Everyone in project management agrees that creating and outlining a clear goal is essential to success. But as project managers, we often diverge in how we go about reaching that aim. Even though project management approaches often use similar concepts, there are many different types of projects and project support technologies.
Deep analysis is sometimes required for projects, which calls for time-phased data and resource planning. Other projects can be simpler, therefore there might not be as much of a need to maintain specific data. Tools can be customized to meet your organizational needs as well as those of your portfolio, program, or project.
While Microsoft Planner offers simple work management for a team, Microsoft Project is an amazing project scheduling application that delves deeply into its relational database. Before picking which tool to use for your next project – Microsoft Project vs Planner, there are a few important questions you should ask yourself.
Microsoft Project vs Planner – What Can The Project Management System Was Chosen Wrong Lead To?
Incorrect project management system selection might result from failing to take into account all potential organizational needs. It may result in several difficulties:
- Miscommunication
- A bad project plan
- Ineffective project management
- Goals aren’t accomplished
If any of the above challenges describe your current situation, you need the right tool for enhanced project management.
What Is A Microsoft Planner?
Microsoft has a fantastic potential to acquire access to businesses thanks to the integration of Planner with other Office programs, despite the popularity of smaller, independent project management competitors. The Planner was designed to assist teams in coordinating projects, sharing files, and working more productively, primarily in the shade, as opposed to the Microsoft group chat application that the team had previously developed, which may have garnered more notice when it was introduced last year.
Each of the Planner’s plans has a card that contains group-divided task cards that are dispersed among them. Each card has details like a description and a deadline. Team members can add comments and attach files to the card. The task can then be delegated to a single team member or to numerous team members, who will receive an email assignment.
The Charts view offers a more comprehensive picture of the ongoing work, enabling team members to examine the status and advancement of numerous projects right away. The tasks that have been delegated to team members are also displayed in the Charts view, along with a summary of their current burden and completed work.
Following the announcement of support for iOS and Android smartphones in May, users will be able to browse and modify plans established using the online application while on the road. Microsoft is likewise attempting to give mobile devices push alerts.
The Planner’s compatibility with other Office 365 programs like Teams and Project is one of its advantages. You could link a Project Online task to a Planner plan, for instance. As a result, the project manager will be able to delegate task management to a team member who uses Planner.
Additionally, it is connected with Office 365 groups, enabling Outlook to access chats. Another advantage of Planner, in addition to its support for Office 365, is how user-friendly it is, albeit this can be a barrier to more sophisticated team management.
Microsoft Project vs Planner – When To Move From Planner To New Microsoft Project?
Similar to how Microsoft Teams are Slack’s answer, Planner is a lightweight, collaborative, and highly visual task management solution that aims to challenge the well-liked Trello. Planner competes with programs like Asana and Smartsheet, which provide an alternative to more complex project management software, in a competitive sector for collaborative software.
Microsoft already offers Project, fully functional project management and portfolio solution. The Planner is an excellent and straightforward tool for Office 365 subscribers. Complex workflows are a source of issues, and corporate reporting is still developing. Planner sits in the middle of apps like Microsoft’s To-Do list software and scraps and lists. Microsoft has “strong intentions” to compete with developing and more established goods on the market, even though Planner and Teams are still quite new compared to more sophisticated collaboration platforms.
The Planner cannot be used for strict portfolio management. A reasonably straightforward, more visual daily routine won’t cause the users to want to or be unable to decline to detail the project. For simpler projects that call for teamwork, the Planner is a better choice. Therefore, they have chosen a more advanced but still moderately strict project management approach. New Microsoft Project is its name.
Microsoft Project vs Planner – Which One To Choose?
Task management, project scheduling, and resource assignment are all features of Microsoft Project and Planner. However, these systems couldn’t be more dissimilar.
Microsoft Planner is available as part of the Office 365 project subscription bundle and is free. On the other hand, a separate license is required to utilize Microsoft Project.
Microsoft Planner: What is it? When dealing with simple task management, a cloud project management system is typically employed for a Kanban board method. On the board, team members can communicate and update tasks. The can be customized for the team’s workflow to match your unique requirements. It enables task grouping based on Priority, Bucket, Assignment, Label, and Status. Another advantage is the simple integration of MS Planner with Microsoft Teams.
The use of Microsoft Project is more sophisticated. Deeper time-phased project data, such as baselines, roadmaps, programs, portfolio management, and task dependencies, can be tracked. Teams participate fully. Resources can be given work effort based on how long a task will take. Team members can track time and interact with assigned tasks. A grid, timeline, and board view can be used to manage tasks, with filters for Bucket, Progress, and Finish Date.
Conclusion – When To Use Microsoft Project & Planner?
Project planning and task management solutions from Microsoft include Planner and Project. Their typical uses, however, range greatly from one another when you understand Microsoft Project vs Planner. Ad-hoc projects and teams can use Planner’s Kanban board style for straightforward task management. Team members can collaborate on the boards and update tasks. The Project, on the contrary, offers a deep, complicated integration in which the project manager could track specific information about their project that is time-phased.
