This is my slides from talking about power automate and a few things to help avoid boring work through personal automation

1. How to tactically
avoid boring work!
Powered by Power Automate

2. About me
• Microsoft MVP 12 years
• Freelance Cloud Architect
• Based in Newcastle, UK

3. New Year Clean Inbox

4. The Pain
• Seem to spend forever “sorting” email on far too often a basis
• Inbox quickly ends up so full its too depressing to look at

5. Limitations of Outlook
• Rules
•  Rules don’t really work
•  Fire too quickly so I miss emails
•  Painful to maintain
• Outlook Sweep
•  runs when it wants not when you want it to
•  Rules for future routing can move messages before you have read them

6. Ok ill do it myself!
• Step 1 - Move Flagged Email to a folder so I know what I have got to
do
• Step 2 - End of Day Process
• Leave unread email in my inbox
• Get rid of noise!
• Sort emails into folders where I want them kept
• EG: Client folder

7. Outlook Folder Structure
Folder Structure
• Inbox
• 00 – Flagged
• 00 – Not Read
• 00 – Needs Sorting
• Read
• Customer folders
• Deleted Items
Notes
• Not read is a temp area while
processing emails
• Flagged is stuff I flagged
• Needs sorting is stuff ive read
that Power Automate doesn’t
know what to do with it

8. Flow Button Power Automate Outlook
Personal Productivity Team
MS Lists
Get Email Routing Rules
&
Record New Email Addresses
Iterate emails and sort them
Email Sorter
Manage Routing Rules

9. Demo

10. Challenges
• Power Automate
• Process is a bit complex and breaking it down into multiple flows should be
easier
• Outlook
• The folder path maps to an ID
• Used a flow to look up the id from a path

11. Self Service Integration Testing

12. Building Interfaces for systems not built yet!
Context
• At work we have a big IT project
• Building interfaces for lots of
systems
• Some systems aren’t complete
yet and others are
Example Interface
Transport Solution
Event Grid
Logic Apps

13. Tester Self-Service via Teams & Power Automate
Transport Solution
Event Grid
Logic Apps
Power Automate
Excel
Microsoft Teams
Test Data
Trigger Test
Doesn’t exist yet
Actively being developed

14. Demo

15. More Info
• Email Sorter:
• https://www.mikestephenson.me/2021/01/01/2021-new-year-clean-inbox-with-power-automate-part-1/
• https://www.mikestephenson.me/2021/01/02/2021-new-year-clean-inbox-with-power-automate-part-2/
• https://www.mikestephenson.me/2021/01/02/get-outlook-folder-id-from-path-with-power-automate/
• Self Service Integration:
• https://www.mikestephenson.me/2020/09/07/exploratory-testing-for-eai-projects-with-power-platform/
• https://www.mikestephenson.me/2020/09/15/using-power-platform-to-help-eai-testing-part-2/

16. Questions