Planner: A Collaboration Application for Office 365

As Microsoft continues to rollout the new and updated productivity programs of Office 365, professionals are discovering convenient and collaborative ways to get their work done.

With products like Office 365 Groups and Sway, Microsoft is providing users with tools capable of doing complex tasks through a simple platform.

And Office 365 Planner is no different.

Seen as a “lightweight project management application,” Planner allows coworkers to track the progress of smaller projects in a highly visual way.

This is evident through the two viewing options available on the dashboard:

Clicking on the “Hub” view displays the overall progress of all your current plans. Or, to track your individual progress, click on the “My tasks” bar which lets you see what you have left to accomplish in each of your plans.

Tasks are represented by “Cards” and organized in a geometric, structured layout. One glance gives you a comprehensive snapshot on how each plan is going. No need to sift through weeks of updates!

Coworkers can upload documents, assign tasks, comment on items, and send reminders of due dates.

Clearly, teamwork and collaboration are main themes of Office 365, and these features will no doubt appeal to the growing number of professionals working remotely.

But even if you sit within 5 feet of your team members, you’ll still see the benefits of Planner. The program ensures that everyone is on the same page without having to break up a workday with unnecessary meetings.

Sounds like a win-win!

Of course, Planner is integrated into all other Office 365 applications. So you can edit documents on SharePoint, track conversations through Outlook, or upload Excel spreadsheets.

While Planner is only currently available to certain Office 365 First Release participants, Microsoft says the program will be generally available within 2016.

Are you ready to adopt the Office 365 suite? Want to be able to master these awesome new collaboration tools?

Enroll in one of QuickStart's Office 365 training sessions and enhance your skills!