How to Use Microsoft Planner to Manage Your Project (2024)

[@your365coach]

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[@JDWaldvogel]

Thanks for the great video! Do you have any tips/recommendations on 'archiving' tasks and plans? When a task is complete, do you normally have a "finished/completed tasks" bucket at the end? What about when a Plan (being used for a specific project) is complete? On that note, I have one more question (so sorry!) - do you recommend using one plan per project, like "Quarterly Report, Q3 2024" or does it work (similar to Trello) to have a Plan for multiple projects, like "Special Events" where you have a handful of projects living simultaneously in one Plan?

[@isharagangadin1918]

Subscribed and waiting for all the new content on microsoft planner! Cant wait to use it for my new job in feb 2024😮

[@your365coach]

Thanks for the subscribe and welcome to our community. The good news is, that there's already lots of videos on Planner here on the channel, including the new Planner Premium coming in the Spring too, so feel free to check them out. Good luck on the new job too and I hope our videos help you in your new role 😀

[@jenschristiannrgaard4878]

How does this sync up with MS Projects? Is there any integration directly so you start in MS projects and can sync it over to the Planner?

[@jaysonwoodard4782]

How can I create a dashboard to look across all my projects to see where I am overall. I am currently managing 23 different projects and would like to give a weekly report of my progress.

[@HoustonJavaDev]

I would like to know this as well

[@your365coach]

I'll see if I can do a video on this soon, and maybe we focus on ways to report on Planner Data? If you think that will help, i'll see what I can do 😀

[@bhavikprajapati5353]

You can create Power BI dashboard of it.

[@mikemcd3113]

This would be very helpful. I’ve currently got 40+ plans set up in Planner for various different projects I’m currently managing. Would be great to tie them into a parent project to have clearer overview reports for all these projects, specifically tracking items for various team members across these projects.

[@thangphanduy8762]

@@bhavikprajapati5353 A very good idea, but how to implement it bro

[@VilelaP2]

Hi there! When I try to create a new plan it doesn't show any templates like yours does. Can you help me figure out why? Thank you in advance!

[@your365coach]

The ability to create a Plan from a Template is only available via Planner on the Web. To do that, head to tasks.office.com, select New Plan in the top left and you should then see the option to use a Template. Sadly, these Template options are not available when you create it from Teams or other Apps 😃

[@smubarizify]

Thanks Scott. I've same issue as this user. When I go to create a new plan, it does not offere template screen. I'm using planner via the browser. It however showed me that template option when i went ot view files.@@your365coach

[@wiesawchodkowski2427]

I cant się any tempales even when I use web planner. Can you help me to switch them on?

[@wiesawchodkowski2427]

I had the same problem. Somebody helped me. You have to hange in URL adress on english version by typeing /en/ instead of your country language

[@your365coach]

@@wiesawchodkowski2427 I didn’t know that myself - thanks for sharing 😎

[@ginashaw8859]

Has anyone figured out if you can add a task from OneNote, right into an existing Board? To me the perfect system allows me to create a task for a project right from OneNote (where we keep our meeting notes). I know I can create a task already, but it doesn't allow me to put it into a board, it just goes to "my tasks." From there it doesn't give the option to assign it to a board. Love any tips or if someone knows a work around!

[@your365coach]

To be honest I have never tried and whilst I don’t think this is possible, there’s new Loop Capabilities in OneNote which may help us achieve it! I’ll see if I can find a way for you 😁

[@Hebininja]

Is there anyway to see tasks from different projects and resources in a single view, to have a full scope of the agency activity?

[@your365coach]

I'd probably be recommending the new Planner Premium in the spring, for more around top level reporting and resource management 😀

[@GusBrien]

@your365coach wondering if there is an update on this feature that can take these views across multiple plans?

[@leerodriguez4370]

We have a plan built and started assigning tasks but how can we break them out so each person assigned can update their completion status? For instance, we have a weekly requirement for all 11 personnel. So will we have to create 11 separate tasks per person for them to mark completion? We see the checklist option. Is that the only way to break it out and have them click their radial buttons when competed? And we as the task assigners will mark completion when all parties have checked their radial button?

