Lists is an information tracking app in Microsoft 365 that enables users to work with anyone, anywhere. Users can configure lists to better organize events, issues, and assets.
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Microsoft Planner
Score 7.7 out of 10
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Microsoft Planner is presented as a solution to organize teamwork with intuitive, collaborative, visual task management. With it, users can create Kanban boards using task cards with files, checklists, and labels. Users can collaborate in Planner and Microsoft Teams and check visual status charts—all in the Microsoft cloud.
Organizations with institutional subscriptions should consider maximizing the use of Microsoft Lists in their operations because it has the feature of seamlessly working with all the other Microsoft Apps. You can have a master file of multiple projects that are going on, and you don't have to manually do the updating. However, it is important to note that to maximize the Microsoft List experience, the team should have basic knowledge about integration and automation
There are a few examples where MS Planner would be suitable for employees at a mature organization. In my opinion, if you have Outlook or Teams, you already have built-in calendars and to-do lists. If you need a project management tool, you have two options: either pay for MS Project or use an alternative tool like Monday, Asana, or Jira. Regardless, their free versions are much more sophisticated than Microsoft's (MS Planner). Any team wishing to put together a halfway-decent project management board will need to look elsewhere, as MS Planner is only suitable for a personal to-do list.
Would be nice to see a calendar view instead of a list view
Permissions aren't configurable, anyone can delete any task at any time and there is no recycle bin
Notifications aren't great, you have to be attached as an owner to a task to see comments and be notified of changes, and even then notifications aren't shown for a lot of things
It is a very useful tool that brings teams in sync with one another. The integration with other Microsoft products makes it an obvious choice because you don't have to purchase a license for a completely different tool that doesn't have cross-functional capabilities with the software you already use on a daily basis.
The first time I learned about Microsoft Lists, I was automatically converted. How I wish I had learned about Microsoft Lists early on; it could have saved me tons of time, and could have rendered me real-time reports regarding my work, as the data I work with usually keeps changing every time. I believe the best part of it is that it works well with other Microsoft products, so less stressful.
The board-and-bucket layout makes it easy to organize tasks, track progress, and prioritize work at a glance, even for first-time users. I also appreciate how Planner seamlessly integrates with tools like Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint, enabling users to collaborate, schedule tasks, and access their plans without needing to switch platforms. I also like how it’s accessible not only on desktops, but also on mobile devices.
They are all different but can be used for the same things. They all have different benefits, and I use them except Airtable. Trello has the best automation capabilities natively built into the product of any product I've ever used. (I've personally built over 1,000 automations or more for clients on Trello.) ClickUp has the best flexibility to view data in very different ways and from different organisation levels (i.e. High level data through to detailed specific data across multiple departments or projetcs. Microsoft Lists is an excellent choice if you work in M365 already and you want a deeply integrated way to hold data and use it within M365
Many areas of the company still use Trello to organize their activities and tasks, but gradually Microsoft Planner must replace the activities. Users are often "attached" to familiar technologies, but Office 365 takes advantage of the more organized use of the tools. This year we will not renew the Trello contract.
In my experience, productivity is negatively impacted because assigning subtasks aren't clear on Microsoft Planner
Managers aren't able to track direct reports' tasks across multiple boards -- leading to poor visibility for us
Notifications aren't always sent to inbox, so you rely on people's own project management skills to follow the communication on tasks they're assigned to. In my experience, this leads to missed deadlines impacting customer relationships.
