With Power Automate, every professional can have their own virtual student worker!
What are the tasks that you delegate to your student workers? A part of the delegation would include simple, repetitive tasks like data entry, managing the list, and/or downloading the data.
As I worked with my student workers for years, their roles grew and I did not want them to do simple labor jobs as they could do more than that.
Soon, I learned that with Power Automate, you can have a virtual student worker who will work 24/7 for your needs.
The word “automation” may sound like you would need some computer skills or knowledge- the truth is, you do not need them!
Microsoft-which is now evaluated as the #1 company in the U.S., did a great job making a tool that you can create the automated flow with a few simple clicks.
What is more- virtually all universities and colleges should have a subscription and it’s highly likely that you can use the tool without paying a penny.
The best way to learn something is by making mistakes, and there are some tips that I learned while creating flows using Microsoft Power Automate. Follow along, so you can save time, be inspired, and optimize your workforce!
*This post will be updated as I learn more things about Power Automate.
How I optimized my workflow with Power Automate
My institution uses Slate CRM to manage applicants and the weekly report-generating process includes downloading queries from Slate CRM and reports from the SEVIS system. With Power Automate, I could automate the flow to download 6 queries and 2 reports.
By doing so, I could cut the time that goes into the weekly report generation process from 2 hours to 2 minutes.
Then, I also automated the process to find file names using a wild card, rename them, and move them to each folder.
Since I use Power Query to pull the weekly report and perform the data audit, I created an automated flow to launch the Excel, refresh the query or pivot tables, and save the page as a PDF file.
Using one of the templates, you can also get notified when the email has certain words– it is especially useful when you are on a work trip. For example, you can set the notification to be sent to you if the email has an “approval request” so you can prioritize emails that ask for approvals when you have limited time.
What to remember before creating flows with Power Automate
Before I get to the “how-to” guide, I wanted to share what I learned from my own mistakes while creating Power Automate flows:
Lesson 1: Ask AI
If you are not sure how to automate the process, ask AI! The Copilot icon can be found in the right ribbon or you can take advantage of the AI scripting function on the left navigation bar by writing what you need just like you would talk to your friends (=by using natural language).
I personally found ChatGPT more helpful (ChatGPT is owned by Microsoft so it’s not surprising).
Lesson 2: Make sure the recorder captures your work correctly!
When using a recorder to record the steps to automate using the Desktop app, click each step slowly to ensure that the recorder captures your action.
Lesson 3: To select the file, it must be a list item!
I wish I had known this tip before I started building the flow! **When clicking the file or folder name, make sure to click it as a “list.” Otherwise, the ‘clicking the file/folder’ step will be recognized as clicking the name of the file rather than the file or folder itself and cause errors in the flow. **
Lesson 4: Capture the slider too!
When you need to scroll down the page to record the next step, make sure to record the slider position by clicking the slider and scrolling it down.
Lesson 5: The Drop-down menu looks different!
Power Automate recognizes the drop-down menu and it will look different when you use the Desktop recorder. Therefore, note that when you use the Desktop recorder to record the step that you select one of the values from the drop-down box, the drop-down menu should look different.
Similarly, Power Automate captures the right click as well.
Lesson 6: Use the variables!
When building a flow using actions from the left menu, each action may have output values. The output values then, can be used as variables. For instance, when you use the “Rename File(s)” to rename three files and the “Move File(s)” action, you can simply click “renamedfile” output to move all of the three files to the designated place instead of clicking each file.
Lesson 7: Record then edit to select the correct Excel tab!
I found the Desktop recorder is not good at recognizing the Excel tab. For example, when I click the tab name “pivot” it may record the step of clicking the “all” tab where I am currently looking. In this case, you can click any tab and edit the step by double-clicking the tab name (eg. “all”) and changing it to the correct tab (eg. “pivot”).
TBA
How to create automated flow with Power Automate
Since my workflow is different from yours, I will share how I approached the automation process:
1. Download spreadsheets/queries from CRM
2. Rename/copy/move the files
Since I had to find the file name using the wildcard and that includes today’s date, I used a PowerShell script.
Click here to check out the code that I used.
Then, I used the “Get filed in folder” action to select the file and “Move file(s)” to move the file to the designated folder.
3. Save the EXCEL file to a PDF file
Start by adding the “Launch Excel” action then record each action by using the recorder.
TBA
$folderPath = "##yourfilepath"
$dateString = Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd"
$files = Get-ChildItem -Path $folderPath -Filter "##filename*" -File
foreach ($file in $files) {
# Rename each file
$newName = "##newfilename " + (Get-Date -Format "MMddyyyy") + $file.Extension
$newPath = Join-Path -Path $folderPath -ChildPath $newName
Rename-Item -Path $file.FullName -NewName $newPath
}
Optimize your higher ed workflow and be free from repetitive tasks!
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