Getting Work Done Shouldn’t Feel Chaotic
Missed deadlines. Duplicate work. Forgotten follow-ups. Sound familiar?
These are common issues faced by businesses everywhere. The problem isn't effort—it's the wrong tools. Sticky notes and email threads weren't designed for modern project coordination. These methods fail exactly when you need them most: during busy periods and complex projects.
The good news is that Microsoft 365 already includes several powerful task and project management apps, which may be sitting unused in your subscription. These tools help individuals stay focused, help teams stay aligned, and help managers keep projects moving without micromanaging.
In this second post of our Hidden Gems of Microsoft 365 series, we’ll explore:
- What these task and project tools do
- How they can be used in real-world scenarios
- Why they make teamwork smoother and more predictable
- Which roles and industries benefit most from each one
Let’s start with the tools you already know — and then dive into the ones you should be using.
Core Anchor Apps: The Familiar Foundation
Before exploring the under-utilized gems, it’s worth acknowledging the tools many people already use to keep track of work:
Excel
Excel is often used for tracking tasks, timelines, and simple projects. It’s flexible and familiar — but can become unwieldy when multiple people need to edit at once or when projects have many moving parts.
Outlook Tasks & Flagged Emails
Many users rely on flagged emails or Outlook Tasks as simple personal reminders. These tools work for individual task lists but don’t offer much for team-based work.
Note: The classic Outlook interface — which includes Outlook Tasks — is gradually being phased out. In the new Outlook, task management is handled through Microsoft To Do, which is fully integrated. As organizations transition to the updated Outlook experience, To Do becomes the primary tool for personal task tracking.
These tools work for simple tracking, but they weren't built for the complexity of team coordination. Now let’s look at the Microsoft 365 apps that can truly transform how work gets organized.
Hidden Gem 1: Microsoft To Do
Overview of Microsoft To Do
Microsoft To Do is a simple yet powerful personal task management app that helps you keep track of everything you need to accomplish — across all your devices. It integrates directly with Outlook, meaning flagged emails, reminders, and scheduled tasks all appear in one place.
Think Todoist or Google Tasks, but with Microsoft 365 superpowers. It’s designed to help individuals stay focused while also supporting light collaboration when needed.
Example Use Case
A busy sales team juggles follow-ups, proposals, admin work, and client calls. Instead of keeping tasks scattered across emails, sticky notes, and mental reminders, they organize everything inside To Do.
They create lists like “Client Follow-Ups,” “Leads to Call,” and “Admin Tasks.” Flagged emails in Outlook automatically appear as tasks, reducing inbox clutter and keeping priorities clear.
They also share a “Team Admin Tasks” list with each other to coordinate small shared responsibilities without needing a full Planner board.
Advantages of Microsoft To Do
- Provides one unified place for personal tasks.
- Syncs across desktop, mobile, and web.
- Integrates seamlessly with Outlook flags, reminders, and calendar items.
- Helps categorize tasks with custom lists, due dates, and priorities.
- Supports “My Day,” a focused view for selecting high-value tasks.
- Allows shared lists for simple collaboration, making it easy for teams to manage small recurring tasks together.
Who Benefits Most from Microsoft To Do
- Salespeople managing follow-ups, pipelines, and client tasks.
- Managers who need personal organization and small shared lists with their teams.
- Administrative staff handling recurring responsibilities or shared checklists.
- Small teams who need lightweight collaboration.
- Anyone feeling overwhelmed by scattered notes, emails, and to-dos.
Tip: Begin each morning by using “My Day” to build a focused list of achievable goals — it creates structure and reduces overwhelm. Watch the Microsoft Support video to see it in action!
Hidden Gem 2: Microsoft Planner
Overview of Microsoft Planner
Microsoft Planner is a lightweight, visual project management tool that helps teams organize tasks using intuitive Kanban-style boards. If you’ve used tools like Trello or Asana, Planner will feel familiar — but with the added benefit of deep Microsoft 365 integration.
Planner lets teams create tasks, assign owners, attach files, set due dates, add checklists, apply labels, and track progress at a glance.
