In our previous article, we explored how to create a Planner inside Microsoft Teams avoiding unnecessary SharePoint sites and keeping collaboration centralized. Now that your plan is up and running, let’s look at the features that make Planner a powerful tool for daily task management.

Whether you're part of a nonprofit, a small business, or a municipal team, these features help you stay organized, focused, and collaborative every single day.

1 - My Day View: Start Focused

Planner’s new My Day view helps you prioritize tasks for the day. It pulls in your most urgent items so you can focus without distraction.

Use it for:

• Morning planning routines

• Prioritizing deadlines

• Staying focused on top tasks

2 - Assign Tasks to Multiple People

You can assign a task to multiple team members (up to 11), making shared responsibilities easier to manage and track.

Use it for:

• Team-based deliverables

• Shared ownership of recurring tasks

• Volunteer coordination

3 - Comments and Task Conversations

Each task in Planner includes a comment thread, allowing team members to discuss progress, ask questions, and share updates — all within the task card.

Use it for:

• Keeping communication tied to specific tasks

• Avoiding scattered chats across Teams or email

• Documenting decisions and updates in one place

4 - Kanban Boards In Teams

Planner integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams. Use drag-and-drop Kanban boards to move tasks through stages, comment, and collaborate all in one place.

Use it for:

• Visualizing workflows

• Managing event planning stages

• Tracking progress in real time

5 - Schedule View in Planner

Planner’s Schedule view lets you see tasks on a calendar grid, helping you visualize deadlines and plan your week.

Use it for:

• Weekly planning

• Spotting deadline clusters

• Coordinating team workloads

6 - Smart Filter and Templates

Use smart filters to quickly find tasks by priority, due date, or assignee. And if you run recurring workflows, templates make it easy to start new plans fast.

Use it for:

• Daily check-ins

• Repeating processes (e.g., onboarding, reporting)

• Quickly locating overdue or high-priority tasks

Next Steps: Make Planner Part of Your Daily Routine

Microsoft Planner is more than just a task board it’s a lightweight, flexible tool that can support your team’s daily work when used intentionally. From prioritizing your day to syncing with Outlook and collaborating in Teams, these 6 Microsoft Planner features help you stay focused, aligned, and productive.

But tools alone don’t create clarity how you use them matters.

At Echo Transformation, we help teams like yours:

• Design practical task management strategies using Microsoft 365

• Train staff on using Planner effectively in daily workflows

• Avoid common pitfalls like tool sprawl and permission confusion

If your team is ready to get more out of the tools you already have, we’d love to help. Visit echotransformation.ca | Book a call with us today!