Approval flows are a powerful way to streamline your processes, ensuring timely approvals without manual intervention. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through the steps to create effective approval flows in Power Automate, using the free version of the tool.
What is an Approval Flow?
An approval flow is an automated workflow designed to facilitate the approval of documents and processes. For example, if you need your project lead’s approval on a document by the 2nd of every month, an approval flow can automate this process, eliminating the need for manual reminders and emails.
Creating a simple Approval Flow
For this tutorial, we'll use the example of sending a document to your project lead for approval on the 2nd of every month. In addition to the above four steps, we can also set up alerts and monitor the flow for activity through audit reports - which are topics we can explore further in future blog posts.
Step 1: Create a trigger
A trigger is an event that initiates the flow. There are three types of triggers:
Scheduled: A flow that runs at a scheduled date / time at a scheduled frequency, for example, sending an email daily at 2 am.
Automated: A flow that runs when an event occurs, for example, send an email when someone uploads a file in Google Drive or SharePoint
Instant / Manual: A flow that is triggered manually and sent to the user instantly.
You can read more about the triggers here.
In our example, we will use a scheduled flow.
Once you click Create Flow, a Recurrence trigger should appear. You can select the timezone to match your location.
Step 2: Initialise variable
Step 3: Start an approval
Step 4: Set conditions
Step 5: View results
Final remarks
This concludes our tutorial on creating a simple Approval Flow. From here, you can modify the flow to trigger when a report is uploaded, add multiple approvers, or set up alerts and monitoring.
By automating these processes, not only do you save time, but you also reduce the potential for human error, ensuring that critical tasks like approvals are handled efficiently and consistently. Power Automate's flexibility allows you to tailor workflows to your specific needs, making it a valuable tool for enhancing productivity across your organisation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I create approval flows for multiple approvers with different conditions?
Yes, Power Automate allows you to set up approval flows with multiple approvers and define unique conditions for each approver. You can choose whether all approvers must approve the request or if the first response is sufficient. Additionally, you can create custom actions based on the outcome of each approval, ensuring that the process meets your specific requirements.
How do I monitor the performance of my approval flow?
Can I integrate Power Automate approval flows with other Microsoft 365 apps?
About the author
Sai is a Data Analyst with a PhD in Astrophysics. She is experienced in data wrangling, analysis and process automation. In her spare time, Sai enjoys painting digitally and traditionally. She also loves making merchandise including our internal EdgeRed wall decals, invitations, bookmarks and stickers.
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