Team To Do's View - Phases

Dear @Stacey Green,

Based on the current Planner task experience, email reminders and the assigned task summary may show limited task details, such as the task name and plan name. If the bucket name is not shown in that view, there is not a direct setting to add the bucket or phase name into the email reminder preview itself.

However, you can still make the phase information easier to identify by using the options below. Kindly try these steps:

1> Use buckets as your project phases

In your plan, set up each bucket to represent a design phase, such as: Briefing, Concept, Design, Review, Final Delivery

2> Group tasks by bucket in Planner

When viewing the plan, select Group by and choose Bucket. This will organize the task board by phase, making it easier for the team to understand where each task belongs in the workflow.

3> Use labels for additional visibility

If the team often views tasks from “Assigned to me” or from email reminders, consider using labels to make the phase or task type more visible. For example: Phase 1, Client Review, Final Artwork, Urgent

4> Add the phase name to the task title when visibility is critical

If the phase must be visible from email reminders or assigned task views, the most practical workaround is to include the phase directly in the task title. For example:

[Concept] Create mood board

[Design] Prepare homepage mockup

[Review] Update client feedback

5> Keep the plan name meaningful

If your team works across multiple plans, use clear plan names so users can quickly identify the project context when they receive a reminder.

Here are some useful setup tips for your design team:

• Use buckets for workflow phases.
• Use labels for task type, urgency, or design category.
• Add the phase name to the task title only when the phase must be visible outside the plan view, such as in email reminders.

This approach helps keep the Planner board clean and organized while still giving team members enough context when tasks appear in other views.

Please note that this is a workaround based on the current task viewing behavior.

I hope the information shared helps point you in the right direction. Please try the steps above and let me know if they work. If not, we can continue working together to narrow this down.

The first response may not always resolve the issue right away, but with your help and more details, we can work toward a solution.

As a moderator, I do not have the tools to investigate your specific account directly, as this is a support forum between users. Moderators and collaborators, including external Microsoft employees, may not directly intervene in the functionality of Microsoft products or access internal systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported problems, requests, or ideas. However, I will do my best to guide you as clearly as possible.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Yes" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.