Power Automate – Tips From a First-Time User

Are SharePoint 2010/2013 workflows an integral part of your business process automation? Since the announcement of their retirement, you may find yourself seeking a replacement solution or maybe you're even on the fence about switching to Power Automate. But where do you start? Join me as I address specifically how to make the transition from SharePoint 2010/2013 workflows to Power Automate flows, in a few key questions: how does Power Automate integrate with SharePoint Online? What are the new Approvals and how do they differ from SharePoint Designer workflow tasks? What are some of the limitations of Power Automate and how do you design your flows to accommodate? How does a person keep up as an administrator of all the flows? With the answers to these questions and a glimpse of some other cool features (such as Microsoft Teams integration), you'll leave this session feeling confident that Power Automate will be the next workflow solution your business can't live without.

Transform your Request Processes with Approvals, Power Apps & Power Automate

Now that the workforce is trending towards remote/hybrid, paper pushing approval processes are out. How do we accommodate for our users outside of the office walls? How do we keep record of something that isn’t best served in an email or Teams chat? (Think PTO request, new hire setup, annual policy review, etc.) Approvals are a versatile M365 component that streamline the signoff process but there are many things to consider before making your approval process electronic. First, before thinking about the technology (i.e. Power Apps and/or Power Automate), a discovery conversation is necessary to construct an efficient, repeatable process and we will touch on the main points for this. Next, we will examine the four pillars of the Approval lifecycle:
1. Creation of the task – will OOTB Approvals suffice or do we need to design our own custom process with Power Automate?
2. Format the notification – how will we let our approvers know they have a deliverable? The most popular options include email and/or adaptive cards and we will cover the major differences in formatting.
3. Monitor items in progress – how do we see active Approvals? Do we need to build in reminders for our task?
4. Document the results - how do we share the results of our Approval and more importantly, record the outcome?
Lastly, we’ll look at an alternative to Approvals using Power Apps and discuss which business processes would fit best with this model.

Power Apps – Tips From a First-Time User

Having troubles getting started with Power Apps? You're not alone. As InfoPath support comes to an end, it's imperative that users understand the next form designer baked into SharePoint Online. In this session, I'll share what I learned as a first-time user of Power Apps - both what works and what doesn’t. Together, we will cover the entire lifecycle of a SharePoint Online list form and address the basics: How do I actually build my first form? Where do I add fields and their defaults? Can I make it look pretty? Once I publish the form, how do users fill it out? This session will be peppered with my own personal pros and cons, pitfalls to be aware of but mostly centered around the things a user should consider before making the switch from any form designer to Power Apps.

Embarking on your Power Apps journey can be daunting, especially with the end of InfoPath support looming. Join Heidi Jordan for an engaging session where she will delve into the transition to Power Apps as the next-generation form designer within SharePoint Online. Drawing from firsthand experience as a newcomer to Power Apps, she'll explore the nuances of its functionality, highlighting both successes and challenges.
Together, we'll navigate the complete lifecycle of a SharePoint Online list form, tackling fundamental questions such as:
• Initiating the form creation process: Where do you start?
• Field integration: Where and how do you add form fields?
• Aesthetic considerations: Can I (easily) customize the form's appearance?
• User interaction post-publishing: How do users fill out the form?
Throughout the session, expect a candid discussion enriched with personal insights, detailing the advantages and limitations of Power Apps. We'll navigate potential pitfalls while emphasizing critical factors for users contemplating the transition from their current form designer to Power Apps.

Build a Referral System with Forms, SharePoint Online, and Power Automate

In this session, we will see how to leverage Microsoft 365 by dissecting a referral system built with Microsoft Forms, SharePoint Online, and Power Automate. We'll define the role each pillar plays and demonstrate the following:

- Create an electronic referral form designed to collect data from internal and external users
- Push form responses to SharePoint as a means to monitor referral statuses
- Layer in an automated Approval process to collect key signoffs

Furthermore, we'll expand on the system and bring in optional adaptive cards for Approvals with Teams and insightful data visualizations with Power BI. The take-aways from this session will relate to more than just referral tracking; the idea is to examine each component of a real life application and illustrate how you can get started building functional solutions for any line of business.

Power Apps and Power Automate – Tips From a First-Time User

Prior to the availability of Microsoft’s power platform tools, business process automation with SharePoint on-premises generally centered around two components: a form builder and a workflow designer, i.e. InfoPath and SharePoint Designer. End of life support dates have been set for both products, so where should an on-premises user go from here? Enter Microsoft’s new cloud-based trio of tools: SharePoint Online, Power Apps and Power Automate. Join me as I share what I learned as a first-time user of all three tools - both what works and what doesn’t. We’ll get into the weeds a bit and look at specific concepts in both Power Apps and Power Automate and how a user would approach them having a SharePoint On-Premises mindset. I’ll also touch on my personal pros and cons, pitfalls to be aware of and some things a user should consider before making the switch to Power Apps/Power Automate.

Build Your Own SharePoint Online Migration Plan - With Flair!

