Introduction to Planner


  1. Navigate to Rutgers Connect.
  2. Log in with your email address and NetID password.
  3. Access Planner in one of two ways after logging in - either from the waffle icon in the upper left-hand corner or by navigating to tasks.office.com

    Navigating to the Planner application in Office 365.

  4. 'Planner Hub' displays your favorite plans up top, along with all of the other plans you're assigned to on the bottom. Click on the Assigned to me tab on the left. There you can see the tasks that are completed, late, or haven't been started yet.

    The Planner Hub, as found within Rutgers Connect.


  5. After clicking on the plan, you're presented with a list of your buckets. Buckets are ways for the planner to group tasks.
    • Ways to use buckets include, for example:
      • Assign them to your different team leads to visualize which specific member in your team is responsible for which specific task.
      • Label your buckets as specific initiatives or deliverables in a plan.
    • Regardless of how you choose to use your buckets, it's important to remember that they are essentially repositories for your plan's tasks.

      A list of available Planner buckets.


  6. You can add by clicking on Add new bucket.
  7. You can delete or rename a bucket by clicking the three-dot ... icon beside the bucket name when you hover over it.
  8. To create a task beneath the bucket, click on the + Add task icon.
    • This will add a new task, which you can then set a due date for, assign the task to a member of the group, and add additional information, like a checklist, real-time comments, description, uploading attachments, dropping links, etc. You can be as granular as you want to be with your tasks. You can even assign tasks by dragging and dropping them under other buckets.

      Adding and configuring a new task in Planner.

  9. One way of adding new members to a plan is to click Members on the top right-hand side while in your plan. Start typing an email address or name and Planner with auto-populate members from your Office 365 address book.

    Adding new Members to a plan.

  10. You can also view your Planner's tasks by clicking on Charts. It provides a different visualization of the same data under the board view, just in a different way.

    Chart in Planner

  11. If you wanted to access your planner’s Notebook, calendar, see a list of members, or other options, click on the ellipsis ... menu item by clicking up top.

    Accessing planner's notebook