The NEW Microsoft Planner (2024): NEVER Miss a Deadline Again

Kevin Stratvert
17 Sept 202418:03

TLDRThe new Microsoft Planner for 2024 is a comprehensive task management tool integrated into Microsoft Teams. It streamlines personal and collaborative tasks, incorporating flagged emails and to-dos into a unified interface. Users can create basic or premium plans, with the latter offering advanced features like Gantt charts and custom fields. The tool also integrates with Microsoft Copilot for automated task generation and offers various views for different project management needs, including a critical path analysis and capacity planning.

Takeaways

  • 🆕 The new Microsoft Planner is integrated with Microsoft Teams, offering a unified platform for task management.
  • 📋 'My Day' feature helps prioritize daily tasks, including flagged emails and tasks from various projects.
  • 📈 'My Tasks' consolidates all assigned tasks, whether private or from shared plans, into one view.
  • 📋 'My Plans' shows all project plans you're part of, combining plans from both Project for the Web and the old Planner.
  • 📅 Adding tasks to 'My Day' can be done easily by right-clicking on tasks, emphasizing the importance of daily prioritization.
  • 🔄 Differences between basic and premium plans are highlighted, with premium plans offering more features but requiring specific licenses.
  • 📊 Premium plans offer advanced features like Gantt charts, task hierarchies, and custom fields, suitable for complex projects.
  • 👥 The ability to assign tasks to multiple people and add labels enhances collaboration and task management.
  • 📈 The 'Assignments' view helps with capacity planning, ensuring workload is balanced among team members.
  • 📊 The 'Timeline' view provides a Gantt chart for visualizing task durations and dependencies.
  • 🔗 Microsoft Copilot integration can automate task creation and planning, although manual adjustments may still be necessary.

Q & A

  • What is the new Microsoft Planner and how does it help with task management?

    -The new Microsoft Planner is a task management tool that integrates personal to-do lists and collaborative project planning. It helps users consolidate tasks from various sources like flagged emails, private tasks, and tasks from existing plans into one place, making it easier to manage and prioritize work.

  • How can you access the new Microsoft Planner?

    -The new Microsoft Planner can be accessed within Microsoft Teams by clicking the three dots on the left sidebar and then selecting Planner to launch the new experience.

  • What is the difference between 'My Day' and 'My Tasks' in Microsoft Planner?

    -'My Day' shows tasks that are due on that day, including those from private tasks and flagged emails, while 'My Tasks' consolidates all tasks assigned to a user, regardless of whether they are private tasks, flagged emails, or tasks from an existing plan in Project or Planner.

  • How do you create a new task in Microsoft Planner?

    -To create a new task, click on 'My Tasks', select 'All' to view all tasks assigned to you, and then click where it says 'Title' to input the task name. You can choose to categorize it as a private task or assign it to an existing shared plan, set a due date, and adjust the priority.

  • What is the difference between a basic plan and a premium plan in Microsoft Planner?

    -Basic plans are simpler, similar to private task lists, and suitable for less complex projects. Premium plans offer more features and are better for complex projects that may require a Gantt chart. Premium plans also require a Project Plan 3 or Project Plan 5 license.

  • How can you add a task to 'My Day' in Microsoft Planner?

    -You can add a task to 'My Day' by right-clicking on the task or clicking on the three dots next to the task name and selecting 'Add to My Day'. Tasks with a due date of today will also show up on 'My Day' by default.

  • What are some limitations when working with premium plans compared to basic plans in Microsoft Planner?

    -With premium plans, tasks may not show up in 'My Day' as quickly as they do in basic plans, and you cannot directly copy or move tasks to another plan. Instead, you must go back into the original project plan to perform these operations.

  • How does Microsoft Copilot integrate with Microsoft Planner?

    -Microsoft Copilot can be used to automate tasks in Planner, such as creating subtasks or adding buckets. It can also be used to build entire project plans based on given prompts, saving users time in planning and organizing tasks.

  • What is the purpose of the 'Goals' tab in Microsoft Planner?

    -The 'Goals' tab in Microsoft Planner helps align all project stakeholders on the most important tasks for a project by breaking down tasks by each goal. It allows for better visibility and prioritization of key objectives.

  • How can you view and manage task dependencies in Microsoft Planner?

    -In the timeline view of Microsoft Planner, you can set up dependencies by clicking on the circles on either end of a task and dragging your mouse to the start or end of another task, indicating a dependency relationship.

  • What is the 'Assignments' view used for in Microsoft Planner?

    -The 'Assignments' view in Microsoft Planner is used for capacity planning, showing how much time is allocated to each person for each task. It helps project managers ensure that team members are not overloaded with work and make adjustments accordingly.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Introduction to Microsoft Planner

The script introduces Microsoft Planner as a task management tool that integrates with Microsoft Teams. It highlights Planner's ability to combine personal to-do lists with collaborative project planning. The tutorial begins by guiding users to access Planner within Teams and pin it to the sidebar for easy access. It explains the three main components: My Day, My Tasks, and My Plans, each consolidating tasks from various sources. The script also demonstrates how to add new tasks, set due dates, and prioritize them. Additionally, it addresses the differences between basic and premium plans, noting that tasks from premium plans may not sync as quickly with My Day and have limited options for moving or copying tasks.

