• Create and manage multiple plans, buckets, and tasks. 
• Assign tasks, set due dates, priorities, and labels. 
• Monitor task progress using charts and dashboards. 
• Integrate Microsoft Planner with Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, and To Do. 
• Apply filtering, grouping, and scheduling techniques. 
• Use reporting and export options for stakeholder communication. 
• Troubleshoot common issues and manage permissions. 
• Upon completion, participants will be able to: 
• Set up a new plan from scratch and structure it using buckets. 
• Create, edit, delete, and reassign tasks efficiently. 
• Use labels, checklists, attachments, and comments within tasks. 
• View task progress via Board, Charts, and Schedule views. 
• Integrate Planner into Microsoft Teams channels. 
• Sync Planner tasks with Microsoft To Do and Outlook Tasks. 
• Export plan data to Excel for offline reporting. 
• Manage member permissions and plan sharing. 

Day 1: Foundations of Microsoft Planner 

• Introduction to Microsoft Planner and its role in M365 
• Accessing Planner via web, Teams, and mobile app 
• Understanding Plans, Buckets, and Cards hierarchy 
• Creating your first Plan 
• Adding and removing Plan members 
• Creating and naming Buckets (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Done) 
• Creating Tasks inside Buckets 
• Setting Task details: 
  • Assignees (single or multiple) 
  • Start date and Due date 
  • Priority levels (Important, Urgent, etc.) 
  • Labels (color-coded categories) 
  • Checklists (subtasks with completion tracking) 
  • Attachments (from OneDrive, SharePoint, or local) 
  • Comments and @mentions 
• Editing, copying, moving, or deleting tasks 
• Reordering tasks within a bucket (drag & drop) 
• Hands-on exercise: Build a “Team Weekly Plan” with 15+ tasks 

Day 2: Collaboration, Views, and Integrations 

• Understanding Plan permissions: Members vs. Guests 
• Sharing a Plan via link or direct email 
• Using Board View (default Kanban board) 
• Using Charts View (Progress pie chart, task distribution by assignee, due date) 
• Using Schedule View (Calendar view with drag-and-drop rescheduling) 
• Grouping tasks by: Bucket, Assignee, Priority, Due date, Labels 
• Filtering tasks by: Assignee, Labels, Due date, Progress status (Not started, In progress, Completed, Late) 
• Searching across all Plans (Microsoft 365 search integration) 
• Integrating Planner with Microsoft Teams: 
  • Adding Planner tab to a Teams channel 
  • Creating plans directly inside Teams 
• Integrating with Outlook: 
  • Tasks appearing in Outlook Tasks 
  • Creating Outlook tasks that sync to Planner 
• Integrating with Microsoft To Do: 
  • Syncing assigned tasks to To Do “Assigned to me” list 
• Adding Planner tasks to Outlook Calendar via export 
• Hands-on exercise: Set up a Team project plan and integrate into Teams channel 

Day 3: Advanced Features, Reporting, and Administration 

• Copying an existing Plan (duplicate with or without tasks) 
• Archiving and restoring Plans 
• Using Plan notifications (email and Teams activity feed) 
• Creating recurring tasks (using Microsoft Flow / Power Automate introduction) 
• Exporting Plan to Excel for offline reporting 
• Using Open in Project (if Project Online license available) 
• Using Power BI templates for Planner reporting (optional) 
• Managing Plans across multiple Microsoft 365 Groups 
• Changing Plan ownership and deleting Plans 
• Best practices for naming conventions, labels, and bucket structures 
• Common troubleshooting: 
  • Member not seeing a Plan → permissions or M365 Group access 
  • Tasks not syncing to To Do → check licensing and sync settings 
  • Attachments not loading → OneDrive/SharePoint permissions 
• Final hands-on exercise: Build a complete cross-departmental project plan with reporting dashboard (Charts + Excel export 

• Team leaders, project coordinators, and managers. 
• Microsoft 365 end users who need task and workload management. 
• Administrative professionals and operations staff. 
• IT trainers and support personnel rolling out Planner in their organization. 
• Anyone transitioning from manual task tracking (spreadsheets, sticky notes) to a digital tool.