OneNote is quite popular for its note-taking capabilities. However, you can easily use OneNote as project management with smart organization, OneNote templates, sharing functions, and smart integration with Outlook.
Maybe you don’t want to use another project management tool and aim to work from a single interface all day. You already have all the data in the OneNote notebook and using the same software for project management should offer a seamless experience. Follow the tips below and get things done using OneNote.
1. Use OneNote Notebook, Section, and Pages
OneNote uses a unique method to organize notes. Unlike Evernote and Apple Notes, you’re not limited to using tags to organize notes. You can count on Sections and Pages to organize your thoughts.
You can create a separate notebook for the upcoming project and create different sections for it. For example, you can create a new notebook as the application/software name, add sections such as UX, UI, Communication, Software Development, Testing.
Add the necessary notes or pages and create the perfect scrapbook ready to share.
2. Help With OneNote Templates
Creating every OneNote page from scratch is time consuming. Ultimately, you choose OneNote as your project management tool to save time. is not it?
You can choose one of the built-in OneNote templates and get started quickly.
Stage 1: Open OneNote on your computer.
Step 2: Select the relevant Notebook and Section.
Stage 3: Add a new page and click the Add menu at the top.
Step 4: Select Page Templates.
Step 5: It will open a custom Templates menu.
Step 6: Choose your preferred template from the list and see the magic.
Just make a few changes here and there. You can even create custom OneNote templates to save more time in the future. Read our dedicated post to learn how to create a template in OneNote.
3. Add Outlook Emails to OneNote
In some cases, you need to send important customer emails to OneNote for reference.
Outlook offers direct integration with OneNote. Here’s how you can use it.
Stage 1: Open Outlook on Windows.
Step 2: Select the email you want to send to OneNote.
Stage 3: Click the three-dot menu in the upper right corner and select OneNote.
Outlook will ask where you want to save the email in OneNote. Select the section in a notebook and you’re good to go.
4. Add Related Files to OneNote
Before you can share the OneNote notebook with others, you must add the related files and Spreadsheets to a page. This is pretty easy to do.
Select Add from the OneNote page. You will have the option to integrate the Excel file into the sheet. If you want to record audio or video, you can do so easily from the same menu.
5. Share OneNote Notebook
Now that you’ve created the perfect OneNote notebook with templates, emails, files, and more, it’s time to share the notebook with other team members to manage the project.
Stage 1: From the OneNote notebook, click File in the upper left corner.
Step 2: Select Share.
Stage 3: Type in other members’ email addresses and give them edit permission.
Step 4: Click Share at the bottom and let others join the notebook.
6. Track Recent Changes
When your team joins a OneNote notebook, you want to track changes made by others.
From the OneNote notebook, go to the History menu at the top. Select Recent Edits and check the changes made by others on a page. You can also search for changes by a specific author from the Find By Author menu.
7. Master Tags to Monitor Task Status
OneNote comes with dozens of built-in tags for tracking project progress. From a OneNote page you can go to Home and check Tags.
You can add different tags like Project, Discuss with X, Customer Request, Important, Call Back, Email and more.
8. Password Protected OneNote Page
You wouldn’t want every team member to access all OneNote pages, would you? Some OneNote pages may contain sensitive information such as quarterly results, tough customer feedback, final UI design, and more.
You can password protect these pages from the Review section to prevent unauthorized access.
This way, only you and selected members of the team can access the page.
Master OneNote Project Management Capabilities
Why pay extra for a dedicated project management tool when you can get the job done from OneNote itself? Sure, custom tools come with dozens of features, but ask yourself, will you use them? If not, OneNote can be the ideal solution for managing small projects on the go.
