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How to build automated approval processes utilizing Power Automate with Microsoft Teams (Recording from MN365 Spring Workshop Day 2022)

Last month I participated in my very first Minnesota Microsoft 365 User Group Workshop Day and had a wonderful time. Thank you to the organizers for all their hard work, and to everyone who attended and engaged during my session. And for those who missed it, you can now find the description and recording below. 🥳

How to build automated approval processes utilizing Power Automate with Microsoft Teams

We’ve all seen approval processes in a single organization built and implemented in a variety of ways. Sometimes, it’s a signature on a paper form. Other times it’s an email, a thumbs-up on a message, a column change in SharePoint, etc. So how can we standardize these approval processes using Microsoft Teams?

In this session, we’ll do a deep exploration of Approvals powered by Power Automate and used with Forms, SharePoint, Outlook, and Microsoft Teams. You’ll see how to create custom, shared approval request forms your whole team can use, as well as email-only approval processes for those simpler needs. We’ll also cover some best practices for rolling out new processes, training users, and understanding approval history and management.

You can watch the recording here (90 mins) or embedded below:

Also be sure to connect with the Minnesota Microsoft 365 User Group socially:

And thanks to MN365 for the speaker gift! 🤩

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MS-700 (Managing Microsoft Teams) exam guide SECOND EDITION (May 2022) now available with 168 practice questions

Last year, fellow MVP and MCT Peter Rising and I collaborated on the first edition of an MS-700 exam guide. I’m pleased to share that our second edition reflecting the most up-to-date exam objectives and content is now available. It has over 400 pages and 168 practice questions, making it easy to find and study what’s most important when you need it.

Book cover for our MS-700 exam guide.

You can order our 2nd ed MS-700 exam guide here.

Successfully passing the MS-700 exam earns you the Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate certification. This is an excellent way to prove skills and proficiency to employers (current and prospective) and also challenge yourself with keeping up-to-date on administering one of Microsoft 365’s core collaboration and communication apps.

I am super appreciative of my co-author, Peter Rising, as well as our reviewers Dan Rey, Yves Habersaat, and Vivek Vinod Sharma who helped make sure this exam guide is the best available. I also want to thank our reviewers from the first edition, Linus Cansby, Adam Deltinger, Amanda Sterner, and Mike Swantek for their foundational contribution that helped us get this far.

And lastly, thank you to all of the amazingly talented staff at Packt who welcomed us to this opportunity and worked with us to create and refine something we are so proud to share with the community.

MS-700 exam guide (2nd ed) table of contents

  1. Plan and configure network settings for Microsoft Teams
  2. Identify licensing requirements for Microsoft Teams
  3. Plan and configure security and compliance settings for Microsoft Teams
  4. Plan and implement governance and lifecycle management for Microsoft Teams
  5. Configure and manage external and guest users
  6. Configure and manage Microsoft Teams devices
  7. Creating and managing teams
  8. Plan and manage channels
  9. Manage chat and collaboration experiences
  10. Manage apps for Microsoft Teams
  11. Manage meeting experiences
  12. Manage phone numbers
  13. Manage Phone System for Microsoft Teams
  14. Monitor and report on a Microsoft Teams environment
  15. Troubleshoot audio, video, and client issues
  16. Mock exam
  17. Mock exam answers and explanations
  18. Answers (and explanations) to practice questions

Order our MS-700 exam guide here.

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How to share your screen during a Microsoft Teams meeting

The process used when sharing your screen in Teams depends on whether you’re using the Teams desktop app or web app. I’ll cover both methods in this post, and provide a video demonstration for each.

Share your screen using the Microsoft Teams desktop app

Using the desktop app (installed on your machine), you can share your screen during a meeting in just a few clicks:

  1. Once inside the meeting, select the Share icon (rectangle with an arrow) in the upper right corner next to the Leave button.
  2. Choose which content you’d like to share with the other participants:
    • Screen (one of your monitors and everything you see on it, even if you change windows/apps)
    • Window (one specific window or app – prevents accidentally sharing things like your email)
  3. If you’ll be sharing video audio or music, toggle the button to include computer sound
  4. When finished sharing, use the same Share button to stop sharing.

If you’ll be sharing a PowerPoint presentation, consider using PowerPoint Live as opposed to just screen sharing the full-screen presentation. This enables your attendees to benefit from individual features that won’t affect others including:

  • Moving forwards and backwards through slides for a refresher or more time to consume the content
  • Changing slides to high contrast for better visibility
  • Translating slides to a language of choice
  • Click on links directly on slides (such as social media, references, survey, or company hyperlinks)

Watch the desktop version video demonstration to see these steps performed, including PowerPoint Live:

Share your screen using the Microsoft Teams web app

The web app is entirely browser-based, meaning you don’t need to have anything installed on your device to use it. You can access it anytime from any device with web access by navigating to https://teams.microsoft.com in your browser of choice.

In the web app, you can share your screen during a meeting by following these steps:

  1. Once inside the meeting, select the Share icon (rectangle with an arrow) from the lower central area menu. If the menu has disappeared, simply move your cursor around the meeting space to make it reappear.
  2. Choose which content you’d like to share with the other participants:
    • Desktop/Window (either a whole monitor or a specific app or tab). After you select this, you can then choose between:
      • Entire screen: A whole monitor/screen and everything that becomes visible on it.
      • Window: A single app or window (prevents accidentally sharing things like your email)
      • Microsoft Edge tab: A single browser tab (similar to the app/window option, this prevents accidentally switching to a sensitive app or tab)
      • If you’ll be sharing video audio or music, check the box to Share system audio
    • PowerPoint (PowerPoint Live): Select a recent presentation, or click Browse to find a presentation and utilize this feature.
  3. When finished sharing, use the same Share button to stop sharing or one of the Stop sharing dialogs you may see.

Watch the web version video demonstration to see these steps performed, including PowerPoint Live:

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How to find and copy your LinkedIn profile link

Do you want to post or share the link to your LinkedIn profile but are unsure how to find and copy it? This post is for you. 😀

I’ll cover two methods in this post:

  • Find and share your LinkedIn URL via web app
  • Find and share your LinkedIn URL via mobile app

Note: Video demonstration at bottom of post.

Find and share your LinkedIn URL via web app

  1. Sign into LinkedIn (if not already) at https://www.linkedin.com
  2. Select your profile photo’s icon in the upper right then View profile
View profile option in LinkedIn web app | Click to enlarge
  1. Copy the URL from your browser’s address bar

Unsure how to copy?

You can highlight the address, then right-click to select Copy. Then right-click where you want to share/post it and select Paste.

Alternatively, you can highlight the address and use Ctrl+C to copy, then Ctrl+V to paste somewhere if you prefer keyboard shortcuts.

Find and share your LinkedIn URL via mobile app

In the mobile app, we’ll use your phone’s typical “share” action to either copy or share your profile link.

  1. Open the LinkedIn mobile app
  2. Tap on your profile photo’s icon at the top
  3. Select View profile
  4. Use the ellipsis (…) under your profile’s header section to select Share profile via…
  5. Now choose whether you want to Copy the URL and paste it somewhere, or you can share the link directly via suggested/frequent apps
LinkedIn mobile app profile share screen (Android) | Click to enlarge