Boost Productivity with Microsoft Power Automate

MS Power Automate is part of the widely used Microsoft ecosystem, yet many organisations are not yet fully aware of this application’s capabilities or the specific value it can bring to the table. Be it due to lack of awareness/understanding, perceived costs, or even pre-established systems and tools already in place, it’s strange but true that Power Automate can sometimes fly beneath the radar when it comes to business tooling.  

Known as Microsoft flow in a previous life, Microsoft Power Automate, is a cloud-based software tool in Microsoft Office 365. It allows users to create automated workflows between various apps and services, both Microsoft and third-party. In short, MS Power Automate is designed to save time on repetitive tasks and simplify processes to free-up the work-lives of users so they may re-direct their efforts to more business-critical tasks.

Using Power Automate, organisations can easily automate repetitive tasks by setting up ‘flows’ that are triggered by specific, pre-defined events. The obvious benefit being that this allows employees to spend more time on bigger or more important tasks, therefore increasing capacity.

Like much of the Microsoft Power Platform, one of the great things about Microsoft Power Automate is that it requires no coding knowledge at all. Another way to look at this is that Power Automate can be extremely cost-effective (especially if implemented with the help of specialists in Power Automate consulting and alongside other Microsoft business applications that enable digital transformation and efficiency).

The beauty here is that anyone can create an automated task and have Power Automate work on their behalf in the background.

What are common uses for Microsoft Power Automate?

Although it’s worth noting that one of the main advantages of Microsoft Power Automate is that it can be easily customised to meet very specific automation needs (and can also interact with third-party apps), first-time users may feel more comfortable beginning with one of the many pre-built flow templates to get started.

Power Automate has hundreds of ready to use templates, but below are some common examples:

• Automatically saving email attachments

  MS Power Automate allows users to automatically save email attachments (sent or received) to a corresponding SharePoint folder, e.g., all attachments in relation to a specific client or project. Naturally, this saves time searching and filtering Outlook to find old emails as they’re already neatly stored in the user’s OneDrive.

• Managing annual leave requests

  MS Power Automate allows users to send an automated notification to their manager requesting time off for holiday, medical, or any other type of leave. The manager in question will receive an alert that a request requires their attention, and the user will automatically receive a notification of their response.

• Requesting and receiving approval

  There are certain documents that may require pre-approval by a senior member of staff before being sent to the final recipient. Often, waiting for approval is a lengthy process, perhaps involving multiple reminders or numerous team members to be involved. With MS Power Automate, this process is automated, and approval is requested each time a new document or update is uploaded to SharePoint. Once approved, the creator receives a notification via Teams, allowing the process to continue seamlessly.

• Pushing notifications for important emails

  For users worried about missing important emails from their manager or director – or even employees working on a project together who don’t want to miss updates as soon as they come in – MS Power Automate can send push notifications that pop up on-screen to alert users to the new email. This is a great tool to avoid constant pop-ups for every email that comes in, but still receive alerts for designated persons.

• Receiving an alert when Microsoft Power BI is triggered

  Microsoft Power BI is a tool used to interrogate and find insights from an organisation’s data. Working with MS Power BI, MS Power Automate can be set to alert certain people when certain data triggers happen. For example, when X amount of support requests are left unresolved for X amount of time, or when incident volumes reach level X. It can also be used as a reminder or ‘warning’ tool. For example, sales representatives may be alerted when there is one week left to hit their target and they are more than X amount away.

• Managing to-do lists

  Microsoft Planner is a web-based planning app available on the Microsoft 365 Platform. The tool makes it possible to plan tasks and handle small projects without complex planning effort, and can also be integrated with Teams as a Planner tab. Using Microsoft Automate, tasks can automatically be added to Planner whenever an event is added to the user’s Outlook calendar. This is useful for, say, preparing meeting agendas, making time to review documents prior to discussion, or booking travel before a meet-up.

What are the Business Benefits of Power Automate Consulting?

Effective and collaborative Microsoft consultants can play a crucial role in the successful implementation of Power Automate by providing expertise, guidance, and tailored support throughout the process.

Involvement from Power Automate consultants ensures that organisations can maximise the platform’s capabilities while minimising the risks and challenges associated with automation, helping to improve control over business processes, tackle small/large-scale tasks, and focus on innovative and strategic business planning in-line with your organisation’s automation goals.

Below are some areas Power Automate consulting can help with:

The discovery phase 

Power Automate consulting usually begins by assessing the business’s current processes and identifying areas where automation can provide the most value. This includes understanding pain points, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies in manual workflows. Existing workflows can be mapped out in detail so as to determine which tasks can be automated and what benefits can be delivered. Consultants with also work with stakeholders to define clear objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs) for the Power Automate implementation, ensuring alignment with business goals.

Strategic automation planning

Power Automate consulting also helps prioritise which processes should be automated first, focusing on those that offer the highest ROI or are most critical to the business. Consultants will create a phased approach to automation, balancing quick wins with more complex workflows. Custom workflows can also be tailored, ensuring that automation meets the organisation’s specific goals, such as streamlining approvals, improving communication, or automating data integration.

Integration

Power Automate consulting can ensure a smooth integration the company’s existing IT systems and applications (e.g., Microsoft 365, CRM, ERP systems, third-party tools). This ensures continuity, prevents data silos, and enhances overall functionality. For businesses that need to connect Power Automate to custom systems or non-standard applications, consultants handle the complex API configurations and custom integrations to enable seamless data flow across platforms.

Customisation and optimisation 

Instead of simply automating current manual tasks, Power Automate consulting helps re-engineer processes to take full advantage of automation. Specialists will focus on improving efficiency, reducing redundant steps, and creating more streamlined workflows. Consultants can also design and implement advanced workflows that require more complex logic, such as conditional triggers, multi-stage approvals, and cross-departmental collaboration.

Security and compliance

Power Automate consultants will configure Power Automate workflows with a focus on security, ensuring that data is protected, access is restricted to authorised users, and compliance with internal security protocols is maintained. Additionally, for organisations with strict regulatory requirements (e.g., finance, healthcare), consultants can implement workflows that enforce compliance, track audit trails, and meet data protection regulations.

Change management and user adoption

One of the key roles of consultants is to train staff on how to use Power Automate effectively. Power Automate consultants may develop strategies to promote user adoption, including demonstrating the benefits of automation to staff, fostering a culture of innovation, and addressing any resistance to change.

Implementation and deployment

Power Automate consultants will typically implement pilot programs to test automations with a smaller set of users or processes. This helps identify any issues, make necessary adjustments, and gather feedback before rolling out to the entire organisation.

Continuous improvement

After implementation, Power Automate consultants may set up monitoring tools and dashboards to track the performance of automated workflows. These ensure that KPIs are being met and that workflows are functioning as expected. Of course, as business needs evolve,  workflows can also be optimised over time and areas for improvement can be identified.

Custom development

For businesses with highly specialised needs, Power Automate consultants can develop custom solutions within the Power Automate application, leveraging custom connectors, scripting, or Power Automate’s advanced features to meet unique business requirements.

Final Word

Microsoft consultants can play a critical role in ensuring the effective implementation of Power Automate by providing strategic planning, tailoring, seamless integration, security, and ongoing support.

Their experience helps businesses optimise processes, ensure smooth deployments, drive user adoption, and continuously improve automation workflows, ultimately maximising the value of your Power Automate and Power Platform investment.

To find out more about Microsoft Power Platform, or how Littlefish can help your business boost productivity through effective implementation of Microsoft Power Automate, please use the contact button on this page.