05:02

📋 Creating and Customizing Plans

This section delves into creating new plans in Planner, starting with either a blank template or choosing from provided templates. It emphasizes the decision between basic and premium plans, suggesting premium for complex projects requiring a Gantt chart. The process of creating a plan, including naming, pinning to the sidebar, and choosing a group for collaboration, is detailed. The script then explains how to work with the board view, including renaming buckets, grouping tasks, and updating task progress. It also covers task properties such as assigning team members, adding labels, setting dates, and managing subtasks and files.

10:04

🔍 Exploring Advanced Features and Views

The script moves on to discuss the different views available in Planner, such as board, grid, schedule, and charts views, each offering unique ways to manage and visualize tasks. It touches on filtering and searching for tasks, as well as the limitations of free licenses compared to premium access. The integration of Microsoft Copilot is introduced, showcasing its ability to automate task creation and project planning based on user prompts. However, it also points out the need for manual adjustment, such as setting task durations, which Copilot failed to do.

15:09

📊 Managing Dependencies and Capacity

This part of the script focuses on advanced project management features like setting task durations, creating dependencies, and managing the critical path to ensure project timelines are met. It also addresses capacity planning, showing how to view and adjust the workload分配 for team members to prevent overload. The script concludes with five efficiency tips for using Planner, such as copying plans, creating subtasks in bulk, exporting to Excel, and utilizing the web app for additional features.

🗓️ Final Thoughts and Call to Action

The final paragraph summarizes the tutorial and encourages viewers to consider adopting Microsoft Planner for their task management needs. It invites feedback through comments and prompts viewers to like and subscribe for more content. The presenter, David, signs off, indicating the end of the video.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Microsoft Planner

Microsoft Planner is a task management tool that integrates with Microsoft 365. It is designed to assist teams and individuals in organizing tasks, collaborating on projects, and ensuring that deadlines are met. In the video, Microsoft Planner is highlighted as an upgrade that streamlines task management by combining features from various Microsoft apps, enhancing productivity in the workplace.

💡Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a platform that combines chat, meetings, calls, collaboration, and many other features into a single interface. It is part of the Microsoft 365 suite of applications. The script mentions that the new Microsoft Planner is available within Microsoft Teams, emphasizing the integration of Planner with Teams for a seamless workflow experience.

💡My Day

In the context of Microsoft Planner, 'My Day' is a feature that helps users prioritize their daily tasks. It consolidates tasks from various sources, such as flagged emails and to-dos, into a single view. The video script illustrates how 'My Day' can be used to manage and visualize tasks that are due on that day.

💡My Tasks

My Tasks is a section within Microsoft Planner where all tasks assigned to a user are displayed, regardless of whether they are private or part of a shared plan. The video explains how to add new tasks to My Tasks, set due dates, and choose the priority of tasks, showcasing the tool's flexibility in managing different types of tasks.

💡Plans

Plans in Microsoft Planner refer to the project plans that users can create and collaborate on. The script differentiates between basic and premium plans, with basic plans being simpler and suitable for less complex projects, while premium plans offer advanced features like Gantt charts, suitable for more complex projects.

💡Board View

Board View is one of the ways to visualize tasks in Microsoft Planner. It organizes tasks into buckets or categories, allowing users to see the status of tasks at a glance. The video script describes how to customize the board view by renaming buckets and changing how tasks are grouped.

💡Grid View

Grid View in Microsoft Planner presents tasks in a table format, which is useful for making detailed edits to tasks. The video mentions that this view provides a comprehensive overview of all tasks, including their properties and status.

💡Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered feature that integrates with Microsoft Planner to automate and streamline task management. The script demonstrates how Copilot can be used to quickly create tasks or even an entire project plan based on a given prompt, saving users time and effort.

💡Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that represents a project schedule, showing tasks, durations, and dependencies. In the context of the video, premium plans in Microsoft Planner offer a Gantt chart view, which is crucial for project managers to visualize and manage complex project timelines.

💡Capacity Planning

Capacity planning in Microsoft Planner refers to the feature that helps project managers assess the workload分配给团队成员的任务量，以确保没有成员的工作量过大。The video script explains how the assignments view can be used to see the time allocated to each person's tasks, allowing for better resource allocation and workload management.

Highlights

The new Microsoft Planner combines personal to-do lists and collaborative project planning.

Planner is now integrated with Microsoft Teams for a seamless experience.

My Day feature helps prioritize daily tasks from various sources.

My Tasks consolidates all assigned tasks, including flagged emails and tasks from existing plans.

My Plans includes all project plans, shared or personal, from both Project for the Web and old Planner.

Tasks can be easily added and organized in the new Planner interface.

Tasks can be added to My Day for quick access and to ensure they are not missed.

Plans can be differentiated into basic and premium, with premium offering more features.

Basic plans are suitable for simple projects, while premium plans are for complex projects requiring a Gantt chart.

Creating a new plan is straightforward with the option to start from a template or a blank plan.

Board view provides a visual representation of tasks grouped into categories.

Tasks can be updated easily in board view, and progress can be tracked.

The properties window allows detailed task management, including assigning, labeling, and setting dates.

Grid view offers a table format for tasks, making it easier to edit and manage.

Schedule view presents tasks on a calendar for a clear timeline.

Charts view provides an overview of project progress and task assignments.

Premium plans offer advanced features like task history, critical path analysis, and capacity planning.

Microsoft Copilot integration can automate task creation and project planning in Planner.

Planner's timeline view allows for Gantt chart representation and dependency management.

Capacity planning helps ensure team members are not overloaded with tasks.

Planner offers various tricks for efficiency, including copying plans and exporting to Excel.