Audience

Individuals or teams looking for a project management integrated into Microsoft Office 365.

Overview

Microsoft Planner is an online project management tool that provides a snapshot of tasks due, assigns people, and sends email reminders as long as due dates and a person is assigned. Plans can be created within a Team, giving everyone on the team access. Plans can also be created within Planner and members managed directly in the plan.

Access Planner

Access from the Microsoft waffle (1) and then Planner (2).

If the icon is not shown, click All Apps then Planner from the list.

Planner Dashboard

The Planner dashboard opens showing a summary screen. Access an existing plan by clicking the name from the left menu (1).

As you add and edit items, everything is saved as you go.

Bucket

A way to group similar tasks by category or project (2). For example To Do, Project Name, Individual/Department Topics, etc.

The To do bucket is created by default. This can be renamed or removed depending on the needs of the plan.

Task

Tasks (3) are created under one bucket and contain details like task name, due date, people assigned, and status.

Adding Tasks

Click the + Add task button under any of the buckets.
Note: Tasks can be dragged or moved to another bucket after being created.

A new task card will open.

Enter the task name (1) and click the Add task button (2).
Optionally, enter a due date and assign people to the task. This can also be done after the task is created.

Marking Tasks Complete

Click the circle next to a task title to mark a Task as complete.

This will move the task to the bottom of the bucket under the collapsed Completed tasks section.
To view completed tasks, click on the carrot (1).
Click the circle (2) to clear the completed check mark and move the task back into the bucket.

Edit Task

Click the task title to open the task detail window. Make changes as required. Changes are automatically saved.
Click the X or outside of the window to close the task detail window.

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