Can SharePoint planner list integration help my team’s workflow?
Our project management tracking is spread across multiple platforms, making it difficult to track tasks efficiently. We have critical projects in Microsoft Planner but need to display them within our SharePoint site so team members don’t have to switch between applications. Is there a way to integrate Microsoft Planner with our SharePoint environment to create a single source of truth for project management that leverages the strengths of both platforms?
Why linking MS planner to SharePoint?
Organizations frequently struggle with fragmented task management systems that reduce productivity and create information silos. When Planner tasks exist separately from SharePoint resources, team members waste time navigating between apps, risk missing updates, and lack contextual information needed for decision-making. By integrating Microsoft Planner with Teams channels and SharePoint, you can combine Planner’s intuitive task management with SharePoint’s document management and team collaboration capabilities, creating a unified workspace where information flows seamlessly.
How to integrate Microsoft Planner?
We’ll explore multiple methods to connect your Microsoft Planner tasks with SharePoint sites, ensuring your team can access task information without leaving their primary workspace. This tutorial covers adding a Planner tab to a SharePoint page, embedding Planner through various methods, and displaying existing plans. You’ll need Microsoft 365 with Planner and SharePoint licenses and appropriate permissions to edit SharePoint pages.
How to create a planner in SharePoint using the web part
- Navigate to your SharePoint site where you want to add the Planner integration, then click the gear icon in the top-right corner and select “Edit page” to enter edit mode.
- Click the “+” button in any section of your page to add a new web part, then scroll through the available options or use the search bar to find the “Planner” web part.
- Select the Planner web part from the menu of available web parts, which will insert a placeholder for your Planner board on the SharePoint page.
- Choose between creating a new plan or displaying an existing one by selecting the appropriate option in the property pane that appears on the right side of the screen.
- If creating a new plan, provide a descriptive name that clearly identifies its purpose, such as “Marketing Campaign Tasks” or “Product Development Roadmap,” and configure any additional settings like group association.
- For existing plans, use the dropdown menu to browse and select from plans you have access to, filtering by team or group if necessary to find the right plan quickly.
- Configure the view options to determine how tasks appear, including list or board view, filtering, and grouping preferences that best suit your team’s workflow requirements.
- Adjust the web part size and position on the page by dragging its borders or using the layout options to ensure optimal visibility within your SharePoint page context.
- Click “Publish” at the top-right of the page to make your changes visible to all site visitors with appropriate permissions.
Add planner to SharePoint site through Microsoft Teams connection
- Create a Microsoft Teams team associated with your SharePoint site if one doesn’t already exist by navigating to Teams and clicking “Join or create a team” then “Create a team,” selecting “From a group or team” to link it to your existing SharePoint site.
- Add a Planner tab to your Teams channel by navigating to the desired channel, clicking the “+” button at the top of the channel, and selecting “Planner” from the list of available tabs.
- Name your plan meaningfully so team members can easily identify its purpose, ensuring it aligns with your project naming conventions and SharePoint site structure.
- Configure your Planner board within Teams by creating buckets that represent your workflow stages, such as “To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Completed,” then add tasks with appropriate details, assignments, and due dates.
- Navigate to your SharePoint site and click the gear icon to enter edit mode, then add a new web part by clicking the “+” symbol in your desired section.
- Search for and select the “Teams” web part which allows you to embed Teams content directly within your SharePoint page, providing seamless access to your Planner board.
- Select the specific Teams channel that contains your Planner tab from the configuration panel that appears on the right side of the screen.
- Choose to display the Planner tab specifically by selecting it from the available tabs in that channel, ensuring users can directly access the Planner board without navigating through Teams.
- Adjust the height and width settings of the Teams web part to ensure your Planner board displays optimally within the SharePoint page layout.
SharePoint show existing planner: Troubleshooting common issues
- If your planner isn’t appearing in the selection dropdown, verify that you have appropriate permissions to both the plan and the SharePoint site, as Microsoft 365 Groups control access to plans and you need to be a member of the associated group to view or edit them.
- When encountering display formatting issues such as truncated task names or incomplete views, try adjusting the web part size by dragging its borders or modifying the height parameter in the property pane settings, as Planner requires adequate space to display properly.
- Users reporting they can see the planner but cannot modify tasks might face permission configuration issues, so check that they have appropriate edit permissions in both SharePoint and the Microsoft 365 Group associated with the plan, which may require an administrator to adjust group membership.
- If your Planner web part shows a loading indicator indefinitely, try refreshing the page first, then check your network connection, browser compatibility, and finally clear your browser cache or try accessing from an InPrivate/Incognito window to eliminate extension conflicts.
- When changes made in Planner don’t appear immediately in the SharePoint integration, remember that synchronization between services can take several minutes, so wait briefly before troubleshooting, or try manually refreshing the page to force an update.
Expert Tip: For more advanced integration scenarios, consider using Power Automate to create workflows that automatically update SharePoint lists when Planner tasks change, providing even deeper integration between the two services and enabling custom notifications or reports.