Project execution activities, such as communicating project status, following up on project tasks, and reporting deliverables, can be mundane and tedious. Luckily, for companies and organizations utilizing Microsoft 365, Microsoft Power Automate templates can be leveraged to automate repetitive tasks and paperless processes. Most of these predefined templates can be integrated into commonly used Microsoft applications to provide a seamless and flexible work environment.
So, what is Microsoft Power Automate, and how precisely does it streamline repetitive tasks? Let’s take a closer look.
Quick and Secure Automation
With Microsoft Power Automate, project managers can motivate teams to build automated processes with flows installed in power automate software. The Power Automate extends to users low-code, drag-and-drop tools – and prebuilt connectors that automate mundane, repetitive tasks with ease.
Boosting Efficiency
Power Automate comes equipped with a process advisor that enables users to record and visualize their end-to-end processes. This provides guided recommendations in creating flows and provides insights that take the guesswork from what you automate. Elimination of repetitive work processes provides the much-needed efficiency required for organizational performance.
Enhancing Workflows with AI
The AI builder component is a standard tool in the Power Automate suite. The AI builder enables users to make their automation smarter through features like document automation, image and text detection, process approvals, and prebuilt models.
Convenience and Versatility
What’s interesting about Power Automate is expanding the users’ automation capabilities across various platforms: desktop, mobile, web, and similar applications.
- Desktop – allows users to automate repetitive, rules-based tasks using a point-and-click simplicity that utilizes robotic processes.
- Mobile – allows users to create and manage workflows on the go – anytime and anywhere.
- Web – allows users to access a centralized portal for creating and storing data, analytics, flows, connectors, and entities.
- Teams – extends automation to any collaborative space using collaborative tools and software.
Project Execution
Automation is a valuable activity that enables users to focus more on value-added activities while routine, mundane tasks are automated. However, to transition to seamless project execution, there are several steps that a user may want to implement – some include the use of Microsoft Power Automate and Microsoft Planner. Microsoft Power Automate provides predefined templates that make automation fulfilling, including but not limited to; document automation, text detection, and process approvals. In addition, prebuilt connectors help to execute project deliverables by automating paperless processes.
Project Communication
Project communication becomes effortless in Microsoft Power Automate. The email automation feature can be leveraged to connect Office365, Project Planner, and Outlook to convey communication automatically based on the selected recurring period. This automatic conveyance of project communication enables teams and project players to focus on tasks without reviewing the project plan severally in a single day.
Email Automation
For projects and tasks that require a high volume of file communication via electronic mail, it may feel uncomfortable to keep saving file attachments. Power Automate has a designated template that can help save an email’s attachments into a specified folder. This particular feature enables team members and project players to easily track their email communications and file attachments. This makes management of incoming mails and file organization a walk in the park.
Some projects may require users to upload file attachments to a SharePoint site where the files can get misplaced or lost altogether. With the implementation of the email automation template, Power Automate will notify a user via electronic mail once a file is uploaded to a particular location in SharePoint.
Streamlined Approval Processes
The approval of project processes is a crucial task that can act as a bottleneck if the approval process is manual and time-consuming. The automate template allows users to automate approvals for ongoing project workflows, particularly to files shared in SharePoint. Once an item has been uploaded to SharePoint, the manager identified within the workflow will immediately be notified to provide approval. The identified manager can then automate approvals using the Power Automate approval with a click.
Use Case Scenario for Power Automate
An organization has a set of processes that had to be completed before a new hire was onboarded. These tasks capture activities in different departments. For instance, HR gathered the hire’s personal and professional information; the accounting department set up the payroll; the marketing department ordered shirts; IT set up computer and software suites, and the security department provided key cards for obtaining authorized access to departments and computerized systems.
The problem is that although the onboarding process was thorough in its approach, some officials responsible and entrusted with specific steps in the process were late or altogether missed their duties. The result is that the organization is not ready for the employee who showed up to work. The result is frustration from the management because they have to chase down co-workers to get what they wanted from the new hire.
With this tool, the management can create a workflow sequence that assures every step in the onboarding process is completed. The Power Automate will send notifications to the persons involved in the onboarding process, and the manager can see which tasks are closed and which ones are still open. If the persons involved in the workflow process are late to deliver their functions, they are automatically notified. The end outcome with Power Automate is that the onboarding process will become more efficient as employees become set up with the things they need to make the first day a success for their new hire.
Conclusion
Microsoft Power Automate is a beneficial tool to both individual users and organizations. Whether a personal goal or an organizational initiative — to become better organized and efficiently manage your tasks can easily be met with the immense capabilities of the Power Automate. Power Automate can improve several types of routine, mundane activities that most managers perform regularly.
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