It's inevitable: if you've been dubbed the SharePoint resident expert in your organization, you will be tasked with a SharePoint Online migration at some point. By now you've heard all the reasons why the future is flat and that modern is the way to go but you may find yourself struggling to actually take the first step. Join me as I discuss how I sorted through all the advice to design and implement my own upgrade strategy. I'll start from the beginning and share some observations from a hub site planning activity and then move on to the security and access considerations for sites. We will also take a look at some of the new modern features surrounding Intranet/home page design, navigation and web parts. Lastly, I'll share some my own wildly successful 'crowd favorite' nuggets which are sure to have a positive effect on user adoption and ease any of the pain caused by a SharePoint Online migration.

Next Level SharePoint News

Do you want to use an Intranet to share pertinent dynamic information such as announcements, milestones, system outages and upcoming events? Do you also want the content to be interactive and engaging for your users? Consider repeat content - would you benefit from using a template every month and/or scheduling your messages? Would you also like to easily push your content to MS Teams or Yammer? SharePoint News can help you achieve all of these things and so much more! Derived from the legacy Announcements List in SharePoint On-Premises, SharePoint News has evolved into an expansive feature that users must understand how to take full advantage of.

In this session we will cover:
• How to create, edit, delete and schedule a News Post
• News Templates
• Strategy and Architecture, including Hub News
• Web Parts to display Posts
• Where to find Posts
• Real life use case: Build an Alert System to display important messages on your site

Six Power Automate Essentials to keep your Business Flowing

Microsoft Power Platform's offering Power Automate has revolutionized the way we work. In a matter of minutes and with no code required, a user can create an all-encompassing workflow to accommodate virtually any business process. As organizations adopt their new automations, users will start to see the need for enhanced flow concepts to satisfy more complex requests.

This session will cover:
- Power Automate Licensing
- 6 enhanced flow concepts
- Assign an approval task to a group and/or multiple users
- Change throttling limits to avoid timeouts
- Configure run after behavior
- If versus Switch
- Send HTTP action
- Working with empty values

We will apply each of these enhanced concepts to a business scenario and sample flows for each will be provided after the session.

Advanced Approval Scenarios in Power Automate and Teams

Approvals in Microsoft Teams are a simple way to electronically streamline request processes. Users can leverage Power Automate and Teams to create user friendly cards to collect sign off information from colleagues and track the outcome for reporting. But not all request processes are created equal; some may require more advanced concepts. During this session, we will cover some of the not so obvious yet powerful ways to extend Approvals including:

- Automatically assign an Approval based on an upcoming review date
- Capture the outcome of an Approval including respondents, comments, and dates
- Dual Control and Majority Votes
- How to use Adobe Sign or Docusign
- How to locate your Approvals in Dataverse

Given the basic knowledge of Approvals and the enhanced concepts of this session, a user should walk away with the knowledge to elevate and reimagine their traditional workflow processes resulting in efficiencies for their business.

Optimize your Data Collection Process with Forms, SharePoint, or Power Apps

When it comes to data collection via forms, Microsoft 365 offers multiple form builder options to accomplish the same goal. But depending on factors such as licensing, there are reasons why a user would want to use one tool over the other. Some things to consider: Will the form be used via desktop or mobile device? How will this form scale? Is there a need for a printed record or response after submission? During this session, we will cover those questions and dissect business samples built with each form builder option, in the order of their complexity:

1. Microsoft Forms
- How to create and distribute a Form
- Promote responses to a repository
2. SharePoint list form
- Extend your basic SharePoint List form with List Formatting
- Best practices for column names, lengths, and types
3. Power App
- When would you use a custom SharePoint list form versus a standalone app?
- Demonstrate how to use Power Apps in Teams (Dataverse)
- What is the licensing required?

The goal of this session is to not only introduce users to all three options, but to build an understanding of the various form builders so users can determine the most appropriate medium for the job.

Better Together: Exploring the Integrations Between Microsoft Teams and Power Automate

Get ready to witness the seamless integration of Microsoft Teams and Power Automate! Microsoft Teams stands as an essential tool used daily by millions globally, serving as the cornerstone of modern business collaboration. When paired with the automation capabilities of Power Automate, Teams transcends its conventional role as a communication platform, emerging as a powerhouse for amplifying productivity and efficiency.
During this enlightening session, I'll delve into a few of the key integration points:
• Trigger Flows from Teams Messages: Effortlessly streamline follow-up actions on a Teams message, with just the click of a button. Whether it’s creating a DevOps item or sending tasks to OneNote, see how Power Automate quickly transforms routine tasks into efficient processes, integrated within the Teams interface.
• Flows with Adaptive Cards: Embrace the versatility of Adaptive Cards in Teams to gather information from users. Say goodbye to email exchanges as I demonstrate a more intuitive approach to user interaction, directly within Teams messages.
• Leverage Flows within the Workflows App: Explore the convenience of creating and managing Power Automate flows directly from the Workflows app embedded in Teams.
• Empowerment through Flow Templates: Uncover the potential of pre-built Team and Approval templates, designed to streamline common processes. Foster consistency across your organization and significantly reduce time spent on manual data collection with these readily available automation solutions.
This session promises live demos, real-world use cases, and more. Say farewell to using Teams solely for chats and meetings; instead, harness the efficiencies that Power Automate has to offer.