The Office of Technology Services (OTS) licenses the Microsoft 365 (M365) suite of applications for TU students, faculty, and staff. Included in this suite are several applications that contain varying levels of project/task management functionality - Outlook Tasks, To Do, Lists and SharePoint. These options may fulfill the needs of most campus offices.
OTS also reviewed and approved three additional project/task management applications for university use – Smartsheet, Monday.com and ClickUp. If the Microsoft options fail to meet your needs, these additional options can be considered for use. Please note these products require paid subscriptions, which must be funded by your department.
Please be sure to review the support options for each of the applications, as only some of these applications are supported by OTS.
Microsoft Applications
Please click on the application to learn more.
Outlook Tasks
| Features |
Considerations |
Support |
- Set reminders, priority, due dates
- Define recurrence patterns
- Track percentage complete
- Track status
- Set importance level
- Attach files
- Organize by Category
- Forward / assign to others
- Integrated within Outlook
|
- Ideal for single user task management
- Use to “flag” email for follow-up
- Ease of use: Beginner/Intermediate
|
OTS Support? YES
Useful links:
Basic Tasks in Outlook
|
To Do
| Features |
Considerations |
Support |
- Integrated with Outlook Tasks
- Includes all Outlook Tasks features
- Add “steps” (sub-tasks) to tasks
- Offers Notes field
- Attach files
- Accessible within Outlook, or M365 app
- Mobile app
|
- Ideal for single user task management
- Mobile app enhances productivity while away from the office
- Ease of use: Beginner/Intermediate
|
OTS Support? Yes
Useful links:
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Lists
| Features |
Considerations |
Support |
- Extensive features
- Templates available
- Organize tasks by group
- Assign tasks to others @TU
- Sort tasks
- Customize views
- Export to / import from Excel
- Collaboration options
- Web “form” input option
- Integrated search
|
- Complex task management functionality
- Customized views (lists, cards, Kanban Board, etc.)
help manage large task lists
- Task assignment and list sharing useful for
managers / supervisors / work groups
- Not integrated with Outlook –
must access through M365 Lists app
- Ease of use: Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced
|
OTS Support? LIMITED – Use vendor resources
Useful links:
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SharePoint
| Features |
Considerations |
Support |
- Includes features of Lists
- Collaborative workspace for managing projects
- Dedicated file share for group documents
- Announcement board for members
- Shared calendar and contacts list
|
- Useful for medium to large projects
- Requires fair amount of configuration (layout, permissions, etc.)
- Ease of use: Intermediate/Advanced
|
OTS Support? SITE CREATION ONLY – Use vendor resources
Useful links:
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Project
- Faculty and staff can install MS Project on TU workstations from the Software Center
- Available for TU faculty and staff on domain workstations only
| Features |
Considerations |
Support |
- Full-featured project management application
- Manage small/large projects
- Includes Gannt Chart, schedule view, timeline, milestones
- Track resources
- Manage billable hours
- Reporting options
|
- Best option for true project management
- Steep learning curve for newcomers
- Ideal for effective resource and time management,
milestones and goals tracking, and generating progress reports for sharing with others
- Install from the Software Center on your TU workstation (Windows only)
- Ease of use: Intermediate/Advanced
|
OTS Support? INSTALLATION ONLY – Use vendor resources
Useful links:
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Additional Applications for Task and Project Management
These additional project/task management applications have been reviewed and approved for university use – Smartsheet, Monday.com and ClickUp.
As external applications, use of these services is subject to the following use conditions:
- These applications must be purchased at the business/pro level or higher; No free or trail versions.
- Shared licenses are not permitted.
- These applications are not authorized to integrate with any other TU systems.
- SSO is not a requirement for these tools and will not be offered by OTS.
- OTS is not responsible for the implementation, administration, or technical support of these applications.
- The purchasing department assumes full financial and administrative ownership of the application and is responsible for the usage and security of the application including:
- Provisioning and deprovisioning users, maintaining a least-privilege model when granting access to users.
- Maintaining access logs and regularly monitoring usage.
- Ensuring that protected or confidential is not stored in the system. First name, last name, and email address are the only personal data that can be stored in the system or included on any form generated by the system.
- Adhering to the University System of Maryland (USM) IT Security Standards.
Departments must consult with the TU Procurement Office prior to signing any contract or agreeing to any terms and conditions.
Please click on the application to learn more.
ClickUp
ClickUp Website
- ClickUp is a powerful and flexible project management tool. ClickUp is advertised as an all-in-one productivity platform for teams to plan and collaborate. It allows teams to communicate across all tasks, docs, chats, and lists from a single inbox and puts work side-by-side with notifications.
- Helpful Resources
| Features |
Considerations |
Support |
|
- Highly customizable and collaborative
- 11+ ways to view project progress and data
- Powerful views like Gannt, Table, Timeline, Geographical Map, Mind Map, Calendar, Board and Box
- Task automation, nested subtasks and checklists
- Offers relationships when creating links between tasks, ideas, documents, and dependencies
- Reporting, analytics, and dashboards
- Ticket Management
|
- Initial setup is complicated
- Mobile version is not robust
- Search function is not intuitive
- System can be slow at times
- Too many features/customizations can be overwhelming to some users
|
- Paid live training service, on-demand webinars
- ClickUp University
- 24/7 chatbot support, live chat with agents for paid plans
- ClickUp communities are available on Reddit, Twitter (X), Facebook and LinkedIn
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Smartsheet
Smartsheet Website
- Smartsheet is based on a traditional spreadsheet model and is one of the more visual project management platforms available. It draws on cloud-based spreadsheets and automated workflows to offer project and task management functionality. Anyone familiar with Excel can use Smartsheet.
- Helpful Resources
| Features |
Consideration |
Support |
|
- Similarity to spreadsheet applications
- Easy to use, collaborate, and share
- Robust services
- Used widely in higher education
- Grid, Gantt, Card, & Calendar views available
- Automated workflow, reminders, & updates
- Custom Forms
- Customize no-code app to fit specific needs of the organization
- Reporting, analytics, and dashboards
- Ticket Management
|
- There is an initial learning curve
- Issues with change tracking mode
- Less robust reporting features compared to others
- Mobile version is not robust
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- 24/7 global phone support, chatbot, Smartsheet University eLearning Access included with Standard Support Package
- Pro Desk included with certain plans (Professional Support Package)
- Technical Account Managers, named point of contact for Smartsheet for TAM and TAM-Enhanced packages
- Smartsheet Community integrated into the website
|
Monday.com
Monday Website
- monday.com’s work management platform offers a comprehensive set of features to help easily manage projects. Monday.com utilizes workflows to help teams stay organized, and has an intuitive and modern spreadsheet-like interface that is easy to understand, even for first-time users.
- Helpful Resources
| Features |
Considerations |
Support |
|
- 200+ templates for boards and automations
- Robust application with modern user interface
- Automated workflows with ready-made workflow apps
- Ticket Management
- Reporting, analytics, and dashboards
- Project budget management and time tracking
|
- Initial set-up can be overwhelming
- Notifications can become overwhelming
- Can be configured to be overly complex
|
- 24/7 Live chat available, phone call available on request (currently only offers help regarding Billing)
- Live and On-demand webinars available
- Monday.com community forum
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