What I’m working on with Microsoft Loop, Teams, Planner and To Do

[@jason-m]

Think what I’d really like to see rather than same things done in new ways, is a real world case study showing how these new apps actually work in a structured work environment, with evidence to show how much more work was achieved as a result? It seems people now are more interested in spending several hours each week in so called productivity apps finding ways to list, find, manage, compile, display tasks but when do the tasks get done?

[@DarrellaaS]

Thank you for your feedback Jason. Yes, a deeper case study video would certainly be helpful to show the real world value of using Loop. I recently started a new job at another M365 consultancy. I'm in week 4 and we're using Loop in the Adoption and Change Management team. I have begun to introduce using Loop workspaces to aggregate project activity, resources, references, ideas, simple decision making and more. I can't yet share publicly the workspaces as examples because I'm new here and would need our client's permission. But I can say that in my previous role, I used Loop workspaces to coordinate and collaborate on two enterprise-sized projects to upgrade an intranet and rollout Viva Engage to frontline and then the whole organisation. I had permission to walk interested customers through those workspaces during envisioning meetings. But I didn't have permission to create a publicly available video. I'll do what I can to pull something together over the next few months, which I'm sure will help answer some of your questions and leave you with new ones. In summary, we are using Loop alongside Teams, SharePoint, Planner, some Outlook activity, to work together on projects. Ideas might start in a task list, but then are continued in a Planner plan. Now that we can bring a Planner board into a Loop page, we can add other context, links, ideas and resources around the Planner component. Apologies for only sharing what I can at this stage. It's easier for me to create videos in a demo environment that illustrate what we are doing for clients in our own environment. Hope this explanation helps.

[@RemofRenaissance]

Just to say I think these apps really do work but the biggest challenge I have in my workplace on a busy day is I lose focus on the best work structure / workflow to use. I have MS Teams, MS Loop (which I like the interface but I feel not using properly), Tasks and OneNote. To delegate work and take notes I never know what is the one place to rule them all. From yesterday I started just using MS Loop and happy with it.

[@cassioassilva]

Here I am, always learning with Darrell and his special, simplified way of demonstrating tech topics in an enjoyable way. Thanks again and always! Hope you're really enjoying working in front of this beautiful beach.

[@DarrellaaS]

Thanks Cassio. Glad you could join me beach-side and check out this simple work-out-loud tip.

[@creepy99]

Seems like it would be more efficient to create a single team "I'm working on..." list in Loop each day and have each team member create tasks in that list and assign to themselves? Now you have one list instead of many, one post in Teams instead of many, etc. and still the same functionality.

[@DarrellaaS]

Yep. That will work too. There are a number of ways to do this. I was hoping to create a plan for each individual and include that in the Loop page. But the Planner component doesn’t display inside the Teams chat. I expect it will eventually.

[@maxwebber-fm2gm]

Awesome! Your integration of Microsoft Loop and Teams for task management is brilliant! Love how it seamlessly syncs tasks between mobile and laptop. By the way, I use Worksimplicity, It could complement this workflow nicely. Thanks for sharing your efficient task management approach, looking forward to more tips!

[@billkirst]

Super helpful. Always appreciate these DaaS videos! Glad to see you’re getting to work at the beach.

[@DarrellaaS]

Thank you Bill. Yes, the remote office gear is working well 🏝️

[@billkirst]

Curious to know what screen capture software you’re using. It’s so crisp and clear in these videos. Vibrant.

[@DarrellaaS]

@@billkirst I’m using Camtasia, a TechSmith app. It also helps to capture your desktop in high resolution and zoom into detail. I don’t maximise a window when recording. I try to make it either 16:9 or 4:3 ratio on my desktop and then zoom into it.

