The NEW Microsoft Planner (2024): NEVER Miss a Deadline Again
TLDRDiscover the new Microsoft Planner, integrated within Teams, designed to streamline task management across emails, projects, and personal to-dos. With features like 'My Day' for daily prioritization, and 'My Tasks' consolidating all assignments, it enhances productivity. Users can create basic or premium plans, with the latter offering advanced features like Gantt charts and custom fields. The introduction of Microsoft Copilot automates task creation and project planning, while views like board, grid, and timeline offer versatile ways to manage and visualize tasks. Premium plans also include audit trails and capacity planning to ensure efficient workload distribution.
Takeaways
- ๐ The new Microsoft Planner is integrated into Microsoft Teams, offering a centralized task management solution.
- ๐ It combines personal to-do lists with collaborative project planning, enhancing productivity.
- ๐ 'My Day' feature helps prioritize daily tasks, including flagged emails and tasks from various projects.
- ๐ 'My Tasks' consolidates all assigned tasks, making it easier to track and manage workload.
- ๐ 'My Plans' includes all project plans you're part of, whether shared or personal, from both Project for the Web and the old Planner.
- ๐ Adding tasks to 'My Day' can be done quickly, and tasks due today automatically appear in the list.
- ๐ Basic plans are similar to private task lists, while premium plans offer more features and require specific licenses.
- ๐ Templates are available for creating new plans, with options for both basic and premium plans.
- ๐ฅ Plans can be shared with groups, enabling team collaboration on projects.
- ๐ The timeline view in premium plans provides a Gantt chart for a big-picture view of project progress.
- ๐ฅ The assignments view helps with capacity planning, ensuring team members are not overloaded with tasks.
Q & A
What is the new Microsoft Planner (2024)?
-The new Microsoft Planner (2024) is an upgrade to the previous Planner app that combines the best features of past Microsoft apps for personal to-do lists and collaborative project planning. It is designed to help users never miss a deadline again by streamlining task management.
How can I access the new Planner in Microsoft Teams?
-In Microsoft Teams, you can access the new Planner by clicking the three dots on the left sidebar and then selecting Planner to launch the new experience. To keep Planner in your sidebar, right-click on the icon and click on Pin.
What is the difference between 'My Day', 'My Tasks', and 'My Plans' in the new Planner?
-In the new Planner, 'My Day' shows tasks from the old tasks by Planner and to-do experience for prioritizing daily tasks. 'My Tasks' consolidates all tasks assigned to you, including private tasks, flagged emails, or tasks from an existing plan. 'My Plans' includes all project plans you're a part of, shared or personal, from both Project for the Web and the old Planner.
How do you add a new task in the new Planner?
-To add a new task, click on 'My Tasks', then click where it says 'Title' to input the task name. You can choose whether it's a private task or part of an existing shared plan, set a due date by clicking the calendar icon, change the priority, and press Enter to commit the task.
What is the difference between a basic plan and a premium plan in Planner?
-A basic plan is similar to a private task list with a few extra fields, suitable for simple projects. A premium plan, which comes from Project for the Web, offers more features like task hierarchies, durations, risk assignment, and custom columns, suitable for complex projects requiring a Gantt chart.
How can you create a new plan in Planner?
-To create a new plan, click on 'New plan' in the bottom left corner, choose between a blank plan or a template, decide whether it's a basic or premium plan, and then use the template. You can add the plan to your pinned plans and assign it to a group for collaboration.
What views are available in Planner for managing tasks?
-Planner offers several views for managing tasks: Board view for checking tasks status, Grid view for a table view of tasks, Schedule view for a calendar view of tasks, and Charts view for an overview of project progress.
How does Microsoft Copilot integrate with Planner?
-Microsoft Copilot can be used in Planner for tasks like creating subtasks or adding buckets. It can also be used for more complex tasks like building an entire project plan based on a given prompt.
What is the purpose of the timeline view in Planner?
-The timeline view in Planner displays all tasks as a Gantt chart, allowing users to set task durations, manage dependencies, and adjust start and end dates to create a comprehensive project plan.
How can you ensure that team members are not overloaded with work in Planner?
-Planner's assignments view helps project managers check the workload for each team member and adjust task allocations to ensure no one is overloaded. It shows the time allocated for each task and allows for changes based on actual time estimates.
What are some of the advanced features of premium plans in Planner?
-Premium plans in Planner offer advanced features like task history, which provides an audit trail of every change made to a task, critical for tracking and managing complex projects.
