This feature is near to my heart. It grew out of a sample I created in the early days of Planner—it has been more than four years since Planner launched!—to get my head around the Graph API. It was ...
Updated Sep 30, 2020
Version 3.0
Blog Post
Hello Brian-Smith . We are a heavy Planner users. My strategy as an IT manager is to first involve and train management, and their teams will start to use the tools later too, just naturally.
As for the task management, it is imo one of the biggest topics in the entire MS ecosystem universe 🙂 In the past, there were task structures in SP, Exchange, there were flagged emails, which were not tasks as per se. Later on, Planner came. We've tried to utilise Project, but MS added Project online and later on Project for the Web and Roadmaps, which I still can find underpowered. Then MS bought Wunderlist and nowadays we can see a To-do, which, to my heart, is visually quite unpleasing experience.
Now back to tasks - what I prefer, is the simplicity, but also a consistency. Ppl in our company like Planner, as you are notified on your smartphone, can add comments, etc. But - nothing is ideal, is it? Here's my wishlist or just gripes with currest status quo of MS task management, in no respective order:
- Planner timeline is quite a weak tool. Noone uses it in our organisation.
- Please add List view to the Planner on the web
- When will Planner allow mentions? I know, it most probably relates to access rights, if you mention a person out of the group.
- I like MS visual design, but sometimes the simplicity is run over the board. You can't easily distinguish Task name from the rest of the card. Needs some visual accent imo.
- Why on earth are things like displaying the check-list, Task description and File preview being a mutually exclusive? Card view tends to be boring and making it more lively by displaying some image should not remove the option to display a checklist.
- Why checking the checklist item removes it from the container card view? It looks like the team does nothing. I want those checked-thru items to be still visible, please!
- After all those years, it still feels so unnature to confirm the change by pressing a cross button - why there is not OK button?
- We miss Sponsor field so much. Our CEO itself does not set the task, it is being done by assistants. But he wants to keep track of things. We don't want him to assign as an assignee, as he's not the one who is supposed to finish the task 😉 Either a Sponsor, or "Notify also" field would be really useful.
- Why Teams To-do section does not show flagged emails, while To-do itself does?
- Why To-do section in Teams does not show a Container name?
- Why can't we filter by columns, or at least by a search field?
- Please don't eventually remove the Planner mobile app - it is the only one to show a Board / Kanban view, you can swipe by Containers left or right. Why on earth Teams task app on mobile does not contain that?
- Allow the Roadmap to work with Planner, please! Project is natural there, but why the Azure boards got a precedence instead of a Planner integration?
Well, my boss thinks, I should work for Microsoft, as I have succesfully "sold" O365 to our management. Maybe it would be enough to find someone in MS, who listens and can consider the above list of topics, as some of them, while cosmetic, might mean a nice user experience enhancement 🙂
Best regards,
/Petr