Which tool when: Microsoft To Do, Microsoft Planner, Microsoft Lists, or Tasks in Microsoft Teams

hi there matt wade here and today we're going to talk about some confusion that pops up when talking about lists and tasks in microsoft 365. so should you be using to do or maybe planner and now what do you do that microsoft lists and tasks in microsoft teams has come out so this should be fun let's get into it [Music] [Applause] [Music] 2020 has proven to be a big year for new tools and features rolling out in microsoft 365 including the introduction of microsoft lists basically a major update to sharepoint lists presented as a separate app though check out my separate video for info on that and then of course the new tasks in microsoft teams and various upgrades to the two major tasks apps that would include microsoft planner and microsoft to do so this is bringing up a lot of questions of which tool to use when and that includes confusion of overlap among these four apps good task management across your life is a bit of a nirvana that app makers world over have tried to solve there's a reason that there are thousands of results in the google play and apple app stores for task apps but where do lists planner to do and tasks in teams fall along the spectrum well there is some overlap and there are some aspects of these apps that aren't actually just about tasks this video will provide a bit of a simplified view but that's only because the use cases for these apps can actually be really complex so my guidance today can be a good starting point but it won't cover every situation so it might not be appropriate for you consider this as inspiration and not prescription so all right that's the end of my disclaimer for today first let's talk about what these tools are actually meant for microsoft planner is an easy to use team based project management tool it's built into microsoft 365 groups so that means every outlook group teams team and yammer community can track its open tasks in a way that doesn't require a formal project manager it uses kanban boards to track tasks and provide rich information about each task and there's also a personal view of planner so that each individual can see all of their planner tasks across groups and plans planner really competes with tools like trello reich and asana but only from the kanban side of things now microsoft list is a major feature and interface upgrade to sharepoint list separated out into its own app while this can be really useful for tracking tasks and project management it's not the only thing that it's good for you can use lists to create custom tables and columns that make the most sense for your need perhaps to track you know inventory or build uh event schedules manage travel plans and more you'll want to see the announcement blog post in the video description for a good overview of what lists can do list competes mainly with tools like monday.com asana and reich but from the table and list side of things microsoft to-do replaced wunderlist which is an app that microsoft acquired and has worked its way into replacing the tasks section of outlook which is actually pretty notable considering outlook tasks has been around for decades to do tracks personal tasks in lists and list groups managed by you the user but the big connection to do has with the other apps is it will also show you your planner tasks and any flagged emails from outlook right in the to do app and given its power automate connector you can also add tasks from other apps like microsoft onenote so to do can centralize your tasks across microsoft 365 for the most part into one app tasks and teams is a recent addition to microsoft teams and it's a central listing of your tasks in a teams friendly way it's essentially a combination of planner and to-do within the team's interface it doesn't really do any work it simply centralizes your tasks in teams which is the app that microsoft is putting the most emphasis on for their modern workplace vision check out the recent announcement blog post in the video description for a good overview of what tasks and teams does so this question in the whole point of the video basically comes down to whether the app stores and manages your tasks or presents your tasks into a single frame planner and lists are great for adding and managing team based tasks in that task lists to do is great for managing personal tasks and task lists and tasks in teams is essentially a viewport to see all of your tasks in planner and to-do right in microsoft teams at this point there's no integration to view through to-do or tasks in teams any list item tasks that are assigned to you that said it's easy to add a microsoft list to any tab in microsoft teams using its connector so you do have an easy way to access the list and your other tasks via teams now that we've covered the separation between storing tasks and viewing them the real question of planner to do tasks and teams or lists breaks up into two questions planner or lists and to-do or tasks and teams and as with most tech solutions the answer is it depends while it might look like there's a lot of overlap between planner and lists it's not as much as you might think yes you can essentially recreate a planner experience with a list but why would you if you don't have the need for the customizability use planner if you want quick easy and simple to understand project management it works it provides a bunch of fields for your tasks it integrates with microsoft to do and with tasks and teams and it works great for both agile and waterfall project management especially for small teams that is to say not enterprise portfolio management you can view tasks in a board and a calendar view and there's a nice dashboard overview included as well use lists if you want to customize experience where you can control the fields the options their layout their views and more you also want to list if you're trying to manage things that aren't really tasks so that brings us back to examples like inventory tracking asset management event itineraries and travel planning you can view list items including tasks in a list or calendar view but remember