Note: Some enhanced planning and scheduling capabilities are available through paid upgraded tiers beyond the core Planner version included with most Microsoft 365 Business plans. For more information about Planner’s Premium features see Microsoft Plans and Pricing. However, for most small and mid-sized teams, the included version provides everything needed for effective task coordination.
Example Use Case
A marketing team is preparing for a product launch. They create a Planner board with buckets such as “Content,” “Design,” “Approvals,” and “Launch Day.”
Tasks are assigned to team members with due dates, attached files, and subtasks. As team members work, they drag tasks from one bucket to another, giving everyone — including leadership — a real-time view of progress.
Because their Planner board is integrated into a Microsoft Teams channel, the entire team can access updates directly from the place where conversations are already happening.
Source: Microsoft
Advantages of Microsoft Planner
- Visual, easy-to-use Kanban boards that require no technical training.
- Integrates directly into Microsoft Teams for seamless collaboration.
- Supports task assignments, deadlines, labels, notes, and attachments.
- Provides automatic progress views, charts, and group visibility.
- Great for recurring workflows, small projects, and team coordination.
- Less overwhelming than full-scale project management software.
Who Benefits Most from Microsoft Planner
- Marketing teams planning campaigns, launches, or content production.
- HR departments coordinating onboarding, recruiting, or training tasks.
- Operations teams managing recurring workflows or process checklists.
- Small project teams needing visibility and structure without heavy software.
- Professional services coordinating client work deliverables.
Hidden Gem 3: Microsoft Lists
Overview of Microsoft Lists
Microsoft Lists is a flexible, customizable app designed to help teams track information, processes, and workflows in a structured, visual way. Think of it as a more collaborative alternative to tracking lists in Excel—one that's purpose-built for information that changes over time.
Lists can be used to manage just about anything: inventory, issues, onboarding steps, assets, customer requests, employee directories, event planning, maintenance logs — the possibilities are nearly endless.
It includes a gallery of templates and allows color coding, rules, views, and alerts to help teams stay aligned.
Example Use Case
An HR department uses Microsoft Lists to manage the hiring pipeline.
Each candidate moves through stages such as “Applied,” “Screened,” “Interviewed,” and “Offer Extended.”
Custom columns track résumé links, interview notes, recruiter assignments, and target start dates.
The list can be accessed directly through the Lists app or added to a Teams channel — whichever fits the team’s workflow. Either way, everyone involved can view updates in real time.
Source: Microsoft
Advantages of Microsoft Lists
- Highly customizable with templates for IT support, onboarding, events, assets, and more.
- Offers multiple views (list, gallery, calendar) to fit the workflow.
- Can be used standalone or integrated into Teams or SharePoint, depending on team preference.
- Supports rules and alerts to notify team members of changes.
- Great for replacing Excel files that multiple people update (and often overwrite!).
- Easy to use, even for non-technical teams.
Who Benefits Most from Microsoft Lists
- HR teams tracking applicants, onboarding steps, or training progress.
- Operations teams managing inventory, assets, or workflow logs.
- IT departments logging support tickets or equipment assignments.
- Project teams organizing recurring tasks and structured data.
- Anyone who needs to track information, organize tasks, and collaborate on projects.
Conclusion: Better Tools = Better Teamwork
Stop letting important work slip through the cracks. Microsoft 365 provides powerful—and often overlooked—tools built right into your subscription that can help individuals stay on track and keep teams aligned.
Whether you’re organizing personal priorities with To Do, coordinating teamwork with Planner, or tracking structured processes with Lists, these apps create clarity, accountability, and consistency across your organization.
Think about last quarter: How many hours did your team lose to disorganization? You already pay for these tools—it's time to use them.
It’s time to bring clarity and structure to the way your team works.
Ready to optimize your Microsoft 365 environment?
Contact us for a consultation on how to roll out these task and project management tools effectively across your organization.
Coming Up Next in the Series…
In our next edition of Hidden Gems of Microsoft 365, we’ll explore Content Creation & Editing tools — including simple-but-powerful apps that can transform how you build presentations, newsletters, videos, and polished communications.
Stay tuned — the next set of gems is just as good.