Understanding Power Automate and Its Components

Introduction

Power Automate, formerly known as Microsoft Flow, is a cloud-based service that allows users to create automated workflows between various apps and services. Using Power Automate, you can streamline repetitive tasks, integrate systems without relying on coding, and enhance productivity.

Components of Power Automate

1. Flows: The core concept of Power Automate. A flow is an automated workflow that connects your apps and services.

   • Automated Flows: Triggered by specific events, such as receiving an email.
   • Button Flows: Manually triggered by a user via a button.
   • Scheduled Flows: Runs at specified times or intervals.
   • Business Process Flows: Guides users through a defined process in a streamlined manner.

2. Triggers: Events that kick off a flow. Triggers can be time-based, manual, or event-based.

   • E.g., "When a new response is recorded in Microsoft Forms".

3. Actions: Steps that execute after the trigger event occurs as part of the workflow.

   • E.g., "Send an email", "Update a record in SharePoint".

4. Connectors: These provide a way to connect different applications and services in your workflow. Power Automate includes connectors for Microsoft 365 tools, as well as third-party apps.

   • E.g., Microsoft Forms, SharePoint, Outlook, Google Drive.

Practical Implementation: Managing and Editing Microsoft Forms for Vendor Feedback Collection

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Create a Form in Microsoft Forms

• Go to Microsoft Forms.
• Click on "New Form".
• Add questions relevant to vendor feedback:
  • Vendor Name (Text)
  • Service Quality (Rating)
  • Comments (Text)

2. Create a Flow in Power Automate

1. Access Power Automate:

   • Go to Power Automate.
   • Sign in with your Microsoft account.

2. Start a New Flow:

   • Click on "Create" in the sidebar.
   • Select "Automated Flow" from the options.

3. Choose Your Trigger:

   • Search for "Microsoft Forms" in the trigger list.
   • Select "When a new response is submitted".
   • Connect to the relevant form created earlier.

4. Add Actions to the Flow:

   a) Get Response Details:

   • Click on "New Step".
   • Search and select "Microsoft Forms".
   • Choose "Get response details".
   • Configure the action to point to your form and response ID.

   b) Send an Email Notification:

   • Click on "New Step".
   • Search for "Send an email (V2)" (requires a connected Outlook account).
   • Configure the email action:
     • To: Your email or relevant recipient.
     • Subject: "New Vendor Feedback Submitted".
     • Body:

       Vendor Name: 
       Service Quality: 
       Comments: 

   c) Update a SharePoint List (Optional):

   • If tracking feedback in a SharePoint list, add a new step:
     • Search for "Create item" in SharePoint connector.
     • Configure the action to create a new list item with the form data.

3. Test the Flow

• Submit a test response in Microsoft Forms.
• Validate that the flow runs and the actions (email notification, SharePoint update) are performed correctly.

4. Monitor and View Flow Run History

• In Power Automate, navigate to "My flows".
• Select your flow and check the run history to ensure it executed as expected.

Conclusion

With this setup, you have created an integrated solution to collect vendor feedback using Microsoft Forms and automate actions such as sending notifications via Power Automate. This implementation enhances efficiency in managing and responding to vendor feedback.

Introduction to Microsoft Forms

Microsoft Forms is a simple, lightweight app that allows you to create surveys, quizzes, and polls. This guide will walk you through managing and editing Microsoft Forms documents integrated with Power Automate flows for efficient vendor feedback collection.

Creating a New Microsoft Form

1. Navigate to Microsoft Forms:

   • Open your web browser and go to Microsoft Forms.
   • Sign in with your Microsoft 365 account.

2. Create a New Form:

   • Click on the "New Form" button.
   • Enter a title for your form, e.g., "Vendor Feedback Collection".
   • Optionally, you can add a description.

3. Adding Questions:

   • Click on "Add new".
   • Choose the type of question (Choice, Text, Rating, Date).
   • For example, add a Choice question for vendor satisfaction with options "Very Satisfied," "Satisfied," "Neutral," "Dissatisfied," and "Very Dissatisfied".
   • Add additional questions as needed to collect comprehensive feedback.

4. Customizing Form Settings:

   • Click on the three dots (ellipsis) in the top right corner.
   • Go to "Settings".
   • Ensure "Anyone with the link can respond" is selected if you plan to share this form externally.

Integrating Microsoft Forms with Power Automate

1. Navigate to Power Automate:

   • Open your web browser and go to Power Automate.
   • Sign in with your Microsoft 365 account.

2. Create a New Flow:

   • Click on "Create" from the sidebar and then "Automated cloud flow".
   • Enter a name for your flow, e.g., "Vendor Feedback Handler".
   • Select "When a new response is submitted" as the trigger and click "Create".

3. Configuring the Trigger:

   • Choose the Microsoft Form you created earlier from the dropdown list.

