How to Plan Projects in ClickUp

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How to Plan Projects in ClickUp (Step-by-Step)

ClickUp is a powerful alternative to Microsoft Planner that lets you build flexible project templates, manage tasks, and collaborate with your team in one place. This guide walks you through how to set up project planning in ClickUp using concepts inspired by Microsoft Planner templates.

Whether you are moving from Planner or starting fresh, you will learn how to organize Spaces, Lists, and tasks so you can launch repeatable workflows with ease.

Why Use ClickUp Instead of Microsoft Planner

Microsoft Planner is helpful for simple boards, but many teams quickly outgrow its limits. ClickUp gives you similar visual boards plus robust project management tools.

Benefits include:

  • Multiple views for the same work: Board, List, Calendar, Gantt, Timeline, and more.
  • Custom fields to track budgets, owners, priorities, and statuses.
  • Reusable templates for projects, Lists, tasks, and checklists.
  • Automations to eliminate repetitive work.
  • Hierarchical structure for organizing everything in one workspace.

You can still keep a familiar board-style workflow while adding deeper planning capabilities.

Understand the ClickUp Hierarchy

To successfully recreate Microsoft Planner templates, start by understanding how work is structured in ClickUp.

  • Workspace: The top-level container for your organization.
  • Spaces: High-level areas like Marketing, IT, Product, or Operations.
  • Folders (optional): Used to group similar project Lists inside a Space.
  • Lists: Comparable to a Planner plan, typically one per project or workflow.
  • Tasks: Individual work items, similar to Planner buckets and cards.
  • Subtasks: Smaller steps that roll up into a parent task.

Once you understand this hierarchy, you can design a structure that mirrors or improves on your existing Planner setup.

Set Up a Project Space in ClickUp

Follow these steps to create a simple but scalable project environment that feels familiar to Microsoft Planner users.

Step 1: Create a Space in ClickUp

  1. From your Workspace sidebar, click + New Space.
  2. Name the Space after a team or department, like Marketing or Product Delivery.
  3. Choose your default features: Lists, Board view, Calendar, Docs, and anything your team needs.
  4. Select statuses that match your typical workflow, such as Backlog, In Progress, Review, and Done.

This Space will hold all related projects and recurring workflows.

Step 2: Organize Projects With Folders and Lists

Within your new Space, you can mimic how you previously structured Microsoft Planner plans.

  1. Create a Folder for each program or major initiative (optional).
  2. Inside each Folder, create one List for every project or standard workflow.
  3. Use a clear naming convention so Lists are easy to scan, for example:
    • Website Redesign 2025
    • Product Launch Q3
    • Customer Onboarding Workflow

Think of each List as a more powerful version of a Microsoft Planner plan.

Build a Task Template in ClickUp

Microsoft Planner templates usually rely on repeating buckets and cards. In ClickUp, you can capture this repeatable structure as task templates and checklist templates.

Step 3: Design Your Standard Task Structure

  1. Open the project List where you want your template to live.
  2. Create a new task and name it something like Template – Standard Project Task.
  3. Add description details that should be present in every similar task.
  4. Create subtasks for steps that need their own assignee, dates, or statuses.
  5. Use checklists for quick subtasks that do not require full subtask fields.

Consider including:

  • Definition of done.
  • Links to reference documents.
  • Approval steps.
  • QA or review steps.

Step 4: Add Custom Fields in ClickUp

Custom fields let you track data that Microsoft Planner does not support out of the box.

  1. Open any task in your project List.
  2. Click Add Custom Field.
  3. Choose field types such as Dropdown, Number, Currency, People, or Date.
  4. Create fields like:
    • Priority
    • Budget
    • Impact
    • Channel (for marketing or communication work)

These fields are reusable across tasks in the same List and can be included in task templates.

Step 5: Save Your Task as a ClickUp Template

  1. Open the task you prepared as a template.
  2. Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
  3. Select Save as Template.
  4. Give the template a clear name, like Standard Feature Task or Campaign Task Template.
  5. Choose which elements to include: description, assignees, due dates, custom fields, checklists, and subtasks.

Now you can quickly spin up consistent tasks across projects, much like reusing Microsoft Planner cards, but with far more detail and control.

Create a Reusable Project Template in ClickUp

Instead of manually recreating each plan as you might in Microsoft Planner, you can turn an entire List into a reusable project template in ClickUp.

Step 6: Build a Master Project List

  1. Create a new List called something like Project Template – Product Launch.
  2. Add all the phases you normally manage as tasks or groups of tasks, for example:
    • Discovery
    • Planning
    • Execution
    • Testing
    • Launch
    • Post-mortem
  3. Apply your saved task templates for recurring work items.
  4. Organize tasks into sections or statuses that represent your flow.

This List acts as your master blueprint for future projects.

Step 7: Save the List as a ClickUp Template

  1. Open the List menu (three dots next to the List name).
  2. Choose Save as Template.
  3. Name the template clearly, such as Standard Product Launch Project.
  4. Select what to include: tasks, subtasks, custom fields, views, and automations.
  5. Save it to your Workspace template library.

Whenever you start a new project, you can apply this List template and instantly have a structured plan ready to customize.

Use Views to Visualize Work in ClickUp

Microsoft Planner focuses on boards, but ClickUp lets you view the same tasks in many ways without duplicating anything.

  • Board view: Closest to Planner, with columns by status, assignee, or any custom field.
  • List view: Spreadsheet-like layout for sorting and filtering.
  • Calendar view: See tasks by start or due date.
  • Gantt view: Visualize dependencies and timelines.
  • Dashboard: High-level reporting and widgets across multiple projects.

Set default views on your templates so new projects always open in the most helpful layout.

Automate Repetitive Work in ClickUp

Microsoft Planner has limited automation. In ClickUp, you can add rules that trigger when tasks change status, dates arrive, or fields are updated.

Example automations:

  • When a task moves to Review, assign it to the QA lead.
  • When priority is set to High, notify the project manager.
  • When a due date is missed, change the status to At Risk and post a comment.

Include these automations in your List templates so every new project inherits the same logic.

Tips for Migrating From Microsoft Planner to ClickUp

If you are currently using Microsoft Planner, you can gradually move workflows into ClickUp without disrupting your team.

  • Start by rebuilding one Planner plan as a ClickUp List template.
  • Run the next project entirely in the new List while keeping the old plan read-only.
  • Gather feedback from your team on statuses, fields, and views.
  • Refine the template, then roll it out across additional projects.

For an in-depth comparison and ideas drawn from Planner templates, review the original reference at this Microsoft Planner templates guide.

Optimize Your Setup Beyond ClickUp

Once you have your project structure and templates working in ClickUp, you can improve your broader digital operations with expert consulting, automations, and integrations.

If you need help standardizing processes, integrating other tools, or improving your SEO and content workflows around your new system, consider working with specialists such as Consultevo, who focus on scalable, data-driven operations.

Next Steps

You now have a practical method to replace basic Microsoft Planner templates with a flexible project planning system in ClickUp. By designing task templates, List templates, and automations, you create a consistent, repeatable structure that scales with your team.

Start with one project, refine your templates based on real usage, and then roll the improved system out to the rest of your Workspace.

Need Help With ClickUp?

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

Get Help

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