Microsoft has a number of task/planning programs but how do you know what’s different about Planner compared, say to MS To Do or Project, and which one you should choose?
Oh – a quick (but important) piece of info: Planner is part of the business license, not a family or personal account. If that’s what you’re using – stick with MS To Do 😊.
MS Project
Let’s start with (and get it out of the way) the other Microsoft program that Planner is most compared to – MS Project.
Sure in Project you can create a list of tasks that need to be completed in order to get the (larger) job done.
However, Project has a lot more features, from how it looks (Lists and Gantt Chart) to what it does an how much it actually involves.
If you’ve got a large project running, which needs
- resources (time, people etc) assigned and managed,
- you need a critical path to follow
- task dependencies (one task can’t start until a previous one has completed)
Then you need the separately licensed MS Project.
(yep, it doesn’t come with any of the standard M365 licenses.)
Best use:
- when you have a large project or a lot of projects running
- you need to track details, including dependences, costs, scope creep
- when it’s a complex project with a lot of moving parts
MS To Do
The easiest way to think of To Do is as a ‘personal task list’.
It works, hand in hand, with your Outlook account (and the task list).
Sure you can share it with others (It’s good to share including your To Do tasks) as well as assign tasks to them (How easy is it to assign tasks in To Do?), but it’s still your personal list.
Best use:
- Easy to use Task List
- When you want a simple (but organised) list that’s available on a variety of devices
- Need a might of help (electronic) to plan out your day
MS Planner
So what does it do, and when should you use it?
Finally we move onto the program of this month – Planner.
As I mentioned at the top of the post, it’s only available with a business license.
Based on that alone, you can tell that it’s not for personal use.
So when should you use it?
The best answer is ‘for team work/projects’.
Now this can be for really any size of project, but ones that will be on the ‘simpler’ scale (as it gets more complex, take a look at Project).
You can create your own plan, or be invited into someone else’s.
One of the useful options that’s available, is that you can add Planner Tasks into MS Teams.
Meaning that, if you use MS Teams and have projects that need to be tracked, you can do it all in one place – which is quite useful.
Within the structure that you create (buckets and cards), you can use it for anything that you want – from projects, to processes, to everyday work.
Best use:
- Team projects that involve several people and a number of tasks
- Tasks going through a process flow (e.g. ideas > testing > production)
- General idea gathering (plans can be public)
- and more
Next Steps
When you have a project, take a look at what software you’ve got available, what it involves and what tool will work best.
Why not Book a Call with me, and we can have a chat about which one will work best.
Related Posts
- MS Planner – answering the most asked questions
Wondering how to use MS Planner? We answer the most frequently asked questions about this powerful productivity tool. - The Top Reasons to use MS Planner
If you’re looking for an efficient way to manage projects, tasks, and deadlines, look no further than MS Planner. Here are the top reasons to start using it today! - Planner, Project, To Do – which one to choose?
When you’ve got a project that need to be completed, how do you choose between Planner, Project and To Do. Let me share some thoughts.
ms planner vs to do, benefits of ms planner, planner vs project vs lists