Microsoft Planner and Project have joined forces in a product called Planner Premium. Did you know that Microsoft Project was released in 1984. A few things have changed since then. The new version is more streamlined for better performance and offers a more seamless user experience.
Currently the new version is only available in the Microsoft Teams interface. Planner is available in the list of applications. We recommend pinning the app so it is always easily available on the left side of the Teams screen. It is important to note that there is the basic Planner application as well as Planner Premium which is a paid product. Premium will have many of the features that Microsoft Project held, so note that if you are looking for these Project features, you will need to purchase Planner Premium.
There are improvements to the free Planner version. The main components are My Day, My Tasks and My Plans. Microsoft To Do is integrated in Planner to see your tasks and flagged emails. You can actually open emails in Outlook on the Web from inside Teams and inside Planner for your convenience. In addition, there are many basic templates that are available to use in the free version. When searching templates, those with a diamond mean it requires the Planner Premium subscription.
Another feature is the ability to have private plans. These plans are not viewable by others for your security. Be careful with this approach because a private plan cannot be easily share out or tasks assigned out. It is worth noting that you can always convert the plan to a shared plan after the fact if you discover you need to share the plan with others.
Planner Premium, the paid subscription, incorporates many of Microsoft Project’s features. Project functionality such as Gannt charts, duration, dependencies, all of which were Project features are now available in Planner Premium.
Copilot, Microsoft’s ubiquitous artificial intelligence engine, is available in the premium version only.
Planner Premium now also has the ability to add custom fields if the list of built-in fields does not fit your needs. You can easily select “+ New Field” and determine the type of field and customize it to you needs.
Planner Premium also has a convenient People Tab in the plan’s board view to see tasks per person as well as time spent by each person and assigned time per person. This can be handy to make sure you are not over-subscribing a team member. Planner also allows you to see unassigned time that needs to be allocated.
In summary, Microsoft has made many improvements to Planner. Those with heavier duty needs that may have traditionally used Microsoft Project will likely need to purchase the subscription to Planner Premium to realize the features and functionality desired for higher level project management.
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