Microsoft To Do – Personal and Intelligent Daily Planner

I usually start my day by getting an overview of all open tasks, managing them, and planning my daily routine based on that. I can already use the commute to work on the train, bus, or subway: The mobile version of Microsoft To Do on my smartphone allows me to create my daily plan intuitively with just a few clicks. I receive individual task suggestions, for example, based on their due dates. This includes not only tasks I’ve noted for myself but also those assigned to me via Microsoft Planner from one of my team projects. Since the application is cloud-based, I can access the selected tasks later when I’m in the office working on my laptop. To keep all pending tasks in view, the tool offers various support functions, such as intelligent lists. I can create a completely individual list for each of my projects as well as for internal matters and assign the respective tasks accordingly.

But I don’t just use the application for recording and processing tasks. It’s also good for capturing new ideas from a brainstorming session or preparing for upcoming meetings by noting open points. Most important to me is the intelligent ‘Planned’ list, which lists all tasks by due date, as it provides me with a chronological overview that includes both my own tasks and the team tasks I’m responsible for.

Another useful feature is flagged emails. Thanks to synchronization with Microsoft Outlook, I have the option to flag emails directly in my inbox and have them automatically displayed as follow-ups in To Do.
As soon as I’ve completed a task, it can be easily closed, and I can manage my completed and still open tasks clearly.
Thus, Microsoft To Do is a useful tool for setting and, more importantly, maintaining focus on planned goals. It also provides a good opportunity for reflection: Was I able to complete all the tasks I had set out to do? This helps with self-optimization and, over time, better estimating what daily workload I can realistically take on.

The task management tools Microsoft To Do and Microsoft Planner integrated in Microsoft 365 help make everyday life more productive.

Microsoft Planner – Collaborative Task Management for the Project Team

If the focus is not on detailed process planning, but rather on better structuring and managing tasks in the team, then Microsoft Planner is an agile alternative compared to the complexity of Microsoft Project. Planner covers the essentials, accompanied by significant advantages in daily use: Through synchronization with Microsoft To Do, joint coordination in project teams is greatly simplified and significantly more effective. To work together as efficiently as possible, Microsoft Planner can be used as an agile Kanban board and central point of contact.

For a new project, we create one or more new plans as part of an existing team. All team members automatically receive access to the contents accordingly. As a project manager, I initially organize and structure the project by creating so-called buckets: Depending on the needs, these can be flexibly and individually adjusted and divided, for example, according to project phases or as a workflow board with the categories ‘Backlog’, ‘In Progress’, and ‘Done’ – adapted to the team’s needs.

Individual tasks are created in the tool as cards and placed under the corresponding bucket. They can be easily moved to another bucket during the course of the project using drag&drop. Each task should be assigned to at least one team member to clearly indicate who is primarily responsible for its completion – whether independently or merely coordinating through third parties outside the company. Thanks to automatic synchronization with Microsoft To Do, the assigned project team members immediately see this task as part of their personal task management. Within the cards, additional parameters can be specified, such as the current status or due date. Files, links, or images that could be helpful for completion can also be attached. However, such files are currently not stored in SharePoint Online as part of the team storage, which unfortunately means that dependent functions and workflows are not applicable. Tasks can be further structured and subdivided by adding checklists. For me personally, these checklists represent an additional motivation: checking off subtasks individually gives a good feeling, motivates for further progress, and also provides more transparency to team colleagues by giving a more accurate impression of the overall progress.

Speaking of progress: The tool also offers the possibility of a graphical representation of the project in the form of predefined diagrams. This gives the project team a quick and clear overview of the project status. Through the interface with Microsoft Teams, the plans can also be added to the respective team channels there to make collaboration even more centralized and efficient. To integrate an existing plan into Teams, click on the Add Tab option within the corresponding channel and then select Microsoft Planner.

“The two task management applications Microsoft To Do and Microsoft Planner help me to structure my own daily routine well and to organize teamwork efficiently.”

Julian Chokoufé

Combined overall view of the Tasks app in Microsoft Teams

Until now, Microsoft Teams was limited to allowing a consolidated view of all team tasks through the integrated Microsoft Teams Planner app by adding plans as tabs in a team channel. This eliminates the need to constantly switch between Teams and Planner.

Microsoft To Do promoted balance between tasks from project teams and personally noted tasks with its individualized options. The missing option to clearly organize one’s own notes and minutes and maintain an overview within the tool was still a point of criticism.

Microsoft has responded accordingly to the need of many to record personal tasks additionally in their own planner and thus mix the actually separate use cases of personal tasks and team tasks. Only recently, the Planner app integrated in Teams was expanded and now follows the same approach as the mobile To Do app: All tasks from all sources are also combined here, so that Microsoft Teams’ promise as a central hub for everyday collaboration advances another step. This is also made clear by the renaming to ‘Tasks by Planner and To Do’.

Automation through Microsoft Power Automate

Since Microsoft Planner is part of the Microsoft 365 environment (formerly Office 365), there is also a connection to Microsoft Power Automate (formerly Flow). This integration allows for the automation of processes in Planner: For example, when creating or closing a task, a message can be sent in Microsoft Teams to immediately inform project team members. When an email is received in a specific mailbox or with a specific subject, a new task can also be automatically generated. It is also possible to create a summary of all tasks in a specific bucket at regular intervals. For example, a report can be automatically sent to the project manager listing all tasks that have exceeded their due date.

Conclusion

With the two task management applications Microsoft To Do and Microsoft Planner, Microsoft provides two useful tools to structure everyday life and make team collaboration as efficient as possible. Thanks to the close integration, project team members get a comprehensive overview of all their open tasks and their due dates. By easily transferring tasks into the daily plan with Microsoft To Do, they can optimally plan their available time and have quick access through Microsoft Teams with just a few clicks at any time.