Using Microsoft Planner to improve workflow and task management

Introducing Microsoft Planner

Microsoft Planner is a task management tool which is already included with all Office 365 Business and Enterprise subscriptions.

There are many paid applications on the market for task management Comparatively tools like Asana and Trello are very useful but Microsoft’s offering comes ready-integrated into Office 365, an application suite which many organisations use today.

claireLOGIC takes a closer look of the Microsoft Planner features:

  • Create categories for different projects in Planner with “buckets”
  • Track tasks in Planner by setting progress, dates, adding details on cards in a familiar working environment
  • Use filters and group tasks features to help you pick out the tasks that matter
  • Slick-looking charts give you a fantastic analytical look at your progress

All this within 365, which you probably already use… and pay for!

Stop the leaks in your project planning – use ‘buckets’

Buckets are the place where you can group together your tasks. When creating a task for a particular project you can save that into the relevant project bucket. This method helps you to organise tasks into phases, types, departments and more – allowing you and your team to manage projects effectively.

Once you’ve created a bucket, you can drag tasks into the bucket to start getting organised – it looks like Pinterest and behaves like HubSpot. It’s very slick and very easy to use.

Getting organised with Microsoft Planner

Microsoft Planner offer a plethora of ways to organise your tasks and make them easier to find, monitor and delegate.

Projects, tasks and buckets can all be colour-coded, tagged with keywords and tagged by user – so you and your team can easily see what’s next on the list, track deadlines and get it done…

Using Microsoft Planner reporting dashboard

The dashboard area gives you lots of options for reporting on your projects and tasks. As well as the standard widgets, you can also create customisable widgets, graphs and breakdowns will keep you abreast of the latest updates and outputs from your projects and the teams involved within them.

Additionally, like Microsoft Planner, as an Office 365 user, you also have access to MS Power BI. BI is a very sophisticated way to gather information form multiple datasets and report in real-time, and in one location. Equally, it seamlessly links to Microsoft Planner, making accurate, real-time reporting easier than ever. Check it out.

Using Microsoft Planner


Finally, how to get the Microsoft Planner app for iOS and Android

  1. Login to your Office 365 account, via office.com

  2. Click on the ‘All apps’ icon  

  3. Select the Planner icon 

  4. Select the ‘Get the Planner app’ on the bottom left-hand corner 

  5. You will be sent a link via email to download the Planner app

Get support today

Get in touch today for impartial help and advice – email hello@clairelogic.net or call us on 01865 989144