How to use Microsoft Lists to be more productive

Microsoft Lists might have appeared in your Microsoft 365 package as if by magic in the later part of 2020.

Good news though! You’re not paying any extra for this incredibly handy app. Plus, it’s pretty darn useful for keeping track of… pretty much everything.

If you haven’t used or come across Lists much before, here’s the basics of what you need to know:

What is Microsoft Lists?

Microsoft Lists is an “information tracking” app designed to help you track tasks, issues and assets. If you like, you can simply use it like a personal organiser. You can create shopping lists or take notes with it.

But if that’s all you use it for, you’re missing out on a whole lot of functionality. Because Microsoft Lists can be used for everything from tracking your inventory and other assets to setting up routines, managing tasks and tracking issues which affect your entire team.

You can use it as a mobile app or do everything online. Plus, as it’s a part of Microsoft 365, it’s highly secure.

Why use Microsoft Lists?

1) It’s a major efficiency booster

As far as organisational tools go, Lists is right up there in terms of usability. You can keep all of your various to-do lists, client information, scheduling, meetings and more in one place. More importantly, this can be a place which is shared by your entire team.

Lists is a great way to manage your team’s workload as well as any personal tasks which you need to handle. You can create your own formats and rules which govern how everyone works together too.

2) It’s integrated with Teams and 365

As part of Microsoft 365, Lists is integrated with all of the other apps that are part of the package – as well as Microsoft Teams.

Teams actually works to bind everything together, meaning you don’t need to switch between apps to get things done. Pretty much everything in Lists can actually be accessed through Teams, so you’re not wasting time clicking around.

3) It’s free!

Perhaps best of all, Lists is now simply part of your package if you already have Microsoft 365. No more outlay is required.

How to set up Microsoft Lists

Setting up Lists is easy. If you’ve ever used Excel before, you’ll feel more than at home. Even if you haven’t, the interface is so clear and easy to use for basic tasks – you can use it like a calendar app if you prefer – that you can’t go far wrong.

You can select a pre-made template which will enable you to get what you need from the app. At a more advanced level, you can create rules and automations which send reminders or emails about meetings, tasks and deadlines to your team.

All in all, there’s basically no reason not to use Lists and more than a few reasons to at least check it out. It might be just what your business’s organisational processes have been calling out for.

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