Microsoft Planner - Creating Buckets and Tasks

Overview

Bucket types can be thought of as types of sections, columns, or categories where tasks are added to keep you organized. It is best to create multiple buckets if you have a very long list of tasks to represent different phases or stages of a project. Some Bucket names can include Scope, Progress, Develop Content, Priority, or Training. NOTE: You can have up to 200 buckets per plan and 9000 tasks. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/planner/planner-limits      

Procedures

Buckets

If your team works on multiple projects, set up one bucket for each project.

Visit this site for best practices on how to create buckets. - https://climbtheladder.com/10-microsoft-planner-buckets-best-practices/

Creating a new bucket

1. With a Plan opened, by default a bucket “To do” has already been created as the first bucket. Click Add new bucket located in the top.
2. Type a Bucket name and then press Enter.

Bucket - More Options

1. Click the three dots . . . (more options) located to the right of the bucket name.
2. Choose Rename, Delete, or Move left. NOTE: Follow these steps to change the To Do default bucket.

[Bucket More option selections, Rename, Delete, and Move left]

Tasks

Tasks are the individual items your team needs to finish to make progress on a plan.  Each bucket allows you to create and assign members to new tasks. The Task screen allows you to add due dates, progress, priority, notes, comments, etc.

Creating Tasks within a Bucket

1. With a plan open, click + Add task button.
2. Type the name of the task.

Setting a Due Date for a task

1. Click Set due date.
2. Choose a date from the calendar below.

NOTE: Due Dates are shown in Red if the task is overdue.

[Overdue date in Red and highlighted in the lower left corner]

Assigning a Task

1. Click Assign.
2. Type the name or email address of the member or scroll through the list below to assign this member to the task.

Changing Assignments

One of the quickest ways to re-assign a task to another plan member is under the Board tab.

1. While under the Board tab, click the Group by… located in the upper right corner and change this to Assign to (changes to Group by Assigned to).
2. Click and drag the task to the plan members column.

This task has now been assigned to that new member of the plans task list.

Rearranging Tasks

Tasks can easily be re-arranged within a bucket or moved to a new bucket.

1. Click and drag the task to the desired position within a bucket or to a new bucket.

Task - More Options

Each task has more options to choose from.

1. Click the three dots . . . in the upper right corner of the task window.
2. Choose one of the options.

[Selections under More options highlighted and Copy Link to task - Shares a link to a single task with other team members noted]

Adding more Task Details

There are additional details such as start date, description, comments, attachments, etc. that can be added to each task.

1. Click once on a task and the Task Details view opens.

a. Assign – View and add members to this task.

b. Bucket – Select a different bucket for the task.

c. Progress – Set to Not started, In progress or Completed.

d. Priority – Choose Low, Urgent, Important, or Medium

e. Start date – Set a start date for the task.

f. Due date – Set the due date for the task.

g. Repeat – Use repeat if this task will happen multiple times throughout the project’s life cycle can benefit from being set as a recurring task.  Examples: Daily, Weekdays, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly, Custom 

NOTE: Recurrence rules: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/recurring-tasks-in-planner-9f2561ee-45ee-4834-955b-c457f8bb0490

1. 1. 1. Repeat will be based on the initial task's due date timing. If the initial task has a start date set, but no due date, recurrence will be based on the start date. Otherwise, the repeat is based on the current date. 
      2. The next instance in the recurring series is created only after the preceding instance has been marked as complete.
      3. Repeat will be based on the initial task's due date timing. If the initial task has a start date set, but no due date, recurrence will be based on the start date. Otherwise, the repeat is based on the current date. 
      4. Removing the due date on a task removes the recurrence and the series is discontinued.

h. Notes – One of the many ways to communicate. Type any notes regarding the task.

i. Checklist – Add checklist items associated with the task – Best Practice for Planner

To add a checklist in a task:

1. Open or start a new task.
2. Click Add an item and type the name of the first item.
3. Press Enter.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the item list is complete.

[Items in a checklist with one arrow pointing to show on card, and description Adds a task preview in the Board tab and another arrow pointing to an up arrow, which means that Any item can be made a task]

j. Add attachment - Add files, photos, or links to the task from computer, teams files or link to a URL.

k. Comments - Another way to communicate. Enter additional comments about the task.

l. Send - Save

[Task details screen highlighting each feature]

Completing Tasks

To track the progress of a task, it is important to make sure the status is always up to date. Once a task is finished, it should be marked as completed. The Assigned to me option on the left navigation pane shows an overview of all the tasks organized by progress.

[Example of task in progress highlighted and example of a completed task highlighted]

There are a couple of ways a task can be marked as Complete:

1. The first way is from the Board screen, click the circle to the left of the task name to mark complete and then this task moves to the completed bucket.

[Task circle selected and highlighted to mark task as complete]

2. The second way is to click the task name and change the status to Completed.

[Completed selected from the highlighted progress list]

NOTE: Completed tasks get collapsed down to make them less noticeable when working in your plan.

[Down arrow highlighted to the right of Completed tasks to show they are collapsed]

Adding and Changing a Label name

Labels are used to organize and identify tasks quickly. Some examples of labels could be, “Needs review” or “Research needed”. MS Planner has 25 labels that can be edited to whatever text you want.

1. With a task opened, click in the Search for label line and either choose a color or click the pencil to edit the text.
2. Once you type the text, click Edit label above and the label changes to the new text.

[Search for Label, pencil icon and Needs Review highlighted within the label window]

Organizing Plans

You can easily organize your plans by adding them to the left navigation bar or by pinning them to the top of the Hub view.

Pin a plan to the navigation bar and on the hub view

1. Click Hub from the left navigation bar.
2. Click the three dots … in the upper right corner of the plan you want to add and choose Pin.

[Three dots and Pin highlighted to the right of the plans name]

This plan now appears on the left navigation bar under Pinned and at the top of the Hub view.

[Highlighted Pinned area on the left navigation pane and in the main hub view]

References/Links 

Organize your team's tasks in Microsoft Planner

Create buckets to sort your tasks

Flag your tasks with labels

Last Reviewed:   12-Sep-2023