Let's first grasp the concept of Power Automate before we begin searching for a demo.
The concept of Power Automate refers to the technology and methodology that enables the automation of various tasks and processes within an organization. Power Automate allows users to create workflows, automate repetitive tasks, integrate different applications and services, and streamline business processes. It provides a visual interface and a wide range of connectors to enable the creation of automated workflows without the need for extensive coding knowledge. Essentially, Power Automate empowers users to automate and optimize their work by efficiently managing and automating tasks, approvals, notifications, data collection, and more.
So let's proceed ...
1. Set up your environment:
- Ensure you have a Microsoft Teams account and access to Power Automate.
- Go to the Power Automate website (https://flow.microsoft.com/) and log in using your Microsoft account credentials.
2. Create a new flow:
For triggering, let's use sample sharpoint list
- Click on the "My Flows" tab and select "Create" from the navigation bar.
- Click on the "Automated cloud flow".
- Choose the appropriate trigger based on when you want the approval process to start. For example, you can select the "When a new item creates in the Sharepoint List" trigger if you want to initiate the approval process when an item is created in a specific Sharepoint List.
- Configure the trigger settings, such as selecting the Teams account, specifying the SP List, and defining any filtering criteria for the trigger.
3. Add an approval action:
- Click on the "+ New step" button below the trigger.
- In the search bar, type "Approval" and select the "Start and wait for an approval" action from the results.
- Configure the approval settings:
- "Approval type": Choose between "Approve/Reject" or "Custom Responses." The "Approve/Reject" option provides standard approval buttons, while "Custom Responses" allows you to define your own response options.
- "Assigned to": Specify who should approve the request. You can enter an email address, a Teams user, or use dynamic content to dynamically assign it based on the trigger information.
- "Title": Enter a subject or title for the approval request. You can use dynamic content to include information from the trigger.
- "Details": Provide additional information or context for the approval request. Again, you can use dynamic content to include relevant details from the trigger.
4. Define the approval outcomes:
- After the approval action, you can add actions based on the approval outcome (approved or rejected).
- To handle the approval result, add a "Condition" action or use the built-in "Control" actions like "Condition" or "Switch."
- Configure the conditions based on the outcome of the approval action. For example, if the approval is approved, perform certain actions, and if it's rejected, perform different actions.
- When you select "Approver Response" value dynamic content it will automatically add condition to "Apply to each" connection because approver can be multiple users.
6. Save and test your flow:
- Save your flow and give it a meaningful name.
- Test the flow by posting a message in the Teams channel or triggering the defined event to see if the approval process is initiated and the desired actions are taken based on the outcome.
7. Publish and monitor:
- Once your flow is working as expected, you can publish it and make it available to others in your organization.
- Monitor the flow for any errors or issues and make adjustments as needed.
Remember to customize the flow based on your specific requirements, such as adding additional actions after the approval process or integrating with other systems.