What Is Office 365 Planner and How Do You Use It?

What Is Office 365 Planner?

Simply put, Office 365 planner is a way of keeping your team on track on work projects. Think of it as a shared to-do list that anyone on your team can use to create, organize, and assign different tasks.

Planner lets managers and members break down projects into distinct, step-by-step tasks, complete with due dates and bullet points. Each task can be assigned to individual team members to ensure everyone involved is on the same page.

Within different projects, team members can also share relevant and important project files. The kind of enhanced visibility that Office planner provides means no team member is left unsure of what to do.

What Sets Office 365 Planner Apart?

The number 1 most important feature of the Office 365 planner is its tight integration with the rest of the Microsoft Office suite. Because so many businesses already make extensive use of the Office 365 suite of applications, using a planner to tie them all together is a bit of a no-brainer.

For example, planner users can quickly merge their tasks into Outlook or discuss project goals over Teams without switching between different third-party apps. That might sound like a minor feature, but it can save a lot of time for the project as a whole.

Another aspect of the planner app that gives it a big advantage is how social it is. Where other apps might restrict the ability to create and manage projects to official project managers, Office 365 planner allows team members a certain amount of self-direction.

That means the official project manager only has to deal with the stuff that really demands their attention.

What’s more, because anyone can use it, a planner is pretty easy to learn. After a quick read-through of a ‘how to use Microsoft planner‘ guide, you’re already well on your way to mastery.

What is Office 365 Planner and How Do You Use it?