Use Swimlanes on the Planning Board

When you add or open a task plan on the Work Plan page, the planning board rearranges task cards by swimlanes, and the name of the open task plan displays above the planning board. Swimlanes arrange task cards on the planning board using horizontal lanes by any combination of assigned users, company, or WBS depending on task plan settings applied to the Work Plan page. Organizing the planning board by swimlane categories enables you to track tasks based on the most relevant attributes for your project and to visualize responsibility in the workflow. Display a task plan with swimlane categories on the Work Plan page planning board, and save the task plan to evaluate different plan versions later. Select and highlight specific swimlanes to help draw attention to task cards in specific swimlanes during planning sessions with other project members.

You can move existing tasks freely among swimlanes in the planning board or to and from the hopper. Add a new task directly to a swimlane using its right-click menu, then modify the details directly from the Work Plan page.

Note: You must have the Add Configure Task Plan privilege enabled in Project permissions to add task plans to a project.

To move existing task and activity data into or out of swimlanes on the planning board:

Cut and paste: Right-click your selection, and select Cut Task. Right-click a destination for your selection, such as a day column, activity band, planning bucket, swimlane or the hopper, and then select Paste Task. Your selection is moved.
Copy and paste: Right-click your selection, and select Copy Task. Right-click a destination, and then select Paste Task. Your selection is duplicated. Hand-offs are not copied with tasks.
Click and drag: Click and drag your selection to another destination. If you drag and drop from one swimlane into another swimlane, the field assignment will change to match the destination swimlane.
Move to Hopper: Right-click your selection, and select Move to Hopper. The due dates of the tasks in the selection are removed, and the tasks are placed in the hopper.
Move to Planning Board: Right-click your selection, and select Move to Planning Board. Tasks in the selection are placed on the planning board with a start date of today or the next available work day.
Delete: Right-click your selection, and select Delete Task. Select Yes to confirm.

To declutter tasks, activities, or swimlanes on the planning board:

Select  Tasks and Activities in the upper toolbar. This option displays all task data with activity bands in the hopper and in swimlanes on the planning board. Tasks can be added to the "No Activity" band if they do not have assigned activities.
Select  Tasks Onlyin the upper toolbar. This option allows you to declutter the planning board and to only view basic task information in swimlanes.
Select Hide Empty Lanes toggle in the lower toolbar. This option is toggled on by default, so that the planning board hides empty swimlanes from view.
Select Hide No Data Lanes toggle in the lower toolbar. This option is toggled to Hide No Data Lanes, by default, so that the planning board hides swimlanes with no data from view.

Tips

To change an activity assignment on a task, move it over an activity band and drop it into the activity band in the swimlane.
Print the planning board or create a PDF of your task plan that can be shared with your team. To learn more about printing options for the planning board, see Print the Planning Board.

Last Published Tuesday, May 21, 2024