We introduced two tools for work organization and task management, Outlook Flags and To Do Tasks, in previous articles. We will now compare them in a short summary. Which application is more suitable and efficient for the tasks?
Let's start with Outlook, which offers management using Flags, thanks to which you can mark e-mails as tasks within the mail, which are then nicely together in Outlook tasks (in the web interface also in To Do). In addition to Flags, you also have the option to add a Flag from OneNote 2019, which will be moved to tasks just like flagged e-mails.
Microsoft To Do is a simple and intuitive task manager to which you can attach a list of all Flags from an email or OneNote, create your lists that can be further shared, make through My Day a list you will accomplish that day. It also offers the possibility to view the tasks assigned to you in the Planner. In short, To Do effectively connects multiple tools and applications.
| What is compared? | Aplications | |
|---|---|---|
| Funkcionality | Outlook Tasks | Microsoft To Do |
| Where to add them | in Outlook desktop application | in To do and Outlook applications |
| Are Flags from E-mails or OneNote 2019 also displayed? | Yes | Yes |
| Where are they subsequently situated? |
in Outlook application, in Outlook web redirection to To Do |
in To Do application |
| Notifications | Reminder settings directly in the task | Reminder settings directly in the task |
| Attachments (adding attachment option) | Yes | Yes |
| Assigning a task to another person | Yes | Only through a shared individual list |
| Do other people besides the assigned ones see the task? | No | Yes, if they are members of the list |
So far, it looks like it will end in a tie, so let's add other evaluation elements, such as when you have a lot of tasks - it is useful to determine the priority and importance of them.
In addition to your tasks, it is helpful to know the ones assigned to you within the team. Is it possible to create sub-tasks under tasks? Or to choose from the tasks only those you need to solve on a given day and plan others for other days?
| Tasks Prioritization | Yes, via importance settings | Only by marking *Important |
| Showing team tasks assigned to me? | No, only assigned directly from Outlook | Yes, in addition to the list also from the Planner |
| Category assignment | Yes | No |
| Creating a list for the current day? | No | Yes |
| The possibility of smaller steps in a task? | No | Yes |
According to the comparison in the table, you can already guess which tool we recommend - it's the To Do task manager. It is straightforward thanks to its connection of individual functionalities from several environments, and thanks to the My Day view, you don't get lost in the task list. You can decide which tasks to accomplish that day.
Are you missing any crucial criteria for comparison? Contact us.
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