Like many Army units, 1st/19th Battalion, the Royal New South Wales Regiment (1/19 RNSWR) manages a large number of administrative, compliance, workforce, and operational preparation tasks across multiple headquarters, companies, and platoons. Although task management processes existed, visibility of task ownership and progress was often dispersed across emails, calendar invites, meeting notes, spreadsheets, and objective excel spreadsheet trackers.

Commanders and staff frequently relied on multiple systems to monitor task completion. Subordinate elements lacked a common operating picture of requirements, and it could be difficult to determine quickly who owned a task, its completion status, or whether deadlines were being met.

As task volumes increased, there was an opportunity to improve accountability, transparency and coordination through a more structured digital solution.

To address these challenges, the Commanding Officer (CO) of 1/19 RNSWR tasked me with investigating whether Microsoft Planner, an existing platform within Defence’s Microsoft 365 environment, could provide a practical and scalable task management solution for the battalion.

Anyone who has worked in the Army knows that introducing change can be difficult. As a junior officer, pitching a new digital process carries the risk of being labelled the unit's latest "good ideas fairy". I was hesitant at first. I expected resistance. However, after some initial investigation I was surprised by how intuitive Microsoft Planner is to use.

So, after an initial back brief on the concept for employment that gained the CO’s support, I cracked on.

The objective was to determine whether Planner could improve task visibility, support delegation and accountability, reduce reliance on email-based task tracking, and give commanders a clearer understanding of tasks priorities and progress across the unit.

Microsoft Planner is essentially a digital task board. Users can create tasks, assign them to individuals, set due dates, attach supporting documents, and track progress. Think of it as a whiteboard covered in sticky notes, except everyone can see it, update it, and access it from anywhere.

The initial trial was conducted exclusively within Support Company to assess how Planner could integrate with existing command and staff processes. My approach was to align Planner with existing command structures rather than introduce a new management framework.

Support Company operates its own Plan titled "1/19 RNSWR SPT Coy – Task Tracker", with Buckets assigned to Company Headquarters (CHQ), Signals Platoon (SIG PL), and Reconnaissance and Surveillance Platoon (RS PL). Tasks allocated to individuals within each respective bucket, with a brief description, due date, and the option to attach a document with additional information (Warning Order, Taskord, etc.).

The system integrates with the wider Microsoft 365 environment, allowing supporting documents, comments, links, and updates to be associated directly with individual tasks.

Following positive feedback and successful outcomes during the trial period, the approach was expanded across all sub-units within 1/19 RNSWR. Subunit task trackers were established for each company and battalion headquarters, creating a nested command-and-control structure (similar to Higher Control [HICON] and Lower Control [LOWCON]).

Tasks can be assigned at the battalion level in the “1/19 RNSWR COMD – TASK Tracker” to commanders, then delegated through subordinate company Plans, enabling commanders to maintain oversight while empowering decentralised execution.

The three below Planner views proved particularly useful in the following areas:

• Grid view enabled rapid creation, assignment and prioritisation of tasks.

• Board view gave commanders an intuitive visual representation of task ownership and progress.

• Charts view delivered dashboard-style reporting on task completion rates, overdue actions, priorities, and workload distribution.

The trial demonstrated that Microsoft Planner can provide an effective digital task management capability in a barracks environment.

The most significant improvement has been increased visibility and accountability. Staff and commanders now have access to a shared operating picture that clearly identifies task ownership, deadlines, progress, and completion status. This has reduced reliance on email chains and separate task trackers while improving transparency across the unit.

Planner has also enhanced coordination and prioritisation.

Commanders can better monitor competing demands, subordinate leaders retain ownership of their responsibilities, and higher headquarters can maintain oversight without unnecessary intervention. The ability to visualise workload and track completion trends has improved decision-making and staff efficiency.

Some of the difficulties faced include the already identified culture shift. I overcame this by running short, sharp PME sessions – a “Soldiers Five” on how to use Microsoft Planner.

I found that brevity was my friend when addressing a time poor audience. Only capturing key functions in the PME sessions and helpful tips and tricks such as how to create, copy, and move tasks between plans.

Additionally, to ensure the status of the tasks were regularly updated within Planner. I used tasks an initial agenda item in weekly syncs. Tasks were taken at face value, if tasks weren’t up to date, it was mentioned. This prompted team members to update Planner as part of their daily routine.

The system relies on disciplined user engagement and regular updates, but the benefits realised to date indicate that Planner is a practical, scalable, and low-cost solution for improving task management within Army units.

The experience also highlights a broader opportunity for the Army and the Australian Defence Force to use existing digital capabilities within Defence’s Microsoft 365 environment to modernise routine staff processes, improve organisational effectiveness, and support informed decision-making.

Still Interested?

Why not also read: Generative Artificial Intelligence – Easing the Administrative Burden for the Army.

Cove+ also has short learning courses on similar topics, including Project Leadership and Teams.