How to Use Microsoft Planner Effectively

You likely enjoy using a planner to stay organized if you are someone who likes to stay ahead of your goals. You could write to-do lists for each morning or create daily schedules in your physical organizer.

Some individuals enjoy having a physical copy of their weekly meetings and tasks, but others love the ease that digital tools provide. You can learn how to use Microsoft Planner effectively, for instance, to easily organize your days, weeks, or months. Learn more about this software program in the information provided below.

Tip

Microsoft Planner now lets you prioritize each of the tasks or plans on your schedule. The available settings include “urgent,” “important,” “medium,” or “low.” You can then group your tasks and plans by the priority you assign to them.

How to Use a Planner for Beginners

You must learn basic tips on how to use a planner for work or school before you can understand how to use Microsoft Planner effectively. Continue reading below to learn some of these suggestions.

Have Planning Sessions

One of the most essential tips you can learn for how to use a planner for work or school is to schedule planning sessions. Spend some time each morning writing out a to-do list for your day. At the end of each week, take one part of a day to dedicate to scheduling out the next one.

Keep Checks on Your Planner

The next of these planner tips for beginners is to check your agenda often. If you use a digital tool like Microsoft Planner, for instance, you can easily log in to the app or open your computer. Make sure you look at your to-do list and schedule at least a couple of times a day.

Empty Space is Okay

Many individuals feel as if their planners need to be full. If you notice on your Microsoft Planner calendar that you have space, leave it.

Do not try to stress yourself out in coming up with something you need to do. Take that open time to destress and engage in self-care.

Tip

Microsoft Planner is a fully-customizable tool, including the fact that you can add attachments to your tasks. If you choose to insert these files, you can view them all in one place. Find the plan or task you need to complete, click on the three dots in the top right corner, and press “Files” to see the information.

Using Microsoft Planner on a Computer

If you are an Office 365 subscriber, you have access to Microsoft Planner. You can download it as a mobile app on your smartphone or use it on your computer. Learn how to use Microsoft Planner effectively on a desktop in the information below.

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Open Microsoft Planner

The first of the Planner tips for beginners is to open the software. Learn how on your desktop using the steps below.

On a browser, go to tasks.office.com.
Press “Sign In,” and enter your Office 365 account details.
Click “Start Planning.” or “Create a new plan”

Start a New Plan

The next step in this Microsoft Planner tutorial PDF is to begin making plans. These features will include the tasks that you need to complete. Learn how to use Microsoft Planner effectively by creating new plans using the list below.

Once the Planner Hub opens, click “New Plan” on the left side of the screen.
When the pop-up opens, enter a title.
Choose if you want your plan to be public or private.
Press “Create Plan.”

When creating your plan in the pop-up window, you will notice an option labeled “Add to an Existing Office 365 Group.” After you click the button, you will search for the group then press “Create Plan.”

Add Tasks

Once you create a new plan, you will need to fill it with tasks. You could add the appointments you have, your to-do list, or any other projects on your schedule. Learn how to use Planner effectively by adding tasks using the steps below.

After you click “Create Plan,” Microsoft Planner will automatically open the plan.
Click on “Add Task” under “To Do.”
Wait for the pop-up to show up and enter a task name.
Press “Set Due Date” to create a deadline.
Click “Assign” if you want to learn how to use Microsoft Planner for project management. Search for the employee you want to complete the task.
Press “Add Task.”

After you press “Add Task” in step six, you will see that the pop-up window never goes away. To learn how to use Microsoft Planner effectively, add your tasks right after each other. When you finish rapidly inserting information, you can click anywhere outside of the pop-up window.

Project Management

As mentioned in step five above, you can learn how to use Microsoft Planner for project management. When you click the “Assign” button, you can search for your work contact, ensuring that they know their responsibilities. You will have to add individuals to your Microsoft Planner account first, using the steps below.

When in the “New Plan” window aforementioned, set it to public.
In the plan display screen, press “Members” on the top right corner.
Type the name or email address of the person you need to add.
Click on the appropriate employee when they show up.

After you give people access to your plan, you can assign them to specific tasks. Give them a due date to know that you will get the project back when you need it.

Edit Tasks

When you exit the “Add Tasks” pop-up window, you can edit them in more detail. Learn more about Microsoft Planner examples for revising your tasks in the steps below.

Click on the task you want to edit.
Press “Assign” to give the task to another employee.
Change the color of it by pressing the color icon.
Adjust the priority in the drop-down menu.
Change the progress of your task when you start to complete it.
Fix the due date, and enter the start date when you begin the task.
Add any notes that may help you or your employees remember valuable information.
When you finish editing, press the “X” in the top right corner.

Step five in the information above discussed changing the progress of your task. As soon as you finish it, you should mark it as “Complete.” Microsoft Planner will automatically add it to the completed bucket.