if you're really banking on having that interoperability between apps like to do and task and teams integration you need to use planner for team-based tasks the choice between to do and tasks in teams is actually a bit harder to make it's really a judgment call tasks in teams is simply a way of viewing your existing tasks in to-do and planner which is to say it's really just about showing your existing tasks in to-do since planner tasks can be viewed in to-do but the way you view them is different use to-do if you want a listing of your tasks in a central spot especially one that has a great mobile app and is easy to set due dates and reminders hey those push notifications are a real big win uh to do is great for managing your tasks on a day-to-day basis to help you build your uh your personal schedule really so to do is great for granular task management is how i'll put that use tasks in teams if you prefer a larger view of your tasks perhaps in a list with columns tasks and teams also separates your tasks by plan and by team which means you can home in on tasks by project and deliverable not just look at you know an endless list of tasks that were assigned to you uh to be done today you know some of those days are just simply impossible also if you never leave microsoft teams and it's like your central hub for work use tasks for teams so tasks in microsoft teams is good for big picture task management is how i'll put that but one big thing that you won't see in any of these tools is gantt chart functionality now that's likely because microsoft project microsoft's premium project management tool promotes this as a core functionality and they don't want to cannibalize their own premium app you can find gantt chart functionality in the legacy tasks lists in sharepoint online they're not great but they definitely do work and you can actually sync one project file to a sharepoint task list to save on license cost and permission protect various tasks i have a how-to link in the video description if you want to learn more the point is if you're hoping one of these apps will fill that need you need to start looking at other tools because it's unlikely microsoft will ever provide fully featured gantt charts into planner or lists and this is a major separation point from many of the competing lists and task apps out there especially asana reich monday.com which all include gantt views as part of their product offering though like project these apps come at an additional cost and they're also in a separate place than your microsoft 365 account all of that said i really haven't mentioned microsoft project nor azure devops and their use cases for managing tasks and frankly those two apps are on a completely different level from the ones we're talking about in this video project is really meant for large-scale projects that have professional project managers involved and azure devops while this might annoy some of the more techie folks out there is still a niche app for developers and the it crowd the question of when to use them really comes down to are you looking from a portfolio management position that needs professional support or are you just a team that needs to get stuff done without the bureaucracy of project management getting involved incidentally the question of project or devops is a totally separate one that definitely goes beyond the scope of this video but if you're running an it project devops is probably good for you if you're not project is probably the one you want to go for sorry i guess i lied i just made a recommendation there now to wrap up there are so many task management apps and that's because task management is a huge aspect of everyday professional life having the right tool for the job makes a big difference but you need to figure out what you want and which app meets the needs the best on the one hand microsoft is doing its best to offer apps that have similar functionality to those popular third-party task apps so you get the most bang for your buck all while having your task and list information protected by the world-class data protection and security on the other hand many of these new microsoft 365 apps are evolutions of others and need to please the longtime users of these apps so that's wunderlist outlook tasks sharepoint lists so when it comes to what you want to use consider what we've covered today and remember that if what you choose doesn't seem to be working it's smart to sit down with your team and discuss what you want to see and play with each of the apps to see which one can get you the closest to your goal now for just a quick tl dr you know simple takeaway i'll just say this planner is good for quick easy everyday project management for a team lists is good for customizable scalable tasks and item listings for teams or just for you to do is for granular everyday personal task management mainly just for you and tasks in teams is for big picture task management in your hub for work mainly just for you especially if you use teams a lot so does this solve your specific situation probably not a hundred percent of the way but it should get you started making recommendations to your colleagues on how to use these apps the company way but what do you think do these recommendations work for you are there considerations i've totally missed leave a comment so others can hear your perspective or learn other tips that you've figured out and good luck with offering your team guidance on which app to use when within the task space of microsoft 365 and i really mean that good luck you

Channel: jumpto365

Views: 310,774

Keywords: microsoft 365, office 365, microsoft to do, microsoft planner, microsoft lists, microsoft teams, tasks, task management, wunderlist, sharepoint, sharepoint online, project management, kanban, trello, wrike, asana, lists, teams, pmo, pmi, managing tasks, microsoft project, project manager, project, azure devops, devops, waterfall, agile

Id: 0gIt21Pby3Y

Length: 11min 31sec (691 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 03 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/paul_f_b]

Now I'm more confused than before I watched the video... 😕