Microsoft Power Automate Cookbook

Chapter 8. Power Automate and Approvals

In this chapter, I’ll explain how approval processes have evolved from manual, paper-based methods to more automated systems. Manual processes were slower, error-prone, and required substantial physical storage space. I’ll go through the key characteristics of approvals, which are documentation, signing and authorization, communication tracking, accountability and reliability, and auditing and compliance. I’ll emphasize the critical role of automating approval processes within organizations, highlighting how doing so enhances efficiency, compliance, and control. Automated approvals streamline decision making by reducing time, minimizing human errors, and ensuring consistency. They also facilitate compliance with internal and external regulations by enforcing rules and providing an audit trail. As organizations grow, automated systems can scale effectively, handling increased approval requests without additional administrative burden. I’ll trace the evolution of Microsoft’s automation tools from early SharePoint workflows to the more advanced Power Automate, which integrates with various applications and services, offering robust, scalable, and user-friendly solutions for approval automation. Finally, I’ll go through common and useful approval recipes where Power Automate and SharePoint go hand-in-hand, enhancing effectiveness.

Manual Approvals and Characteristics

Before the advent of automation (modern tech), approval processes were markedly ...