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Automation makes personal and business life a lot easier. It is that process that minimizes our human input and potential for errors in simple to complex, repetitive day-to-day tasks using digital means, making processes easier and less time-consuming than always doing so manually.
The world is changing, and for businesses to remain relevant and current, they need to maximize their time to get work done faster, more consistently, and more efficiently. Then they can channel that time toward more significant problems affecting how they reach clients, and customers, how they support partners and employees, and their production of better, newer, innovative solutions (products and services).
It is advantageous for businesses to have automation tools in place, but it is even better and smarter if they have an all-inclusive system to cover most if not all their automation needs in one space. Microsoft 365 makes this possible.
There are numerous processes MS365 can automate. In this article, we will discuss only 10 and how they improve the way you carry out certain tasks.
Microsoft 365 has an application formerly known as Microsoft Flow, Microsoft Power Automate, that creates automated workflows between the applications you use daily (both in MS365 and externally) to help you synchronize files, get notifications, and collect data, among other to-dos.
It is a part of the Power Platform (Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power Virtual Agents) in Microsoft 365 that comprises of a set of applications that all enable the automation of processes, solution building, data analysis, and creation of virtual agents.
If you are using Vineforce, we have our own Power Automate connector that helps you automate things such as:
1. Creating and assigning tasks
2. Creating projects
3. Notifications and reminders
Below are some of the processes Power Automate can make easier for you in collaboration with other apps both in MS365 and outside the platform:
Working in coordination with SharePoint, Power Automate allows attachments that usually take up much space when sent to your email (in this case in Outlook) to be stored in a document library or folder in SharePoint. This becomes an archive making finding and retrieving data/information from your emails much easier later.
This process, like any other Power Automate automation, is done by creating a trigger to identify when a new email with an attachment arrives in your inbox. When that trigger happens, it sets off an automatic response that saves the attachment in specific folders in SharePoint.
“To automate attachments from customers or vendors, create a SharePoint list for all your contacts, including name, email, etc. Use Power Automate to create a folder each time contact is made. Then create another Power Automate flow that will move attachments to the correct folder based on your contact list.
If you use Vineforce, you can use our Power Automate connector to notify your team with our bot for MS Teams called Vinny or create tasks to review when new attachments arrive from your contacts."
Having an automated approval process to manage the requests of your staff throughout the year can ease quite a load off in terms of eliminating unnecessary paperwork (manually filling out leave request form are outdated) and manually skimming through leave requests. It helps in cutting down the time spent on decision-making processes like these.
With the collaboration of apps such as Microsoft Forms, Teams, SharePoint, and Power Automate automated requests can be sent to managers with the click of a button, and the same approvals/disapprovals are returned in like manner (notifications of their responses).
“When leaves are submitted, use Power Automate to create tasks for the approvers in Vineforce, Planner, or To-Do. This way it becomes a part of the managers’ daily workflow.”
Push notifications are prompts that are triggered when you receive emails in your Outlook inbox. You may customize this flow in such a way that you decide what trigger to use to identify what emails are considered important. For example, you can do it for emails sent from your boss or manager.
“For better email management, use the Power Automate connector to convert flagged emails to tasks (with links to the original email) in your favorite apps like Vineforce or Planner. This way, it becomes a part of your daily tasks, so you can respond to these emails when you have time.”
Employee onboarding can be very time-consuming. There are so many aspects to consider, from screening and maintaining constant communication to the actual selection of potential hires; the task can be daunting.
Having a formal automated system ensures employees feel welcome, fill out all necessary documents/forms with the correct information, view important policies, and become well acquainted with the initials required of them before they start working.
In addition, it ensures that the information from hires is sent to the correct set of people and systems. In the end, it also says a lot about your company when your onboarding process is seamless and professional.
Offboarding employees is equally important as onboarding because it too has many steps included to ensure efficient exits of employees from business workspaces.
Just like onboarding, there is paperwork to be done, policies to be reviewed, and information to be sent to specific people in specific departments that can also affect certain systems in place.
In other instances, there are exit interviews to be carried out and equipment to be returned. All these interactions and reporting are made simple through automation.
You should know that this procedure alone can be very taxing. Every business, especially extremely busy ones, must go through this process every time purchases are made.
To cut back on time and cost wasted, AI (Artificial Intelligence) AI builder and Power Automate, in conjunction with SharePoint can transform your quotes and orders instantly to invoiced and billed in seconds with little to no human input.
First, you create a SharePoint site or list where you set up a document library and then use the Power Platform in MS365 that already has a prebuilt model in place that allows you to create a workflow using the AI Builder that sets off a chain reaction of steps that creates and sends invoices to your customers/clients.
“Control your receivables by creating a Power Automate flow that monitors the age of your invoices and creates a task for your HR team when invoices hit a certain age.”
There are days when you are booked to capacity for meetings. With Microsoft Teams and Power Automate you never have to miss another meeting again. A flow can be created to add a reminder to all your meetings scheduled in your Outlook calendar. You can set it in such a way that within 5 minutes to the time of an upcoming meeting, notifications are sent to Microsoft Teams reminding you about it.
“If you use Vineforce, reminders for breaks and meetings are automatic; no automation is needed.”
<Workplace policies are principles of action that govern how a thing should be done or are strategies. They are created and put in place by those in charge, usually in the admin. Policies are key to M365 administration efficiency and security.
The creation, enforcement, and management of policies that govern every aspect of MS365 administration can be automated into workflows that affect factors like what can be shared in SharePoint and reactivating compromised accounts to name a few.
A social media presence for your business nowadays is crucial to your marketing tactics and how you reach your audience. It is important to have a solid social media strategy intact to stay current and relevant in the market you wish to dominate.
Automating the channels you use to post daily or weekly can save you time and the pain it takes to upload/post manually each time you do. MS365 has connectors for platforms like Blogger, Medium, WordPress, Twitter, Instagram, and more.
You can automate postings to these mediums seamlessly by reviewing and scheduling content ahead of time. This helps you to reduce the hours spent maintaining and building your brand online.
Instead of the use of emails and spreadsheets, automate the way you keep track of equipment, devices, and software licenses given to employees or partners with the Power Platform in MS365. That way tracking and reporting are done in one place.
“Use Microsoft lists to create a list of all your assets and add replacement dates. Then create automation that will alert you or remind you 30 days before the asset replacement date.”
There are many more processes that can be done using MS365 as this productivity suite is a one-stop digital workplace that seamlessly integrates and automates everyday time-consuming workflows in conjunction with your favorite applications like Vineforce.
If you are interested in any of these automations, contact us, and we would be happy to help.
