The recognition of purposes to assist groups arrange their duties, sources and extra has reached a degree the place each main software program firm has a list-making product. So it’s no shock that there’s a Microsoft Lists, however is MS Lists the perfect list-making app in the marketplace?
To search out out, let’s outline what Microsoft Lists is, take a look at its options and discover the way to use MS Lists. We’ll additionally get into particulars about pricing and plans, execs and cons and the way Microsoft Lists compares to different merchandise by Microsoft.
What Is Microsoft Lists?
MS Lists grew out of SharePoint lists and facilitates monitoring and organizing duties. Mission groups use it each personally and professionally. It seeks to current complicated data in a transparent and simply digestible format by displaying it in lists, grids and calendars.
Microsoft Lists claims to be a easy app to make use of, creating lists simply and shortly with templates. It guarantees the flexibleness to maintain everybody in sync with alerts. Some integrations join Microsoft Lists to Microsoft Groups and different MS merchandise. It’s included within the Microsoft 365 suite.
Microsoft Listing isn’t for everybody. It would serve private use, however for managing a venture it falls quick. ProjectManager is award-winning venture and portfolio administration software program that has an inventory view, but additionally Gantt charts for managers to schedule works, kanban boards for groups to handle workflow and calendar views for stakeholders to get an outline of the venture. Even our record view is extra strong, permitting for collaboration, assignments, due dates, tags, filters, attachments, subtasks, recurring duties, automation and monitor work in actual time. Get began with ProjectManager at present at no cost.
Microsoft Lists Options
Microsoft Lists won’t be the perfect software to prepare and monitor work, nevertheless it has helpful options. To provide MS Lists the credit it’s due and a preventing likelihood towards related instruments similar to Microsoft Project, Planner or Groups, let’s take an in depth take a look at a couple of of the important options that make MS Lists aggressive within the market.
MS Lists Grid View
As soon as project planning information has been added to Microsoft Lists, it may be seen in numerous methods. The view may be modified from a conventional record view to a grid view so customers can add or edit a number of objects without delay. The record view is normally chosen when looking out particular necessities, whereas the grid view is for exploring.
MS Lists Calendar View
One other view is the Microsoft Lists calendar view. This helps customers arrange and handle their lists by displaying objects in a project calendar view. This comparatively new characteristic lets customers view their duties in a month, week, work week or day format, which helps visualize deadlines, occasions, milestones, and so forth.
Alerts & Notifications
When a consumer right-clicks on an merchandise of their record, a number of choices pop up, together with to alert the consumer. The customers can then outline who the alert goes to, whether or not it’s despatched by e mail or textual content and when the consumer needs to be alerted. For instance, if one other consumer modifications one thing on one of many task list objects, the consumer engaged on that exercise will get notified.
The best way to Use Microsoft Lists
Now that we perceive what Microsoft Lists is and explored a number of the options that make it a helpful project tracking instrument, let’s discover ways to use it. Observe the three steps beneath to make an inventory, customise it and share it with others on the venture group.
1. Create a New Listing
Customers can get began from MS 365, MS Groups or SharePoint by clicking the app launcher and choosing MS Lists. Then choose make a brand new record and begin a brand new record from scratch, import an excel file or use an MS lists template. When chosen, give the brand new record a reputation, an outline, and so forth and put it aside. It’s now prepared to make use of.
2. Customise Listing Columns
Click on on the arrow subsequent to the column that shall be personalized and choose column settings. A listing will seem providing formatting, similar to shifting the column left or proper, hiding it or including a column. Settings shall be totally different in keeping with the kind of column that’s being personalized.
3. Share Listing With Others
Microsoft Lists may be non-public or shared with the group. To do the latter, go to the MS Lists residence web page and hover the cursor over the record that shall be shared. Choose open actions after which choose share. At this level, customers are requested to decide on who to share the record with. They will choose the permissions after which grant entry.
Plans and Pricing
There are a couple of plans and pricing tiers for Microsoft 365, the software program that features the MS Listing app. The plans are for residence, enterprise and enterprise. They’re listed beneath.
- Dwelling: $99.99/yr, for one to 6 individuals
- Microsoft 365 Enterprise Primary: $6/consumer/month with annual auto renew subscription
- Microsoft 365 Enterprise Customary: $12.50/consumer/month with annual auto-renew subscription
- Microsoft 365 Enterprise Premium: $22/consumer/month with annual auto-renew subscription
- Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise: $8.25/consumer/month with annual auto-renew subscription
- Microsoft 365 E3 (no Groups): $33.75 5/consumer/month with annual auto renew subscription
- Microsoft 365 E5 (no Groups): $54.75 5/consumer/month with annual auto renew subscription
- Microsoft 365 F3: $8 5/consumer/month with annual auto-renew subscription
Professionals and Cons of Microsoft Lists
MS Listing is a straightforward database instrument. As we detailed, it will probably assist arrange duties, collaboration and different issues, nevertheless it’s not a one-stop store. It’s particularly lower than helpful in managing projects. However that doesn’t imply it’s with out deserves. Let’s take a look at the benefits and downsides of utilizing Microsoft Lists.