[@aussielondon]

Thanks

[@your365coach]

Thanks so much and I appreciate that 😁

[@TrinaLamanes]

Love that you ensure the basics are understood...will use your site for any training

[@your365coach]

Awesome, thank you! 😀

[@Michael-li3id]

Hi Scott, I'm having a syncing issue between Grid/Board/Timeline views. If I create a bucket in Board view, it doesn't populate on either the Grid/Timeline views. Furthermore, say I want to edit an existing template instead of starting from scratch. If I select a Plan such as Business plan, and choose to delete all the tasks and buckets in board view, it doesn't delete them from grid/timeline view. Seems like a major flaw in the program, do you encounter this?

[@SusanBoyles-ld2nr]

Hello, I create a checklist and when the first checklist item - is checked off, I am trying to automate that to move to the next bucket and if possible, change who the task is assigned to? Have you tried any of the team workflows? Thanks in advance.

[@your365coach]

That’s a challenge to achieve sadly and it would require Power Automate integration but even then I don’t think that’s possible to do sadly 😢

[@lisabilinski1929]

Question...I want to add columns to tasks. There are multiple tutorials that say how to do it - to click "add column" in task view. There's nothing there for me. If I had this ability it would be perfect for our needs. How come I don't have this ability??

[@alexeybartashevich6745]

Thanks. This was mostly about standard & basic Planner functionality. What about New Planner , which would be integrated with Project or it least Project features like Gantt charts and tasks interdependencies?

[@your365coach]

Indeed, this video is around the free and current Planner capability that people have access to today, as mainly is around showing how Planner can work for Projects. In terms of Planner Premium, sadly we are awaiting the release in Spring, where we can take a closer look at these capabilities and see if they can meet our requirements 😀

[@michaeledwards2419]

Really good set of videos on Planner. Thank you. However in my org I don't have the option to create just a private plan. Is that a setting in 365 Admin preventing that from being an option? TIA. Mike.

[@knjayden]

We currently use Asana, but we are looking to move to Planner. Should we start using Planner now, or wait for the new update coming in early 2024?

[@your365coach]

Well, Planner Premium is effectively an add-on to Planner, so using some of the core features of Planner is certainly still worth it. However, if you are moving from Asana, you will be missing some core features which won't arrive till Planner Premium, so I would just begin using it as an introduction to Planner for basic projects, until the Spring of 2024 when Planner Premium comes along and it will be an easier transition also 😀

[@knjayden]

@@your365coach thanks for the reply! Do you know how things in Planner will transfer to Planner Premium? I'm finding a lot of conflicting information online.

[@thangphanduy8762]

@@your365coach Does Planner Premium cost more than the old version?

[@Bjoern_9]

What is your suggestion to organize the overview of the assigned to others (deligated) tasks?

[@your365coach]

Sure, I think I would use the Group By > Assigned in the top right of Planner, and then in the Board View in Planner will change and show all Tasks which are assigned to each individual within the Plan, meaning you can get a view across all individuals really easily

[@CarlCBCinc]

I do not see the new plan window, what is the version you used in this video?

[@your365coach]

The ability to create a Plan from a Template is only available via Planner on the Web. To do that, head to tasks.office.com, select New Plan in the top left and you should then see the option to use a Template. Sadly, these Template options are not available when you create it from Teams or other Apps.

[@ralphdevries4213]

@@your365coach I do not see the templates when using Planner on the web?

[@ericabrynn]

Great video! My team is just adopting planner so this was invaluable. Thank you!

[@your365coach]

Glad it was helpful! 😄

[@forfnva]

Thank you for your informative videos. May I ask what would the difference be in features of 365 on an I Mac?

