Microsoft Planner - O365
Microsoft Planner is a task management application for Microsoft office teams. It is an online subscription service offered as part of Office 365. Users can quickly create new plans in a Kanban-board type workspace.
Introduction of Microsoft Planner
Microsoft Planner is a planning application available on the MS Office 365 platform.
The application is available to business, premium and educational subscribers to Office 365.
On June 6, 2016 Microsoft team made the application available for general release and scheduled to roll it out over coming weeks to eligible subscription plans.
Microsoft Planner, a suitable tool for the following use cases
managing small projects
agile approaches like Kanban or Scrum
where no resources or capacities need to be managed
where no dependencies between the tasks are required
linking Project Online Client via a standard interface or via third-party tools
Features of the Microsoft Planner
Better organization of tasks by topics - In contrast to an ordinary task list, Planner allows you to design and structure all tasks visually. They can be displayed in theme-related sections. You can name these buckets individually.
Always keep track, thanks to dashboards - Each plan in Microsoft Planner includes a dashboard. This is where you can analyze tasks according to their status or belonging to a plan. Different charts visualize project progress and show which tasks are overdue.
At the Office, on Your Desktop or on Mobile Devices - Microsoft Planner is available on different devices: online and as a mobile application. This applies to iOS devices as well as Android phones or tablets.
What to Use Microsoft Planner for?
Microsoft To-Do: This is an individual tool for task management. Currently, you can merely create your own to-do lists which makes the tool useful for individuals only. Microsoft To-Do is a further development of Wunderlist and focuses on the individual productivity of a person.
Microsoft Planner: Using Microsoft Planner, you can create a plan, assign tasks, compile a team and update the status of the associated tasks. Agile work methods are supported, for example with the Kanban board on which tasks can be moved using drag & drop. Microsoft Planner is of great benefit when used within a team but also for the individual representation of the tasks assigned to one person.
Project Online: Project Online is the full-fledged tool for project, portfolio and resource management. Mapping dependencies between processes and recalculating the entire schedule in case of delays as well as a central resource pool are only three of the many differences compared to Microsoft Planner.
Components of an Office 365 Group Belonging to MS Planner
Shared inbox: For email communication among the members of your group.
Shared calendar: For planning events related to the group.
SharePoint document library: A central place to store and share files for the group.
Shared OneNote notebook: For collecting ideas, research data and information.