[@RemofRenaissance]

Thanks for this content and that’s some backdrop there to have as your workspace. Right now it’s grey cloud and a few parked cars I’m looking at 👍🏾🤣

[@your365coach]

Great scenario to share and it’s cool to see how Loop interacts between the different apps, so you don’t end up in an information silo either. Also, that warm beach was nice to see - especially as right now it’s -2 degrees Celsius with snow on the ground in the UK 😢 Looking forward to the next video! 😊

[@DarrellaaS]

Thanks Scott. It's good to see the integration from task list to Planner to To do. I am sure it will improve over time. Especially the feature request I discussed near the end of the video with Outlook's My Day window and Assigned to me task visibility.

[@CarlosMiranda-x9r]

Thanks for sharing! I'm always confused as to why Microsoft has different apps doing very very very similar things, seems redundant at times...Loop to create tasks, Planner to create tasks, To Do to create tasks...Seems like wayyyy to many options, which causes confusion to the end user. I feel like I would spend too much time managing a task list vs actually doing the work..I hope Microsoft just integrates all into one app and kill rest...Sounds like they are starting to do it with Planner and Projects. Loop feels like Microsoft's response to Notion.

[@DarrellaaS]

Loop is Microsoft’s response to Notion-style of work. But what makes it different is how it can be embedded in different apps, and that different apps can embed in it. On task management, it is great to see Microsoft consolidating on using Planner for team tasks and personal tasks. It will become the central store for tasks. Loop is just another way to quickly create tasks that sync to Planner. You can think of it like a task-client, in the similar way that Outlook is an email client. I use Loop to quickly capture tasks in a conversation or meeting on a shared digital page. We can take other notes on the same page, make decisions with voting, list resources, collect info in tables. It’s convenient that the task list syncs with Planner. Then we can use it later to manage the tasks leveraging its fuller, richer features.

[@andrewfrance1466]

Been following you Loop videos, thank you for the great content. We've started bringing in some of our work practices into Loop Workspaces, and it's starting to really change they way we approach what we do. One thing I have come across, that I'd be interested to know if you have the same issue as us, is that currently we are unable to remove or modify any user that has Direct Access permissions to a page, and Advanced Settings for permissions takes us to an error page. Link Access seems to work fine. Microsoft Support are telling us that this is by design!

[@RagnarHeil]

excellent innovative Working Out Loud Use Case!

[@DarrellaaS]

Thanks Ragnar. It seemed like a good way to use Loop. I can update the list in one place and share it daily with my team.

[@andrewfrance1466]

Great idea - would like a mash up between My Day in ToDo and this

[@DarrellaaS]

Absolutely. In fact, My Day and Planner in Outlook needs to better integrate.

[@RichGillin]

Very ❤

[@vukin]

Todo and Loop do not have task hierarhy

[@DarrellaaS]

Correct. Loop task lists don’t have the concept of subtasks. But if you open the synced tasks from Loop in the linked Planner, you can add subtasks. If you’re looking for anything deeper, Planner Premium is coming with task dependencies, some time next year.

[@faucillon]

Although know this is becoming 'popular' ("working on...") I (as a project manager) personally think it is pretty pointless. To this end you already have Planner or even Delve. I'd much rather integrate loop components in planner than vice versa. Case example: - Have a task. - Have that task have subtasks - link each subtask to an individual loop component - Have the loop component contain tasks (loop component becomes the home for context, and to do's to finish that subtask) If everybody uses the agreed upon workflow, they will check off the task when they are done with it. I can see instantly what they are working on and vice versa as well as what has been done, when , ... This channel ("working on") seems to add manual steps for each team member, without actually adding context. Even the additional text can be entrered into the task in planner as a comment or you can simply make a post or update your team calendar to display who is working from where.

[@godopista]

yees, what a mess. no clear workflow, could be done 100x better even on old Outlook...

[@DarrellaaS]

This is just my flow. I could have used tasks from Classic Outlook. Or To Do. There’s even simpler ways to use Loop on it’s own to share a daily task list with team members. But I am experimenting with creative ways to use Loop and share the component in places we have conversations about daily work. It works for us.