4. Adding an Action to Parse the Responses:

   • Click on "New step".
   • Search for "Get response details" and select it.
   • Set the Form ID to the same form and use the Response ID as dynamic content.

5. Handling the Response Data:

   • You can now add various actions depending on your requirements, such as sending an email, storing data in SharePoint or Excel, or notifying a Teams channel.

Example: Send an Email with Feedback Details

- "New step" -> "Send an email (V2)"
- Fill in the necessary details:
  - To: Your email or distribution list
  - Subject: "New Vendor Feedback Received"
  - Body:
   "Feedback Summary:
    Vendor Satisfaction: @{outputs('Get_response_details')?['body/ratingQuestionId']}
    Additional Comments: @{outputs('Get_response_details')?['body/textQuestionId']}"

Managing and Editing Your Form

1. Accessing Your Form:

   • Go back to Microsoft Forms and select the form you wish to edit from the dashboard.

2. Editing Questions:

   • Click on the question you want to edit.
   • Modify the text, options, or type of question as necessary.
   • Save changes automatically.

3. Viewing Responses:

   • Click on the "Responses" tab.
   • Here, you can view a summary of all responses or download them to Excel for further analysis.

Conclusion

By following this practical implementation guide, you can effectively create and manage Microsoft Forms integrated with Power Automate to streamline vendor feedback collection. This integration will enable automated handling of form responses, improving efficiency and response analysis.

Navigating Power Automate Flows for Efficient Vendor Feedback Collection

Structure of Flow

When building and managing Power Automate flows, you should be familiar with the following key components:

1. Triggers: These initiate the flow.
2. Actions: These define the tasks that the flow performs.
3. Conditions: These establish logical conditions within the flow.

Steps to Create and Manage the Flow

Below are steps to create and manage a Power Automate flow to handle Microsoft Forms responses for vendor feedback collection.

1. Trigger: When a new response is submitted in Microsoft Forms

1. Create Flow:
   • In Power Automate, select "Create" and then choose "Automated flow".
   • Name your flow and search for the "Microsoft Forms" trigger: "When a new response is submitted".
   • Choose the form for vendor feedback submission.

Trigger: When a new response is submitted
   - Form ID: "Vendor Feedback Form"

2. Action: Get Response Details

1. Add an Action:
   • Click on "New step".
   • Search for the action "Get response details".
   • Pass in the "Form ID" and "Response ID" from the trigger.

Action: Get response details
   - Form ID: "Vendor Feedback Form"
   - Response ID: Dynamic content from the trigger

3. Action: Initialize Variables

To handle and store the feedback data effectively, initialize variables.

1. Add an Action:
   • In "New step", search for "Initialize variable".
   • Define variables for each response field as needed (e.g., vendor name, feedback score, feedback comments).

Action: Initialize variable
   - Name: "VendorName"
   - Type: "String"
   - Value: Corresponding response from "Get response details"

Action: Initialize variable
   - Name: "FeedbackScore"
   - Type: "Integer"
   - Value: Corresponding response from "Get response details"

Action: Initialize variable
   - Name: "FeedbackComments"
   - Type: "String"
   - Value: Corresponding response from "Get response details"

4. Action: Apply Logic (Optional)

If you need to apply any conditional logic based on feedback scores, do so here.

Condition: If "FeedbackScore" >= 8
   - Yes: Proceed without changes
   - No: Perform additional check or notification

5. Action: Store Data in SharePoint/Excel/Database

To keep records, store the feedback data in a SharePoint list, an Excel file, or a database.

1. Add an Action:
   • For SharePoint: "Create Item"
   • For Excel: "Add a row into a table"
   • For any other database: Use respective connector actions

Action: Create Item (for SharePoint)
   - Site Address: "Your SharePoint site"
   - List Name: "Vendor Feedback"
   - Vendor Name: Variable "VendorName"
   - Feedback Score: Variable "FeedbackScore"
   - Feedback Comments: Variable "FeedbackComments"

6. Action: Send an Email Notification

Notify the relevant stakeholders or teams about the feedback submitted.

1. Add an Action:
   • Search for "Send an email (V2)".
   • Configure the email with appropriate recipient(s), subject, and body content using the response details.

Action: Send an email (V2)
   - To: "Stakeholder@company.com"
   - Subject: "New Vendor Feedback Submitted"
   - Body:
        Vendor: VendorName
        Score: FeedbackScore
        Comments: FeedbackComments

Managing the Flow

• Edit Flow: Access the list of your flows in Power Automate. Select the flow and click on "Edit" to make necessary modifications.
• Test Flow: You can test your flow manually by submitting a test response in Microsoft Forms to ensure all actions are performed correctly.
• Monitor Flow: Use the "Run History" to review any past runs and troubleshoot any issues.