Add Buckets

To learn how to use Microsoft Planner effectively, you must first understand what buckets are. You can organize your tasks and plans using these features. To create your own buckets, use the steps below.

Open the plan where you want to add buckets.
Press “Add New Bucket.”
Type in a title and press “Enter” on the keyboard.

When using the aforementioned steps to edit your tasks, you can now assign them to any of the buckets you created. Use the drop-down menu labeled “Buckets.” You can also drag and drop tasks to the buckets you created.

Tip

Microsoft Planner will let you copy and paste single or whole tasks at any time. Open what you need to recreate, and press the three dots on the top right corner. Press “Copy Task” or “Copy Plan.”

Use Microsoft Planner on the Mobile App

Microsoft Planner is available to use on a mobile app for both Apple and Android devices. Unfortunately, you cannot create new plans from this tool, but you can add tasks to an existing one. Learn more about how to use Microsoft Planner effectively on the mobile app in the information below.

Download the App

Before you can begin to use Microsoft Planner on your mobile device, you will need to download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. After installation completes, open the software and log in to your account. You will immediately see all of the created plans that you have.

Adjust Buckets

After you log in to your account, you will need to press on the plan where you need to add tasks or buckets. To insert the latter, use the steps below.

Press “Add Bucket” on the right side of the screen.
Click “Add a New Bucket” and enter a name for it.
Press on the bucket to start adding tasks.

You can rename or delete a bucket at any time in the mobile app. Click on the name of it, and press “Rename” or “Delete.”

Add Tasks

After you have buckets on your plan, you can start to add tasks to them. Use the steps below to begin.

Click on the appropriate bucket.
Tap on “Add a Task.”
Type in a name for your task.
Press on the calendar icon and set a due date for your task.
Press on the person icon to assign a member to your task.

Edit Tasks

To learn how to use Planner effectively on the mobile app, you need to understand how to edit your tasks. Continue reading below to learn more about Microsoft Planner examples of adjustments you can make.

Press on the bucket that contains the task you need to edit.
Click on the task you want to edit.
Press on the status bar to change if you complete the task or if it is still in progress.
Add attachments to your tasks such as photos or documents.

The Microsoft Planner app also lets you add subtasks to your primary tasks. This feature is perfect for those individuals who like to go the extra mile when scheduling or organizing their lives.

Tip

One of the most exciting Microsoft Planner tips and tricks is the ability to add emojis. Insert these graphics in the “at a glance” section to easily remember what you have to do. On a PC, you can press “key+.” and on a Mac, “Cmd+Ctrl+Space” to open the emojis menu.

Similar Alternatives

The steps above helped you learn how to use Microsoft Planner effectively. You may want to consider an additional software tool, however, if you want to take your scheduling and planning even further. Consider one of the three options below as they offer many of the same qualities as Microsoft Planner.

ClickUp

ClickUp is the first software tool available as an alternative to Microsoft Planner. It is primarily project management software in that it lets you assign tasks to your employees or teammates.

ClickUp is extremely user-friendly and start-ups love to use the program at their companies. Your team will instantly learn to collaborate better. You as the project manager can consistently monitor the tasks that your employees have to work on, ensuring that the due date is always regarded.

ClickUp works in collaboration with Microsoft Teams, a similar program to Microsoft Planner. When you open the software, you will immediately see a list of everything on your to-do list or plan. You can go into more detail, however, with the box view to know who is in charge of what project.

Trello

Trello is one of the most well-known digital planner and project management software tools. You will create boards that become the plans, similar to those mentioned when learning how to use Microsoft Planner effectively.

Trello will also function in similar ways to Microsoft Planner in that it will group your tasks into categories. You can share the entire group with your team if you need everyone to collaborate on the project.

There are several views that Trello offers to you so that you can observe what you need to get done. Use the calendar option, for example, to see your week or month at a glance. The dashboard view, on the other hand, will show a list of projects and who is in charge of what.

Wrike

Finally, you can consider Wrike. It offers project management tools and scheduling features to help you always stay on top of what you need to do. It has a downloadable app that is only available on desktop computers, however.

When you first open the software, you will see your dashboard. On this page, there will be a list of the projects that you need to manage and the tasks that you have assigned to them. It will show the hierarchies of the assignments, depending on the priorities they each have.

You can choose how you want to break down your work using Wrike. It will automatically integrate your tasks into specific groups, guessing at what will require the most stress. This automated software will help you create a schedule that will always meet your needs.

Start Scheduling

You should understand how to use Microsoft Planner effectively now. This tool is available on a desktop or via a mobile app. You can assign your team-specific tasks, work on them yourself, create groups, and so much more using this simple tool. It is available today as long as you have a Microsoft 365 account.