[@your365coach]

I use a MacBook myself and I find there’s no differences, and also you can do download the To Do App via the App Store too - and Teams has the same app capability too - so it all works well 🤗

[@texmexdragon2160]

Regarding the creation of the Group/Sharepoint site, what is the value of that versus just surfacing all of the same resources in Loop and creating a project plan using a Loop template? If I had a Loop workspace for a given project, what would be the use case for also navigating to or spending time in the Sharepoint site that gets created like in your video?

[@SBeukfamily]

thanks for the video ! is there any way to limit people's rights on tasks they are not assigned to ? Any way to restrict who can delete tasks?

[@AnhVu-q6j4u]

This video is very helpful to me. Thank you !

[@dariagavriliuk3793]

Hello Scott! thanks for the video. is there a possibility for project manager to look and track task loading for each team member, but not only inside 1 plan but overall through all plans? to see and know to whom you can assign a new task. thanks in advance!

[@GlynBarrett]

i keep coming back to planner every year or so to see if its going to tick the boxes and finally replace outlook tasks (which i have been using for decades). there always seems a showstopper or two, although they are becoming less with time. the current one is the inability to assign a task to someone without them becoming a full member of the project team. i need to be able to go out to 3rd parties for design work or construction work, without them being to delve into the full project. shame as if this was a thing i reckon i could finally switch over.

[@lydiaburbach5409]

Is it possible to set an alert, if someone changes something in a task (a comment a nee bucket oder a new checklist). Or can I Filter on „last changed“? Thanks a lot for your work.

[@your365coach]

Thanks for your kind feedback. Yes, there are some options to enable e-mail alerts in Planner, and they covered here by Microsoft. Just expand the section 'Planner Notification Types' to take a look at them, and see if any work for you 😀 support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/manage-planner-notifications-f6a32f83-058d-4f39-988d-8a2e932820ec

[@Lg_Percent]

I have a team of 30 and this is the answer thank you !

[@your365coach]

Glad it helped you and i'd recommend checking out our videos on the New Planner Premium, as that will likely help your team too

[@Lg_Percent]

@@your365coach I've been looking at your videos all weekend boss, thank you so much.

[@lovisastjernlof1279]

I want to see what items and tasks that has been completed in the last week, do you have a video on that? :)

[@your365coach]

That’s an interesting one - I’m pretty sure there’s a Chart which shows that. I’ll have a look and come back to that one soon 😄

[@lovisastjernlof1279]

@@your365coach A chart? Directly in Planner?

[@micaelacallahan3012]

can you expand on how this plan can integrate with different teams? if I link a plan to a team, do the sharepoints link too?

[@your365coach]

Sadly, that's a bit more difficult to achieve, as a Plan is generally attached to a Group (or a Team) where it resides. It is possible to then Share the Plan to another Group but it takes some setup, and I have done it before, and it was a little problematic.

[@LisaBurton-s7j]

I have a large team with their own projects, can I use planner to keep an eye on their progress or is it not designed for that?

[@francescaplum9153]

Hello, great video - very useful, thank you! I am trying to create a project plan but the option to "add to existing group" for me is required not optional. Any idea why? Also in my "team" I cannot add the "tasks by planner and to do" tab, which means I am stuck, because I can't add my project to the Team where I need it to be :( Any advice? Thank you!

[@your365coach]

Very odd - the first issue may be because your tenant administrator has restricted the ability to create Groups (which Planner creates when you create one) to specific administrators only, meaning it is forcing you to add to an existing group. The other problem with the app is again something to check, to see if your IT Administrator has prevented you adding other Apps into Teams 😢

[@guimercante]

How do you create Gantt Charts using Planner?

[@BradleyCarrol]

I saw it very useful! you are well done😁 I wish you success!

[@goodwillnetext6230]

This was very helpful! Thank you so much!

[@belovedsoniathewriter]

This was super helpful! Thank you!

[@your365coach]

Thanks for your kind feedback 😄

[@studiotwo]

Nice Video. A word of caution though. If you have a M365 Backup in place, Planner won't be included, and you won't be able to restore your plans should you have have an issue.

