How to use Workflows in Microsoft Teams

How to use Workflows in Microsoft Teams

Introduction

In this section, Sonal and Harysh introduce themselves and the topic of the video.

  • Sonal and Harysh introduce themselves as members of the Microsoft Teams and Power Automate teams respectively.
  • They discuss how workflows in Teams can help streamline tasks and day-to-day activities.

Workflows in Teams

In this section, Sonal and Harysh explain how to access workflows in Teams from the app store.

  • Workflows in Teams are available to automate workday tasks with a few clicks.
  • Users can access workflows directly from within the Teams store.
  • There are pre-configured templates for productivity, approvals, notifications, etc. that users can use to get started.
  • Users can find these templates by clicking on "Top picks" or searching for them using keywords.

Welcome New Team Members Workflow

In this section, Sonal demonstrates how to use the "Welcome new team members" workflow template.

  • The "Welcome new team members" workflow template sends automatic welcome messages when someone is added to a team.
  • To use this template, users need to sign into all necessary services before selecting the team they want to send welcome messages in and what channel they want to post to.
  • Once selected, users just need to click "Create flow."

To-do Task Flows

In this section, Sonal explains how users can manually trigger a task flow using keywords mentioned in channel messages.

  • Users can set up a workflow on their Teams channel for a to-do task that lets them set up a keyword that automatically creates a task whenever it's mentioned.
  • For example, using TODO as the keyword will auto-add a task with a link back to the message directly in Planner.
  • This allows users to stay on top of tasks mentioned over messages, like sharing a draft of a new contract or setting up time to meet with the sales team.

Notify Channel You'll Be Out of Office

In this section, Sonal explains how users can access workflows they need right in chat and channel conversations.

  • Users can notify their channel that they will be out of office by clicking on the ellipses or three dots in their message extensions tray and searching for "workflows" if it's not already visible.
  • Among the templates, users will find "Notify a channel you'll be out of office."
  • Once opened, users can create a custom out-of-office calendar event, Outlook auto-reply email, Teams status message and post to a channel notifying people they'll be out.

Personal Chats

In this section, Harysh showcases a feature of Microsoft Teams that allows users to set reminders for sending or replying to messages in personal chats.

Setting Reminders in Personal Chats

  • With remote collaboration taking place across different time zones and everyone balancing work and personal obligations, a team's work and focus times might not always align.
  • Users can set a reminder to send or reply to a message that they've meant to follow up on. This ensures that colleagues are not bothered during non-work office hours.
  • To create a new action, click on the ellipsis icon in the chat message, then click on "More actions".
  • From here, users can click on the template "Follow up on a new message" to create this flow.

Workflow Templates

In this section, Harysh discusses how Microsoft Teams is continuing to add more workflow templates based on user feedback.

Triggering Workflows

  • Workflows can be manually triggered from any message or compose box or automated workflows that trigger whenever an event occurs.
  • Microsoft Teams is continuing to add more workflow templates based on user feedback.
  • The goal is for users to find workflows that make their day-to-day tasks easier.

Conclusion

In this section, Harysh concludes the video by encouraging viewers to like and subscribe for more productivity tips and updates about Microsoft Teams.

Liking and Subscribing

  • Viewers are encouraged to give the video a like and subscribe for more productivity tips and updates about Microsoft Teams.
Video description

This week, Sonal Chiranewala part of the #MicrosoftTeams team and Harysh Menon part of the #PowerAutomate team share ways to save time by streamlining tasks and day-to-day activities with Workflows in Teams. With Workflows templates it is now easier than ever to automate your workday right in Teams. No prior experience is needed. Like with every other #TeamsApp, if you don’t see Workflows (or just a few apps) reach out to your IT team or check out the Microsoft Docs page about managing your apps in the Microsoft Teams admin center at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/manage-apps Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the next featured Teams app and can discover all the ways you can use Microsoft Teams!  See how to add an app to Microsoft Teams - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-an-app-to-microsoft-teams-b2217706-f7ed-4e64-8e96-c413afd02f77 Learn more about apps and workflows in Microsoft Teams - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/apps-and-workflows