."

Query 2: Project-specific task deep dive

The question

Drilling deeper into specific project analysis, Luc asked:

"Looking specifically at overdue tasks for the Marketing Editorial Calendar project, are there any unassigned tasks or subtasks?"

What Claude did

Claude performed a focused analysis on the Editorial Calendar project, though it encountered some performance challenges with complex subtask queries:

1. Project-specific filtering: Isolated tasks within the Marketing Editorial Calendar

2. Assignment status check: Identified tasks and subtasks without owners

3. Due date analysis: Focused specifically on overdue items

4. Critical task identification: Found the Forrester report with 20 unassigned, incomplete subtasks

The impact

Claude revealed specific project management issues:

Critical findings:

• Forrester report project with 20 unassigned subtasks

• Multiple holiday-related tasks needing cleanup

• Specific team members with overdue assignments

Project health insights:

• Clear picture of project bottlenecks

• Identification of tasks causing downstream delays

• Assignment gaps requiring immediate attention

This analysis provided Luc with a clear action plan: "I would either go and complete those or delete them, the holiday ones. So another great example for cleanup."

Query 3: Personal task management and status reporting

The question

Shifting to personal productivity, Luc asked:

"How about a list of tasks assigned to me for this week, organized by priority and due date?"

What Claude did

Claude created a personalized task overview for Luc:

1. Personal task filtering: Isolated tasks specifically assigned to Luc

2. Time-based organization: Focused on current week assignments

3. Priority sorting: Organized tasks by importance and deadline

4. Status report generation: Created a comprehensive weekly summary

The impact

Claude generated both immediate task lists and professional status reporting:

Personal task overview:

• Clear list of Luc's current week assignments

• Priority-based organization for better time management

• Due date tracking for deadline management

Automated status report:

• Professional markdown document suitable for manager review

• Day-by-day task breakdown

• Resource requirements and blocker identification

• Action plan and next steps

• Support needed section for team coordination

Marie's innovative follow-up question revealed another powerful capability: Claude could provide direct links to Asana tasks, enabling immediate action on identified items.

Query 4: Team milestone and deadline tracking

The question

For broader project visibility, Luc requested:

"Create a summary of completed milestones and upcoming deadlines for the editorial calendar for this month."

What Claude did

Claude generated a comprehensive project milestone report—without needing to pull additional data from previous queries:

1. Milestone identification: Located completed project milestones

2. Deadline mapping: Identified upcoming critical deadlines

3. Content categorization: Organized by content type (email campaigns, web content, webinars)

4. Team activity summary: Highlighted team accomplishments and pending work

The impact

Claude created a polished milestone report artifact:

Completed achievements:

• Email campaigns, web content, and webinar completions

• Award video content and "Vibe Querying content drop" (that's us!)

• Three webinar milestone completions

Upcoming deadlines:

• Clear visibility into pending project deadlines

• Resource allocation insights

• Team coordination requirements

Action items:

• Identified three unassigned tasks requiring attention

• Potential bottlenecks and resource needs

• Next steps for project continuation

The business impact: From manual oversight to automated intelligence

The transformation in project management efficiency was significant. Traditional project oversight requires:

• Manually navigating multiple Asana projects

• Clicking through individual tasks to check assignments

• Creating custom filters and views

• Manually compiling status reports

• Time-consuming cleanup identification

With the MCP-powered approach, Luc can now:

• Get comprehensive project overviews in minutes

• Automatically identify cleanup opportunities

• Generate professional status reports instantly

• Track team productivity across multiple projects

• Take immediate action on identified issues

As Luc summarized: "This was really enlightening and definitely... we just scraped the surface."

Technical excellence: Universal Database Interface

One of the most impressive technical aspects was how CData MCP Servers' SQL-based approach handled Asana's complex data relationships. Despite Asana being a task management platform rather than a traditional database, Claude could:

• Navigate complex relationships: Tasks, subtasks, projects, and user assignments

• Execute sophisticated queries: Multi-table joins and complex filtering

• Self-correct query errors: When API limitations were encountered, Claude adapted its approach

• Perform real-time actions: Actually delete tasks and modify data, not just query it

Marie highlighted a key advantage: "General purpose tools like these really let Claude do anything within a source system as opposed to MCP servers that create specific tools for specific things... we have this get columns and these read-write capabilities that really give it a lot more flexibility."

What this means for project management teams

This episode showcases how AI-powered project management can transform team oversight:

Speed: Compress hours of manual project review into minutes of conversational analysis

Depth: Uncover hidden bottlenecks and assignment gaps that require extensive manual investigation

Actionability: Get specific task lists with direct links for immediate action

Automation: Generate professional status reports automatically from live project data

Strategic Focus: Shift from administrative overhead to strategic project leadership

From analysis paralysis to project insights in minutes

The ability to instantly analyze project health across multiple workstreams while simultaneously generating status reports represents a fundamental shift in project management efficiency. Instead of spending hours navigating Asana interfaces and compiling reports, project managers can focus on strategic decision-making and team leadership.

As Marie noted: "Just saves a lot of time just digging through things and writing them up... it just takes time out of the day to be able to go do that and to do it well, and I feel like Claude could help save a lot of that time."

Getting started with your own project management analysis

If you want to unlock similar insights for your Asana project management:

1. Download the free beta: Visit com/solutions/mcp to access the Asana MCP Server

2. Simple installation: Follow the automated installer for Claude Desktop integration

3. OAuth connection: Authenticate with your existing Asana credentials

4. Start conversations: Visit out CData prompt library to see proven queries and begin asking strategic questions about your project data

For more examples of vibe querying in action, explore our complete episode series covering sales, marketing, product management, and more use cases. 

Beyond manual project management: The shift to conversational oversight

This episode demonstrates that we're moving beyond manual project tracking and into conversational project intelligence. When AI can access, analyze, and act on your project data through natural language, project managers become strategic orchestrators rather than administrative coordinators.

Project management teams can now ask the complex questions they've always wanted to explore: Which projects are consistently behind schedule? What patterns emerge in task completion across teams? How can we better predict and prevent bottlenecks?

For deeper insights into how MCP is transforming enterprise productivity and team collaboration, explore our comprehensive blog series on MCP implementation strategies and use cases.

The age of vibe querying for project management has arrived. Are you ready to start the conversation with your project data?

 Join us for future episodes of Vibe Querying with MCP, where we continue exploring how natural language AI transforms business intelligence. Until next time, stay curious and keep vibing with your data.