Outlines
๐ Introduction to Microsoft Planner
The script introduces Microsoft Planner as a comprehensive tool for managing tasks from various sources like emails, projects, and personal to-do lists. It highlights the integration with Microsoft Teams and the ability to pin Planner to the sidebar for easy access. The script walks through the features of Planner, such as 'My Day', 'My Tasks', and 'My Plans', which consolidate tasks from different sources. It also demonstrates how to add new tasks, set due dates, and differentiate between private tasks and shared plans. The video emphasizes the differences between basic and premium plans, noting that while basic plans are suitable for straightforward task management, premium plans offer more advanced features like Gantt charts.
๐ Creating and Customizing Plans
This section of the script explains how to create new plans in Microsoft Planner, either from scratch or using templates. It discusses the process of customizing plans by renaming task buckets, adding new buckets, and changing how tasks are grouped. The script also covers how to update task details such as assigning tasks to team members, setting labels, and adjusting other properties like progress, priority, start and due dates. Additionally, it touches on the limitations of mentioning team members in comments and the process of filtering and searching for tasks within a plan.
๐ Advanced Features and Integrations
The script delves into the advanced features of Microsoft Planner, such as task hierarchies, custom columns, and the creation of custom fields. It also introduces the integration of Microsoft Copilot, which can automate the creation of project plans based on user prompts. The video demonstrates how to use Copilot to generate tasks and set up a project plan, although it points out that some manual adjustments may be necessary, such as setting task durations. The section also covers the use of goals to align project stakeholders and the different views available in Planner, including board, grid, schedule, charts, and people views.
๐ ๏ธ Project Management and Capacity Planning
In this part of the script, the focus is on the project management capabilities of Microsoft Planner, particularly the timeline view that allows for Gantt chart representation of tasks. It guides viewers on how to set task durations and create dependencies between tasks. The script also introduces the critical path feature to identify key tasks affecting the project timeline. Additionally, it covers capacity planning with the assignments view, which helps in understanding and managing workloadๅ้ . The video concludes with five tips for efficient use of Planner, such as copying plans, creating subtasks, exporting to Excel, accessing basic features for non-license holders, and exploring additional options in the web app.
๐ฃ๏ธ Conclusion and Call to Action
The final paragraph serves as a conclusion to the video, inviting viewers to share their thoughts on whether the features of Microsoft Planner could change their task management approach. It encourages viewers to leave comments, like the video, and subscribe for more content. The presenter, David, signs off, indicating the end of the video.
Mindmap
Keywords
๐กMicrosoft Planner
๐กMicrosoft Teams
๐กMy Day
๐กMy Tasks
๐กPlans
๐กDue Date
๐กPriority
๐กBasic Plan vs. Premium Plan
๐กTemplates
๐กMicrosoft Copilot
๐กGantt Chart
Highlights
The new Microsoft Planner combines personal to-do lists with collaborative project planning.
Planner is now integrated within Microsoft Teams for a seamless experience.
Users can pin Planner to the Teams sidebar for easy access.
My Day feature helps prioritize daily tasks from various sources.
My Tasks consolidates all assigned tasks, including flagged emails.
My Plans showcases all project plans a user is part of, both shared and personal.
Tasks can be easily added and organized within private or shared plans.
Due dates and priorities can be set for individual tasks.
Tasks can be added to My Day for quick access and to ensure they are not missed.
Plans are differentiated into basic and premium, with premium offering more features.
Premium plans require a Project Plan 3 or Project Plan 5 license.
Templates are available to help users create new plans quickly.
Board view provides a visual representation of tasks grouped into categories.
Tasks can be grouped by status or progress, and their progress updated easily.
Each task can have multiple assignees, labels, and other properties adjusted.
Descriptions, checklists, files, and comments can be added to tasks.
Grid view offers a table format for tasks, making edits more accessible.
Schedule view allows users to see tasks on a calendar.
Charts view provides an overview of project progress and individual task assignments.
Microsoft Copilot integration can automate the creation of project plans.
Goals tab helps align stakeholders on the most important tasks.
People view breaks down task assignments by person, showing incomplete and late tasks.
Premium plans offer a task history feature for tracking changes.
Timeline view displays tasks as a Gantt chart for project management.
Dependencies between tasks can be set up directly in the timeline view.
Planner's critical path function helps identify tasks most influential to the project timeline.
Assignments view aids in capacity planning and ensuring workload balance.
Five time-saving tricks for using Planner effectively are demonstrated.