Short version:
Lightweight Plans in Planner are back after being on hold for a while. This will be enabled by Roster containers, which is a simple list of members stored in Planner that can contain any user with a valid AAD ID in that tenant. Microsoft were calling plans contained by Rosters “Roster plans”, but have switched to “Lightweight Plans”. Initially, it looks like they are intended to support upcoming task capture features in meetings. Due mid-September to mid-October.
Details:
Is your organisation put-off allowing end users to create plans in Planner due to the creation of a M365 Group behind the scenes? Here comes a solution, but you’ll have to wait for the end-user interface.
When this feature is released, plans for collaboration can be created outside of M365 groups. Roster plans are not subject to existing M365 group controls.
The basic functionality of Roster plans is:
- There is currently no UI in Planner to create a Roster plan, but Roster plans can be created by meetings (details to follow) and membership managed via Graph APIs. Anyone in a tenant can create these plans using those APIs. We are also working on building end user experiences that will provide UI for users to create Roster plans. These plans will live alongside existing M365 group plans
- Once created, Lightweight plans appear in Planner alongside existing Microsoft 365 Group plans, and can be interacted with via UI the same way
- All members have equivalent permissions: Any existing member can add / remove other members, and create / edit / delete tasks and the plan itself
- Plan features tied to M365 groups are disabled in these plans, incl. links to OneNote / SP Site, comments on tasks, and uploaded attachments
- The Roster and the plan contained by the Roster automatically self-delete when the last member is removed from the Roster
- The Lightweight plan will be deleted when the last member is removed
- There are no other changes to plan functionality for Lightweight Plans compared to existing Microsoft 365 Group plans
- There are no changes to Planner licensing or storage for Lightweight Plans compared to existing Microsoft 365 Group plans
- “Lightweight plans” do not result in the creation of any objects in AAD
Availability:The APIs for Roster plans will be enabled on Graph for all tenants starting on April 5, 2021.
Microsoft: “At this time we will not be moving forward with rolling out the feature as outlined. We are evaluating changes based on feedback and will announce our new plan…when we are ready proceed”.
The APIs for Roster containers (which is how Lightweight plans are enabled, see below) will be enabled on Graph for all tenants starting in mid-September and the rollout should be complete mid-October.
For the Admins:
It looks like this feature will be available by default, despite the first sentence from Microsoft below confusing this a little:
“If you would like your tenant to be able to utilise “Lightweight plans” (i.e., plans that aren’t contained by a Microsoft 365 Group), you will need to make sure Roster containers are enabled as this is how Lightweight plans are enabled.
Alternatively, there are tenant admin settings that can disable the creation of Roster containers (and thus Lightweight plans) in a tenant: Disable the creation of Roster containers in your organization’s Planner tenant – Microsoft Planner | Microsoft Docs.
Note that disabling the creation of Roster containers means that your tenant will not be able to take advantage of the Meeting Notes integration with Task Ecosystem, such that tasks captured in a Meeting will not sync to M365 Task Apps.
In addition, see updated data export documentation that covers new Roster-related info.“
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