Forum Discussion
Frustration with Microsoft’s Task Ecosystem
Why is planner development so slow. Is missing no brainer features that a 12 year old program manager or junior developer would even know what is needed at a very basic level. I’m not going to mention what these features are because this community is full of posts about this.
You killed off ToDo which was an incredibly good app and had huge potential now left rotten away. Despite no development for years it’s still a great app and would be up there with the best of them - Todoist, Tick Tick, Apple Reminders, Things.
Don’t get me started on Loop. What is the point of it.
Planner in Teams is still slow.
you have ruined Microsoft Project trying to get it integrated with Planner.
Planner licensing is a mess.
Planner agent currently doesn’t see premium projects. I know it’s coming.
M365 Copilot can only see the default Task list in ToDo but no other list. Who thought that one up? You allow people create multiple lists in Todo but ignore them for Copilot query.
I would post a really good convo with Copilot about all of this and even Copilot is scratching its head as to why Microsoft is so crap offering up half baked apps and then drop them for something else thus creating an ecosystem that barely functions and leaves people so frustrated.
I could go on but I won’t. Rant over but no wonder people are opting to move to dedicated applications like Asana or Monday.com or Todoist for stuff like this.
🥸🤔😳🤦♂️🤷♂️💋
1 Reply
You're not wrong about the choices Microsoft is making. Thankfully, my role as a consultant doesn't necessitate the use of Planner beyond tracking tasks. But I know not everyone has that luxury. While Asana and other project management/task management applications completely surpass the Planner capabilities, they are missing one crucial thing - full integration with M365 - and not just from a feature perspective but from a governance perspective, as well.
It's harder for IT administrators to govern the information in a third-party solution. But because many third-party tools offer the features business groups actually need, IT teams are at odds with the business, and this truly highlights the ever-present tug of war between security and convenience.
Microsoft should not be the reason those two audiences are at odds with each other, but unfortunately that's the reality right now.
So, it seems to always boil down to conceding governance or settling for a tool that isn't suited to the business goals, simply because it can be governed. It's disappointing that this is where we are with Planner. I've had numerous conversations with clients about this very issue. They ask about what Planner Premium can do and are surprised when I explain its limitations. Planner is not a full project management suite, despite the overlapping similarities. I just wish the distinction was clearer in the way Planner is advertised.
