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Less Juggling, More Doing: Streamline Your Work with Planner, To Do, and Approvals in Microsoft Teams

30 July, 2025


Every team at KAUST is busy. From managing projects and tracking deliverables to responding to student requests or preparing for research deadlines, tasks stack up quickly. It’s easy to feel like your to-do list lives across sticky notes, emails, Teams chats, and your memory.

That’s where Microsoft Teams integrations with Planner, To Do, and Approvals come in. These tools help you organize, assign, and complete work collaboratively without switching between platforms, apps, or inboxes.

Whether you are a faculty member managing course logistics, a researcher coordinating lab work, a staff member running events, or a manager overseeing multiple team priorities, these tools offer a structured and shared way to keep things moving forward.

Why Use Task Management Tools in Teams?

  • Planner helps teams organize group tasks on a shared board.
  • To Do is your personal task list — a space for reminders, priorities, and daily planning.
  • Approvals lets you send and track requests like document sign-offs, project decisions, or equipment access.

These tools reduce scattered task lists and make team accountability visible, especially when paired with chat, files, and meetings in Teams.

For Researchers: Keep Lab and Grant Projects on Track

Scenario: A lab is preparing for a major equipment upgrade funded through an external grant.

  • A shared Team is created for the lab.
  • A “Lab Upgrade Project” channel includes a tab for Planner.
  • Tasks are broken down by workstream: procurement, safety review, technician training, timeline approvals.
  • Each task has a due date, assigned owner, attachments, and checklist steps.
  • Weekly check-ins use the Planner board to guide the agenda.

Assigned tasks also appear in each person’s Microsoft To Do, and approvals (e.g., for budgets) are sent via Teams with built-in tracking.

“We went from status meetings filled with guesswork to focused updates based on real task progress. And we didn’t need a separate project management tool.”

For Staff and Admin Teams: Run Projects, Events, and Workflows with Ease

Administrative units manage everything from onboarding to campus events. Keeping track of tasks across teams and email threads can lead to bottlenecks.

  • Create a board inside Teams for each initiative (e.g., “2026 Open House”).
  • Assign tasks to different departments and use labels like “Logistics,” “Marketing,” or “Catering.”
  • Attach key documents directly to tasks.
  • Use comments instead of emails for progress updates.

With Approvals, requests like signage, catering confirmations, and publication reviews can all be managed inside Teams.

“Approvals helped us eliminate those ‘Did you sign off on this?’ emails. We have a clean trail and a faster response time.”

For Faculty: Coordinate Courses, Exams, and Teaching Assistants

  • Use Planner in your course Team to map weekly logistics.
  • Assign tasks for uploading materials, scheduling guest lectures, or grading sessions.
  • Use To Do to keep personal reminders, Outlook flags, or research follow-ups visible and organized.
  • Send syllabus changes or assessment plans for quick review using Approvals.
“What used to be a stream of reminders in my inbox is now a clean list I review once a day — and I don’t miss anything.”

For Students: Manage Projects, Group Assignments, and Personal Deadlines

  • Create a Planner board for your group project and assign responsibilities.
  • Use labels like “Research,” “Writing,” or “Presentation” to categorize tasks.
  • Track academic deadlines in To Do, including reminders and Outlook tasks.
  • Use Approvals to submit proposals or request advisor feedback.
“We’re not chasing people for updates anymore. Everyone sees what’s next, and we get more done as a group.”

A Shared Culture of Visibility and Accountability

These tools help clarify who is doing what by when. They reduce unnecessary meetings, make progress visible, and help everyone stay on track — even across time zones and job functions.

Tips for Getting Started

Do:

  • Start with one Planner board per workflow.
  • Use due dates and task owners consistently.
  • Check in weekly with your team using the board view.
  • Use To Do daily to manage your personal priorities.
  • Use Approvals to formalize routine sign-offs.

Avoid:

  • Creating too many boards at once.
  • Assigning tasks without timelines or clear context.
  • Letting approvals get lost in email threads.

Built for the KAUST Way of Working

These tools are already available to every KAUST user with Microsoft 365. They follow the same security and compliance standards that govern all our collaboration tools, and they’re built to work across desktop, mobile, and web.

By using Planner, To Do, and Approvals inside Teams, you can focus on execution — not just coordination.

Want to Get Started?