[@your365coach]

Absolutely, although I do recommend using AvePoint Cloud Backup as they can backup and restore Planners - a lot of other providers can’t do that sadly 😄

[@studiotwo]

@@your365coach there are changes coming to Planner, so I wonder what the future will bring in that regard.

[@purushotham957]

@@your365coach do we have any option to recover deleted planner, would we can have access to delete the plan, like anyone can delete or only the owner have the delete option???

[@pt3470]

Hi is it possible to add this into Microsoft Loop?

[@your365coach]

Absolutely, you could copy and paste the Planner Link into a Loop Page and it’s then embedded in Microsoft Loop 😄 - I think we also show how to do this in our Loop for Project Management video on our Channel, so feel free to check that out 😎

[@iainhmunro]

When do you think we will be able to add a Loop Component to a Teams Tab?

[@your365coach]

I’d love to see it soon as i think it would be really useful, but sadly I don’t know sorry 😔

[@rejoiceboakye3056]

Great tutorial! Thank you!

[@your365coach]

You're very welcome!

[@yellmiachanel1505]

Hi, Thanks for a useful video. Do you know if I can add more dates to a task in Planner? Many thanks in advance.

[@your365coach]

Sadly, Planner only supports a single start and end date on each Task but you can do reoccurring tasks or create other Tasks of course under a Bucket 😊

[@nicolalangston3044]

Thanks for the video, really useful as I am looking into posssible solutions for our new team to use. Is there a way to export the Charts and Calendar views into excel / pdf? Thanks in advance

[@your365coach]

I have just released a new video for you, covering how to export data in Planner, which hopefully helps with this question. In terms of the Charts export sadly that's not available, but you could take screenshots or use the data exported in Excel, to then create additional Charts that Planner does not provide too 😀

[@HoustonJavaDev]

Is there a calendar view to all tasks

[@your365coach]

There is indeed, you can select a Calendar View of Tasks through Planner. There is then an option to create an iFeed to add it into your Outlook Calendar, however that is secured only via the link, so i'm not a massive fan of that option. That then allows you to connect your Calendar View into Outlook with the Tasks on it. There's a short video on it here: support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/see-your-planner-schedule-in-outlook-calendar-9f0eb699-cf2b-45be-a464-83f005d82547

[@tsjeeeee]

Is there a solution within planner, or another microsoft app, to track the time per task? Or are you aware of another way to track the time within microsoft.

[@your365coach]

Sadly Planner does not track time, and there are a few options by 3rd Parties to check out too - but nothing inside of Microsoft 365 directly, unless of course you build something like a SharePoint / Microsoft List to track time, which I know some people have done versus using Excel.

[@RienBosma]

HI Scott, thanks. nice video! With what software did you make (record and/or edig) this tutorial? Looks professional

[@your365coach]

Thanks for your kind feedback, and I do try and work hard on the edits to make them look as professional as possible, and I have self-taught myself the editing process too, which was a challenge. In terms of software I use Camtasia to record all my videos, using a Green Screen and a DSLR Camera. I think it's a good way to record video versus the more expensive and complex options 😀

[@RienBosma]

@@your365coach Thanks for sharing

[@OFFAxisBuilds]

why did they take that board view away?

[@cmheducation2975]

How do you copy a plan?

[@MeharRabDi]

Fantastic. Thank you.

[@your365coach]

Our pleasure!

[@NicoleBalaoing]

Super helpful! Thank you!

[@uncicornis]

Is there an easy way to see emails on the todo list assuming the task came from an email? Great video

[@your365coach]

Yes, there is indeed although that will need to come via Flagging the Email in Outlook. When you flag an e-mail in Outlook, it will appear as a Task in To Do under Flagged Email, click into that Task and at the bottom is a link to open up the Email which the Task was created from 😀

[@Tony-yr8es]

Any super secret release dates on this other than early 2024 (which is right now)

[@bapehoga]

Awesome ~~😊

[@your365coach]

Thanks for your kind feedback 😄

[@mauriciorimache1178]

thanks