ClickUp Guide: How to Use Microsoft Planner in Teams

If you are comparing Microsoft Planner with ClickUp to organize teamwork, it helps to understand exactly how Planner works inside Microsoft Teams and where another platform might better support complex projects.

This guide walks you through setting up Microsoft Planner in Teams, managing tasks, and understanding its limits so you can decide when a solution like ClickUp or other project management tools might be a better fit.

What Is Microsoft Planner and How Does It Compare to ClickUp?

Microsoft Planner is a lightweight task management app in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. It lets teams organize work in boards with task cards, due dates, and simple progress tracking.

Compared with advanced platforms such as ClickUp, Planner focuses on basic task tracking rather than deep project planning, automations, or advanced reporting. Knowing what Planner can and cannot do will help you choose the right system for each team.

Key Features of Microsoft Planner

• Kanban-style boards with buckets
• Task cards with assignees, checklists, and due dates
• Simple views by bucket, progress, due date, and members
• Basic charts showing task status and workload
• Integration with Microsoft Teams and Outlook

While Planner can handle straightforward task lists, teams that need custom fields, multi-level hierarchies, or detailed reporting often turn to platforms like ClickUp to centralize work.

How to Add Microsoft Planner to Teams

To manage tasks directly inside Microsoft Teams, you first add Planner as a tab in a channel. Follow these steps to connect a new or existing plan.

Step 1: Open the Team and Channel

1. Open Microsoft Teams.
2. In the left sidebar, choose the team where you want to manage tasks.
3. Select the specific channel where your tasks should appear.

Each channel can host multiple tabs, including one or more Planner boards, or even a dedicated tab for tools like ClickUp added via Teams apps.

Step 2: Add a Planner Tab

1. At the top of the channel, click the + (Add a tab) button.
2. In the list of apps, search for Tasks by Planner and To Do or Planner depending on your Teams version.
3. Select the app to begin adding your board.

Teams now uses the Tasks by Planner and To Do experience, which blends personal tasks and shared Planner tasks in one place.

Step 3: Create a New Plan or Use an Existing Plan

1. Choose whether to create a New plan or use an Existing plan from the current Microsoft 365 group.
2. If creating a new plan, enter a clear name that matches the channel’s purpose.
3. Confirm that Post to the channel about this tab is checked if you want an automatic message explaining the new Planner tab.
4. Click Save to add the plan as a channel tab.

Your team now has a shared task board inside Teams, similar in concept to a board view available in other tools, including ClickUp.

Creating and Organizing Tasks in Planner

Once Planner is added, you can begin creating tasks, setting priorities, and grouping work. Here is how to organize your board effectively.

Create Buckets for Work Categories

1. In the Planner tab, find the existing bucket (often named To do by default).
2. Rename that bucket to something more meaningful, such as Backlog or Sprint 1.
3. Click Add new bucket to create additional categories, like In Progress, Review, and Done.

Buckets act as columns on your board. In more full-featured systems like ClickUp, you might replace or complement buckets with custom statuses and multiple workflows, but in Planner buckets are your primary way to categorize tasks.

Add New Tasks to Your Plan

1. Under the appropriate bucket, click + Add task.
2. Enter a short, descriptive task name.
3. Set a Due date from the calendar picker.
4. Assign the task to one or more team members.
5. Click Add task to create it.

You can quickly capture tasks from conversations in Teams or from meetings. For teams using other project systems such as ClickUp, Planner can serve as a light front-end intake tool while detailed work lives in the primary workspace.

Detail and Update Task Cards

1. Click a task card to open its detail pane.
2. Add a more complete Description of the work.
3. Create a Checklist to break the work into smaller steps.
4. Attach files from SharePoint or OneDrive.
5. Set Priority and Progress (Not started, In progress, Completed).

Planner task cards keep information minimal. When you need custom fields, nested subtasks, multiple assignees, or advanced automation, this is often where a platform like ClickUp becomes valuable as a more scalable alternative.

Using Planner Views Inside Teams

Planner supports several views to help you understand work at a glance. These appear as options in the top navigation of the Planner tab in Teams.

Board View

The Board view shows tasks organized by bucket. You can drag and drop task cards between buckets to update their status or category.

• Move tasks from Backlog to In Progress as work begins.
• Drag tasks to Done when completed.
• Reorganize tasks between feature-based or team-based buckets.

This visual board is similar to kanban boards used in other tools, including different board types you might configure in ClickUp for multi-step workflows.

Charts View

The Charts view summarizes work in simple visual widgets:

• Tasks by status (Not started, In progress, Completed)
• Tasks by bucket
• Tasks by priority
• Workload by team member

While the charts are helpful for a quick snapshot, they are not highly customizable. Advanced dashboards, cross-project reporting, and detailed capacity planning often require a more robust solution such as ClickUp or business intelligence tools.

Schedule View

The Schedule view displays tasks on a calendar so you can see upcoming deadlines across your plan.

• View tasks by week or month.
• Drag tasks on the calendar to adjust due dates.
• Spot overloaded days or weeks and redistribute work.

For teams that coordinate multiple projects at once, keeping a unified calendar across many plans can be challenging in Planner. Other tools, including ClickUp, can pull dates from several projects into a single calendar view.

Collaborating on Tasks in Teams

Because Planner lives inside Teams, collaboration happens where your conversations are already taking place.

Comment on Tasks

1. Open a task card in the Planner tab.
2. Scroll to the Comments section.
3. Type your update, question, or decision.
4. Click Send to save the comment.

Comments are saved in the associated Microsoft 365 group mailbox. This keeps conversation history tied to the task, though it is not as structured as threaded comments or assigned comments available in other software, including ClickUp.

Notify the Team from Planner

When you add the Planner tab, Teams can post a message in the channel to announce the new board. You can also manually reference tasks in chat to direct teammates to specific work items.

For larger teams, you might combine Planner for high-level visibility with a more powerful system like ClickUp for detailed execution, integrations, and automation across departments.

Limitations of Planner and When to Consider ClickUp

Planner is helpful for small teams or simple projects, but it has limitations you should keep in mind:

• No deep hierarchy beyond plans, buckets, and tasks
• Limited reporting and analytics
• Few automation or workflow rules
• No advanced custom fields or complex dependencies
• Challenging cross-plan visibility in large organizations

When your work outgrows these constraints, consider evaluating dedicated project management platforms. For example, ClickUp offers multiple views, detailed reporting, and automations that go far beyond Planner while still supporting kanban-style task boards.

Further Resources

To review the original tutorial on integrating Microsoft Planner with Teams, you can visit the source article here: How to Use Microsoft Planner in Teams.

If you are exploring broader project management strategies, SEO content planning, or platform comparisons that include ClickUp and other tools, you may also find resources at Consultevo helpful.

By understanding how Planner works inside Teams and where alternatives like ClickUp excel, you can design a task management system that truly supports your team’s workflows, reporting needs, and growth.

Need Help With ClickUp?

If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your ClickUp workspace, work with ConsultEvo — trusted ClickUp Solution Partners.

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