Finding the right tool is an essential step for successful project management. While there are countless apps and platforms available, sometimes the best solution is already at your fingertips. No, I’m not referring to Excel, Google Sheets, or other basic spreadsheet programs. Allow me to introduce you to Microsoft Lists: a powerful, versatile tool hiding in plain sight within Microsoft 365.

In this post, I will unlock the full potential of Microsoft Lists for project management. I will elaborate on how I use it to streamline workflows, improve collaboration with clients and co-workers, and ultimately deliver successful projects with greater ease.

Why should you use Microsoft Lists for project management?

Microsoft Lists might seem simple at first glance, but it offers some compelling advantages for project management. As expected, it works flawlessly with the existing Microsoft 365 apps and services (more on that later). You can tailor your lists with custom columns, categories, and formatting to match your specific project needs. Such flexibility is key for different project types.

With templates, real-time collaboration, flexibility, export options, and robust mobile apps, you are looking at a user-friendly environment for managing projects, especially for individuals and teams already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem.

Start from scratch or use a template

As you may have guessed, Microsoft Lists isn’t limited to managing projects only. You can create any type of list from scratch. If it seems time-consuming, explore the built-in templates library. You can create an issue tracker, employee onboarding, asset manager, event itinerary, gift ideas, content scheduler, expense tracker, and much more.

1. Head to Microsoft Lists on the web and sign in with your Microsoft account details. Select New list at the top.
2. Check available templates, use entries from an existing list, or pick a CSV file. Let’s select Blank List for now.
3. Enter a list name, give a relevant description, choose a color and icon, and click Create.

Create columns and tasks in Lists

By default, Lists create a Title column. It offers multiple column types for your project. It’s entirely up to you to customize the list view as per your preferences.

1. Open your newly created list in Microsoft Lists. Click Add column.
2. You can choose from Text, Choice, Date and time, Multiple lines of text, Person, Number, Yes/No, Hyperlink, Image, Lookup, and Average Rating.
3. Lists opens a dedicated menu for each column type. For example, if you select Choice, you can give a column a name and customize your options from the same menu. You can even set a default value for the column.
4. Lists offers a bunch of customization options. For instance, when you select Person as column type, you can choose to enable profile photos, allow multiple selections (to assign the same task to multiple members), and more.

Overall, Lists offers ample options to create a truly unique list with multiple columns. As you can see from the screenshot below, I have created a sports schedule with a title, description, author, status, due date, publish date, content type, and publish link.

You can open each card and fill out all the details easily. You can filter views based on your task status, too. For example, I can click Published content at the top to filter all the completed blog posts in Lists. At any point, you can change the column view and tweak its settings.

Set rules for your project management system

Microsoft recently added support for rules in Lists. It’s a basic automation that alerts you based on set criteria. For example, whenever someone changes a blog post status from In Progress to Ready to Publish, the system sends a notification to your device. Let’s set it up.

1. Open your existing list in Microsoft Lists.
2. Click the three-dot menu at the top and select Alert me.
3. Select An item is modified. Choose a condition from the following menu, and you will be good to go.

You can even set a trigger when a new item is created and an item is deleted. The automation is still basic at best in Lists, and I can’t wait to see how Microsoft takes it further with future updates.

Share your projects with others

As expected, Microsoft uses the OneDrive cloud platform to sync and share your lists. Since it’s powered by OneDrive, you can use the same robust security options to share your lists with co-workers and clients. You can password-protect it and even set an expiry date to keep prying eyes away from your project. Here’s what you need to do.

1. Open your list in Microsoft Lists.
2. Click Share at the top.
3. Expand link settings. You can set the expiration date and password. Hit Apply.
4. You can also switch between Can edit list, Can edit items, and Can view. Enter the recipient's email address and share your list in no time.

Project export options

If you want to utilize charts, advanced data management tools, Gantt charts, and more, export your list in CSV format and import it into Microsoft Excel for better analysis. Such flexibility is one of the top reasons to use Microsoft Lists.

1. Open your project management list. Click Export at the top.
2. You can export to CSV, CSV with schema, or Power BI. The latter does require a Microsoft 365 Business plan, though.

Setup Microsoft Lists on mobile

Microsoft offers an excellent Lists mobile apps on iPhone and Android. Once your desktop view is set up and running, download its mobile apps from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, sign in with the account details, and manage small project details on the go.

Simplify your projects

If you often struggle to manage tasks, deadlines, and team communication, Microsoft Lists can bring order to the chaos. While it’s not the flashiest tool in the Microsoft 365 suite, Lists’ flexible structure can be a game-changer for project management. What are you waiting for? Take Microsoft Lists for a spin and conquer your project chaos in no time.

If Microsoft Lists isn’t your cup of team, check out the top project management tools for personal use.