Streamlining workflows with M365 Power Automate

In today’s fast-paced digital world, businesses are constantly seeking ways to improve efficiency and reduce manual effort. The Microsoft 365 ecosystem has become a powerful solution for modern businesses.  In Australia, knowledge workers estimate that 5.7 hours per week could be saved, if they had improved processes, as reported by Asana, in the 2023 The Anatomy of Work Index. In today’s fast-paced digital world, this inefficiency is unsustainable. 

By harnessing the automation capabilities within M365, organisations can streamline and improve manual business processes, save time and enhance productivity. Utilising the M365 Power Platform, businesses can automate repetitive takes, and potentially save up to 30% of their time. 

Imagine the impact on productivity, efficiency and engagement if your team could focus on more strategic activities instead of mundane, repetitive tasks. This is where M365 comes into play, offering a suite of powerful tools designed to automate various business processes. 

This blog post will cover the various ways M365 can be used to create automation, reducing manual effort and enhancing productivity. We will explore the challenges of manual tasks, provide solutions using M365 tools, and share real-life examples and case studies to illustrate the benefits. 

By the end of this post, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to leverage M365 for automation and why it’s valuable for your organisation.

The impact of repetitive tasks on business efficiency

According to the McKinsey Global Insititute, in about 60 percent of occupations, at least one-third of the activities that make up a specific job could be automated. Manual tasks are a significant burden for many organisations, from data entry to scheduling meetings, these repetitive tasks consume valuable time and resources. Not only can repetitive tasks reduce productivity, they can reduce creativity and negatively impact motivation, and job satisfaction. There is also a risk human error, anytime you have people performing manual work, and this risk can be increased when the work is tedious in nature.  

It goes without saying that when employees are freed from mundane tasks, they can focus on creative problem-solving and strategic initiatives, leading to greater job satisfaction and innovation within the company. 

It is clear that the need for a solution to automate these tasks is more pressing than ever. 

The power of M365: Key tools for automation  

M365 offers a range of solutions that can be used to automate various business processes. Here are some key tools and how they can be utilised: 

• Power Automate: This tool allows users to create workflows that automate repetitive tasks. For example, you can set up a workflow to automatically save email attachments to OneDrive or SharePoint. 
• Power Apps: With Power Apps, you can build custom applications that automate specific business processes. For instance, you can create an app to track and manage employee leave requests. 
• Microsoft Teams: Teams can be integrated with other M365 tools to automate communication and collaboration. For example, you can set up automated notifications for project updates. 

According to a Forrester report outlining the Total Economic Impact (TEI) of the Microsoft Power Platform, the solution delivers an average ROI of approximately 502%. According to the study, application development costs are reduced by around 48% for companies using Power Platform, while efficiency increases by around 5% each year. 

Real-life examples of M365 automation success

Some in-depth examples of how organisations can successfully implement M365 automation to reduce processing time: 

• Automating Invoice Processing: Utilising Power Automate to streamline invoice processing. By automating the extraction of data from invoices and entering it into the accounting system. 
• Automating Employee Expense Reporting: Power Apps were created to automate their employee expense reporting process. Employees could easily submit their expenses through the app, which then automatically routed the reports to the finance team for approval. This eliminated the need for manual data entry 
• Automating Data Entry and Processing: Use Power Automate to automate data entry and processing tasks. By creating a workflow that extracts data from emails and enters it into a database, eliminate the need for manual data entry. This not only saves time but also reduces the risk of errors, ensuring accurate and efficient data processing.  
• Streamlining Workflows and Approvals: Implement a Power Automate workflow to streamline approval processes. The workflow automatically routes documents to the relevant approvers, sends reminders for pending approvals, and updates the document status in SharePoint. This reduces the approval time by 60% and ensures that documents are processed efficiently. 
• Automating Email Management: Use Power Automate to automate email management. By setting up rules to automatically categorise and prioritise emails, ensure that important messages are addressed promptly. Additionally, create workflows to automatically respond to common inquiries, reducing the workload on the customer support team. 
• Integrating with M365 Tools such as SharePoint: Integrate Power Automate with SharePoint to automate document management. The workflow automatically saves email attachments to SharePoint, organises them into relevant folders, and updates metadata. This streamlines the document management process and ensures that all files are easily accessible and well-organised. 
• Automating Customer Service Processes: Use Power Automate to automate customer service processes. By creating workflows that automatically route customer inquiries to the appropriate support agents and provide automated responses to common questions, improve response times and customer satisfaction. 
• Generating Reports from M365 Applications: Leverage Power Automate to automate the generation of reports from M365 applications. The workflow gathers data from various sources, consolidates it into a single report, and generates insights for decision-making. This reduces the time spent on data collection and analysis by 70%. 

The need for automation is clear. Transform your business with M365 automation

In conclusion, by automating routine tasks such as data entry, reporting, and communication workflows, organisations can free up valuable time for employees to focus on strategic initiatives.  

Ready to transform your business with M365 automation? Contact us to find out more about how we can help you implement these solutions and achieve greater efficiency.