Boost Your Project Team’s Collaboration with Microsoft Loop

1. Introduction
2. What is Microsoft Loop?
3. Benefits of using Microsoft Loop
4. Leveraging Microsoft Loop in Project Management
5. Copilot on Microsoft Loop
6. Limitations
7. Summary
8. References

Introduction

In the dynamic world of project management, effective collaboration and communication are key to project success. The importance of communication in project management cannot be overstated. According to research conducted by the Project Management Institute (PMI), poor communication is the primary reason why projects fail. PMI’s findings reveal that poor communications are a contributing factor in 56% of the projects that failed[1].

According to the Work Trend Index research conducted by Microsoft, 64% of respondents say they struggle with having the time and energy to do their job[2].

Achieving effective communication in project management is often easier said than done. It involves more than just sending emails or conducting meetings. It requires ensuring that the right message reaches the right people at the right time and is understood in the right context. This is where Microsoft Loop comes in.

As a project manager, I’ve found that Microsoft Loop, the latest addition to Microsoft’s suite of productivity tools, is transforming the way project teams collaborate. It addresses the communication challenges in project management, making it easier for teams to stay connected, share ideas, and work together towards their project goals. In this article, I’ll share my insights on what Microsoft Loop is and how it can be leveraged in project management. Let’s dive in.

What is Microsoft Loop?

Microsoft Loop is a collaboration tool that brings teams together in a shared collaboration workspace where your team can work across multiple applications. If you have multiple projects, you can set up a workspace for each of them and include your team members. That way your team can collaborate and see the project progress dynamically.

Loop has three main elements:

1. Loop components are the building blocks of the Loop app allowing you and your team to collaborate on a Loop page or different applications for real-time work. Once it’s created and shared, it will sync the progress everywhere that you have shared them.
2. Loop pages are flexible canvases allowing you to create different Loop components such as lists, tasks, or add images and templates and bring your team to collaborate. Like Loop components, Loop pages can also be shared with others.
3. Loop workspaces are dedicated workspaces for your projects where you can bring all your project-related work and team members. These communal spaces allow your team to view and categorize project elements, making it easy for everyone to stay updated and track progress toward project goals.

Microsoft Loop is available to everyone with their work account (Microsoft Entra account). To access the full Loop app features, users with work accounts will need to have one of the following Microsoft 365 plans:

• Microsoft 365 Business Standard
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium
• Microsoft 365 E3
• Microsoft 365 E5

As of now, Loop components are currently supported in the following Microsoft 365 apps:

• Teams
• Outlook
• Word for the web
• Whiteboard.

Additionally, you can bring Microsoft Planner as a Loop component into a Loop app.

Loop components are portable and editable pieces of content that remain synchronized wherever they are shared. They can be incorporated into an item in Outlook and can also be used in Teams chats. By simplifying the collaboration process, Loop components enable project teams to brainstorm, plan, and collaborate effectively.

Benefits of using Microsoft Loop

There are several benefits of using Microsoft Loop in project management:

• Real-time collaboration – Loop components allow project teams to collaborate in real-time without having to email back and forth to get project information.
• Centralized Workspaces – Loop workspaces provide project managers with the ability to bring project teams together within a shared collaboration space to get the job done.
• Integration with other Microsoft 365 apps – Loop components can be embedded into Outlook, Word, Teams, and Whiteboard allowing project teams to collaborate in various devices and applications.
• AI capabilities – project managers can leverage the Copilot capabilities to create, edit, and delete Loop components.

By using Microsoft Loop in this way, you can effectively manage your project, foster collaboration among the team, and ensure that the project stays on track.

Leveraging Microsoft Loop in Project Management

In project management, successful communication and collaboration require the right tools. Project managers can leverage Loop to manage their projects from start to end. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to use Loop on your projects. While the steps outlined for using Microsoft Loop in project management provide a structured approach, they are not strictly sequential. You have the flexibility to follow them in order or adapt as needed based on your project’s unique requirements. The key is to leverage the features of Microsoft Loop in a way that best supports your project management process.

Step 1. Go to loop.microsoft.com, sign in with your work account (Microsoft Entra account), and create a workspace. It is recommended to name your workspace accordingly.

Step 2. Invite your team members. You can share your workspace with your team. If you do not want to share your workspace with everyone, you can share the specific Loop page or component, and their access will be limited to that specific component.?

Step 3. Set up Loop pages. If you use the waterfall project management approach, you can create different pages for each process group such as the initiation process group and so on. Under each page, you can create a subpage. For example, in the case of the initiation process group, you can create two subpages and name them project charter and project stakeholders.