Professionals of MS Lists
- Easy instrument
- Views data in numerous contexts, similar to calendar, customary, and so forth.
- Can share record with group
- Add photographs and information to record
- Monitor record actions
- Use templates and customised lists
- Create an inventory from Excel doc
Cons of MS Lists
- Restricted views, no kanban board view, for instance
- For all its simplicity, MS Lists nonetheless has a steep studying curve
- There’s no automation
- Lacks strong integrations
- No dashboard or reporting options
- No useful resource administration instruments
- No timesheets or different options for managing groups
How Does Microsoft Lists Evaluate to Different Microsoft Software program?
MS Lists is an element of a bigger suite of Microsoft merchandise. However is it a singular software? How does it examine to some related software program that Microsoft makes? Let’s take a look at how Microsoft Lists compares to a few MS merchandise: Microsoft Planner, SharePoint Lists and Microsoft Groups Lists.
Microsoft Lists vs. MS Planner
Each Microsoft Lists and Microsoft Planner are light-weight venture administration instruments. MS Planner has extra venture administration options to handle duties, similar to kanban boards, whereas MS Lists is extra versatile and customizable. Neither instrument is an actual venture administration software program with a full-service answer that features sources, price monitoring, and so forth.
Microsoft Lists vs. SharePoint Lists
These two Microsoft software program merchandise are mainly the identical. Microsoft Lists shows lists from the SharePoint website and permits customers to attach on to the lists with out having to browse to search out them by means of the SharePoint website. MS Lists is simpler to make use of than SharePoint, which was Microsoft’s reply to collaboration, although many customers have been sad with its performance.
Microsoft Lists vs. Microsoft Groups Lists
Once more, with MS Lists, customers can create, handle, assign and monitor lists. Duties in Microsoft Groups present the consumer all their duties inside Microsoft Groups. It centralizes all of the duties which are assigned to a consumer within the Microsoft Planner and one’s private to-do record in a single place.
ProjectManager Is the Finest MS Lists Various
Why use Microsoft Lists for venture administration? It’s solely going to frustrate managers and their groups. It’s a high-quality instrument for easy list-making, however a venture is just not a glorified to-do record. Mission administration organizes duties, workflows, sources and screens progress and efficiency to make sure that initiatives keep on schedule and don’t go over budget.
ProjectManager is award-winning venture administration software program that has a greater record view than MS Lists, plus a number of venture views and likewise manages sources, tracks labors prices and supplies a high-level overview of the venture with reporting instruments for extra insightful determination making.
Use A number of Activity, Mission and Workflow Administration Instruments
Tasks want greater than an inventory to ship success. Our software program has a number of instruments, similar to Gantt charts that schedule duties, hyperlink dependencies, filter for the essential path and set a baseline to trace deliberate effort towards precise effort in actual time. Groups can use the record view or kanban boards to visualise their workflows, which may be personalized and even automated, with activity approval settings to make sure solely high quality deliverables transfer ahead. There’s additionally a calendar view that offers stakeholders an outline of the venture in broad strokes.
Handle Assets and Monitor Prices
One other factor customers can’t do with Microsoft Lists is handle sources or monitor prices. When onboarding groups to ProjectManager, their availability may be set, similar to PTO, trip time and world holidays, which streamlines the assigning course of.
Then go to the color-coded workload chart or go to the group web page to get an outline of everybody’s allocation. From there, steadiness the group’s workload to maintain them working at capability. Prices, workload and extra may be seen both on the real-time dashboard or portfolio dashboard and studies. Labor prices may be monitored utilizing safe timesheets that assist with payroll, but additionally present visibility into how far every group member has gone in finishing their duties.
Associated Microsoft Content material
Microsoft has many merchandise for planning, initiatives and extra, however they’re removed from a dominant power in venture administration. They’re well-liked, it’s true, however they could be resting on their laurels. Let’s take a look at some latest weblog posts that overview Microsoft merchandise and whether or not they stay as much as the hype.
ProjectManager is on-line venture and portfolio administration software program that connects groups whether or not they’re within the workplace, out within the area or wherever else. They will share information, remark on the activity stage and keep up to date with e mail and in-app notifications. Be part of groups at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software program to ship profitable initiatives. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.