By following these steps, you can create a Power Automate flow that successfully collects and processes vendor feedback from Microsoft Forms efficiently.

Locating and Accessing Microsoft Forms Document

Step 1: Locate the Microsoft Forms Document

1. Log in to Office 365:

   • Open your web browser and go to the Office 365 login page.
   • Enter your credentials to log in.

2. Go to Microsoft Forms:

   • Once logged in, click on the Forms icon in the application launcher (the grid of dots at the top left of the screen).

3. Select the Desired Form:

   • You will see a list of forms. You can either locate your form by name or use the search bar to find it quickly.
   • Click on the form's name to open it.

Step 2: Integrating Microsoft Forms with Power Automate

1. Navigate to Power Automate:

   • Inside Office 365, click on the Power Automate icon from the application launcher or go directly to the Power Automate page.

2. Create a New Flow:

   • Click on Create from the sidebar.
   • Choose Automated flow.

3. Trigger: When a New Form Response is Submitted:

   • Search for Forms in the trigger search bar.
   • Select When a new response is submitted trigger.
   • Once prompted, select the form which you found in the locating step.

Step 3: Access the Form Response in the Flow

1. Initialize Trigger:

   • Select the Form ID that corresponds to your form.

2. Get Response Details:

   // Add a new action in the flow
   Search for "Forms" and select the "Get response details" action.
   Define the action inputs as follows:
   Form ID: [Select your form]
   Response ID: [Use the dynamic content from the trigger step]

   This step ensures you access the detailed submissions of the form.

Step 4: Storing and Further Processing Responses

1. Store Responses in SharePoint/List:

   // Add a new action in the flow
   Search for "SharePoint" and select the "Create item" action (or similar depending on storage choice).
   Define the necessary fields to map to your form responses using dynamic content.

2. Notify Vendor via Email:

   // Add a new action in the flow
   Search for "Outlook" and select the "Send an email" action or "Teams" to send notifications.
   Define the necessary fields to notify the vendor about the feedback submission.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you have effectively located and accessed your Microsoft Forms document and integrated it with Power Automate for efficient feedback collection and management. The actions listed ensure that form responses are captured, stored, and communicated properly for vendor feedback purposes.

Now that you have integrated Microsoft Forms with Power Automate, you can further extend this flow by adding additional processing as needed, such as aggregating data or automating follow-up actions.

Editing the Microsoft Forms Questionnaire

Step 5: Managing and Editing Microsoft Forms Documents

Overview

This section focuses on the practical steps needed to edit a questionnaire in Microsoft Forms that is integrated with Power Automate flows. This guide assumes that the basic setup and navigation of Power Automate and Microsoft Forms are already understood from the previous sections.

Accessing the Form to Edit

1. Log in to Microsoft Forms by navigating to forms.microsoft.com.

2. Locate Your Form:

   • On the main dashboard, find your form under the "My Forms" or "Group Forms" section.

3. Open the Form:

   • Click on the title of the form to open it.

Editing Questions

1. Edit Question Text:

   • Click the question you wish to edit.
   • Modify the text in the question field.

2. Add New Question:

   • Click +Add New at the bottom of the form.
   • Select the type of question you wish to add (e.g., text, choice, rating).

3. Remove Existing Question:

   • Click the ... (ellipsis) on the right top corner of the question.
   • Select Delete to remove the question.

Modify Question Settings

1. Change Question Options:

   • For a choice question, click on Add option to add more choices.
   • Use the clone icon next to any option to duplicate it.

2. Question Required:

   • Toggle the switch next to Required below the question to make it a mandatory field.

3. Branching Logic:

   • Click the ... (ellipsis) next to the Required toggle.
   • Select Add branching.
   • Define the logic by selecting different paths depending on the respondent's answers.

Save Changes

1. Auto-Save Feature:
   • Microsoft Forms automatically saves changes as you make them.
2. Preview Form:
   • Click the Preview button on the top right to see how the form looks and behaves.

Update Power Automate Flow

1. Editing the Flow:

   • Navigate to Power Automate.
   • Locate your flow under "My flows".
   • Click on the name of the flow to open it.

2. Modify Form Responses Trigger:

   • If your Power Automate flow is triggered by responses from the form, the trigger step will automatically adjust to reflect updated form questions.
   • To handle any additional or removed questions, edit subsequent actions in the flow accordingly.

3. Save the Flow:

   • Once edits are complete, click the Save button at the top of the editor.

Test the Updated Form

1. Submit a Test Response:
   • Complete the form with sample data to ensure all edits and Power Automate flows work as expected.
2. Review the Flow Execution:
   • Check the flow's run history in Power Automate to ensure it executed as intended based on new form data.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can edit Microsoft Forms questionnaires and ensure that the integrated Power Automate flows react appropriately to changes made. This ensures efficient vendor feedback collection and workflow automation.