There is a template list shown below on Microsoft Loop that you can choose from and customize accordingly.

Step 4. Add Loop components. At each Loop page, you can add different Loop components by simply typing the forward slash “/” and the menu bar next to it will pop up. From the menu bar, you can choose the various types of Loop components shown below:

You can scroll down to see the full list of the components.

Let’s say we want to create a RACI chart. You can select the table from the list and customize it. You can also export the table to Excel.?

One of the benefits of using Microsoft Loop in project management is its ability to embed Microsoft Planner as a Loop component that will allow project teams to track their project tasks in a shared workspace.

Microsoft Planner is a lightweight project/task management tool that can be used to create project plans, assign tasks to a team member, and track the team’s progress.

To create a Planner component:

1.???? Go to the Planner app and create a plan (if you do not have already one)

2.???? Copy the URL for that plan from your browser

3.???? Open the Loop app and paste the URL to the page you want to

4.???? Give access to your team members.

?Whether you’re making updates in Microsoft Planner or within the Planner component in the Loop app, the changes will synchronize, displaying the most recent content. Similarly, if you’re working within the Planner component and a team member is working directly in Planner, both of you will be able to see each other’s updates in real-time.

Please note that Planner is not available for use with personal accounts. Your account should be associated with a business or educational institution and have access to Planner.

Additionally, you can bring Jira issues and Trello boards into the Loop app to collaborate with your cross-functional teams.

Modifications made either in Loop or on the Jira website and Trello.com will be synchronized almost instantly.

Users can also create Loop components inside Outlook and Teams.

To create a Loop component on Outlook, go to the Messages at the top and extend the Loop components drop-down menu in the ribbon shown below:

From that list, you can select the following Loop Components shown in the image below.

Select any component from the list and start adding content to it. If you want to add your colleagues, you can mention them @mention, and they will be notified via email. From here, you can additionally copy the Loop component and paste it into Teams chat.

To create a Loop component inside the Teams chat, select the Loop icon from the messaging area, add any component you want, and enter some content into it. Once you are done, hit Send.

Now everyone in the chat can see the Loop component and edit in real-time.

The components that you created are stored and automatically saved to your OneDrive. You can find them on Office.com in addition to Teams. It’s recommended to name your Loop components to easily search and find them.

Copilot on Microsoft Loop

Microsoft 365 Copilot is a tool powered by AI that has been incorporated into Microsoft 365. By understanding the context and needs of the user, Copilot uses artificial intelligence to offer suggestions and recommendations, thereby enhancing productivity.

Integration of Copilot into Loop helps project teams organize their work, brainstorm ideas, draft content, and summarize pages in the app.

You can ask Copilot to analyze your project plan, identify critical tasks, and recommend mitigation strategies for your project risks.

Limitations

During its Public Preview phase, the Microsoft Loop app is being offered free of charge for personal Microsoft Accounts. Here are the limitations that you should consider:

• Size of Loop workspaces – The maximum size limit for each Loop workspace is 5 GB.
• Workspaces created by one user – Each user can create up to 5 workspaces.
• Number of members of a workspace – Each Loop workspace can have a maximum of 50 members.?

Summary

To summarize, Loop can be very beneficial to both project managers and project teams to collaborate efficiently and streamline their day-to-day work in a single application.

?

References

1. Microsoft Loop Support
2. Microsoft Loop: built for the new way of work, generally available to Microsoft 365 work accounts
3. Overview of Loop components in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem

[1] Monkhouse, P. (2015). My project is failing, it is not my fault. Paper presented at PMI? Global Congress 2015—EMEA, London, England. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.

[2] Work Trend Index Annual Report: Work Trend Index.

Published by

Rafsan Huseynov

Rafsan Huseynov is an IT program manager with over a decade of experience leading enterprise-grade digital transformation initiatives. Over the course of 12 years, Rafsan has been at the forefront of leveraging cutting-edge technologies, especially Microsoft Business Applications including Power Apps, Power Platform, Copilot Studio, SharePoint, Teams, and Loop. His passion lies in delivering impactful citizen development and Gen AI projects.? Rafsan is not just an advocate but an evangelist for the citizen development approach, empowering project managers to build their technology solutions. Beyond technology, he firmly believes in the importance of a structured approach when crafting digital solutions. In Rafsan's view, regardless of the technology used, a thoughtful and methodical strategy should guide the development journey.