Microsoft Teams to Get New AI-Powered Planner Experience

In today's deep dive, we’ll be analyzing Microsoft Planner- an AI tool that emerged from the team Microsoft with some seriously bold integration and productivity enhancing aspirations.

We’re heading into a new era, where AI is an integral part of the workday. The tools you’re using for work management should be intelligent and help keep you focused and productive. However, even the most innovative solutions for getting work done can slow you down when they don’t work together.

In fact, the average employee spends the bulk of their time—more than 57%—communicating, when they could be focused on driving outcomes. And 59% of employees say their collaboration tools are not aligned with how their teams prefer to work. Employees are also eager for AI to help lift the burden of mundane daily tasks, with 70% saying they would delegate as much work as possible to AI.

Customers have been asking for the ability to drive more momentum and efficiency in their day. They want a single, intelligent app to track all their work and projects. That’s why Microsoft is leveraging our experience in collaborative work management (CWM), enterprise work management (EWM) and frontline task management to deliver a new modern work management solution assisted by next-generation AI.

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Microsoft combines Microsoft To Do, Planner and Project into a new Microsoft Planner in Microsoft Teams

The updated Planner app in Microsoft Teams will feature AI-driven features to boost efficiency and simplify task coordination.

Copilot, the AI assistant, will enable users to quickly locate necessary tasks and scheduling features for organizing projects.

The introduction of the enhanced Planner tool within Microsoft Teams is scheduled to start next month.

Microsoft is getting ready to introduce the new Planner experience within Microsoft Teams. The company will begin updating the existing Tasks by Planner and the To Do apps in Teams to the new Planner application in March 2024.

the company announced that it plans to bring together its various planning tools like Microsoft To Do, Microsoft Planner and Microsoft Project for the web into what it calls a "unified experience" that will first be available in Microsoft Teams in the spring of 2024, with the web version launching later in 2024. This new experience will go by the name of "Microsoft Planner.

Microsoft first unveiled its plans to launch the new Planner app in Teams at Ignite 2023. The company highlighted that it will combine some of its existing task management and planning tools (such as Microsoft Planner, Microsoft To Do, and Microsoft Project) into a work management experience under the name Microsoft Planner.

“It brings together the simplicity of Microsoft To Do, the collaboration of Planner, the power of Microsoft Project, and the intelligence of Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 into a single, simple solution that spans from individual task management and frontline task management to enterprise and professional project management,” the company explained on the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Microsoft Teams’ new Planner app to hit GA in May

In Microsoft Teams, the new Planner app will include new AI-powered capabilities, designed to enhance productivity and streamline workflow management. It will enable users to easily find tasks and scheduling and resourcing tools required for project planning. Microsoft Copilot will facilitate plan creation through natural language prompts, goal setting, and status tracking.

The new Planner experience in Teams is expected to be available for all commercial customers in May 2024. However, users will need to utilize the To Do app for creating new lists in organizations that lack a Microsoft 365 license.

Microsoft also plans to make the new Planner web app generally available in late 2024. The new app will support several new enterprise-grade project management features such as the lead-lag capability, portfolios, and baselines. However, the new features will only be available for premium customers.

We here at think consulting will keep you updated on the news about Microsoft Planner in the days to come as more information becomes available. Please share your thoughts and comments on how you think this technology will impact you to make your life better.