10 Least Known But Life-Saving Tips in Power Automate

Power Automate is a powerful tool that helps automate repetitive tasks and streamline business processes. However, there are several lesser-known tips that can save time and make your flows more efficient. Below are 10 highly effective, yet lesser-known Power Automate tips, along with real-life examples, that can help improve the way you work and increase automation efficiency.

🟣 Use ‘Scope’ Actions to Organize Flows

• Explanation: Scopes are containers that help you group related actions within a flow, making your flow more organized and easier to troubleshoot.

• How to Apply: Create scopes for different stages, such as “Data Collection,” “Processing,” and “Notification.” You can then collapse or expand each scope as needed.

• Real-Life Example: In managing complex workflows, Parlon encourages using scopes to group actions logically. For instance, in a project management flow, scopes can be used to separate actions like gathering updates, processing information, and sending reminders, allowing easy identification of errors.

🟣 Leverage Parallel Branching for Simultaneous Actions

• Explanation: Parallel branching allows multiple actions to run simultaneously, saving time when you need several independent actions in a flow.

• How to Apply: Set up branches under the “Add an Action” section. For example, one branch can send an email, while another updates a database.

• Real-Life Example: In HR onboarding, Parlon advises using parallel branching to initiate actions simultaneously—such as sending welcome emails, assigning training tasks, and notifying IT to prepare equipment—thereby speeding up the onboarding process.

🟣 Use ‘Terminate’ Action for Custom Error Handling

• Explanation: The ‘Terminate’ action allows you to stop the flow at a specific point, giving you control over how errors are handled instead of letting the flow fail outright.

• How to Apply: Place the ‘Terminate’ action after checking for specific conditions that could cause an error. You can choose a status, such as “Failed,” “Canceled,” or “Succeeded.”

• Real-Life Example: In a billing system, if an invoice record is missing, Parlon recommends using the ‘Terminate’ action to stop the flow and send a notification to the accounting team, avoiding a total flow failure.

🟣 Apply ‘Do Until’ Loops for Conditional Repeating Tasks

• Explanation: A ‘Do Until’ loop repeats actions until a certain condition is met, ideal for situations where you need to check for completion.

• How to Apply: Set up the condition that will terminate the loop. For example, repeat actions until the order status changes from “In Progress” to “Completed.”

• Real-Life Example: Parlon uses ‘Do Until’ in order processing to check if an order status is marked as shipped. The loop can send reminders every hour until the order is shipped, ensuring that no orders are missed.

🟣 Optimize Flow Runs with Concurrency Control

• Explanation: Concurrency control limits the number of times a flow can run simultaneously, which helps prevent resource overload and ensures stable performance.

• How to Apply: In the settings of trigger actions, set the degree of concurrency to control the number of parallel runs.

• Real-Life Example: Parlon uses concurrency control in a customer support system to handle feedback forms efficiently, preventing the system from being overloaded while ensuring responses are processed in a timely manner.

🟣 Use ‘Get Items’ Filter Query for Faster Data Retrieval

• Explanation: When retrieving data from sources like SharePoint, using filter queries in the ‘Get Items’ action lets you retrieve only relevant items, reducing load time and API calls.

• How to Apply: Set a filter query, like “Status eq ‘Pending’,” to pull only items that meet your criteria.

• Real-Life Example: In weekly task reviews, Parlon leverages the ‘Get Items’ filter to pull only tasks with a “Pending” status, allowing the team to focus on incomplete tasks without overloading the system.

🟣 Use Environment Variables for Dynamic Settings

• Explanation: Environment variables store values that can be reused across multiple flows, reducing the need to hard-code values and making flows more adaptable to different environments.

• How to Apply: Define environment variables in Power Platform, then reference them in your flows for dynamic values like URLs, email addresses, or API keys.

• Real-Life Example: In a marketing campaign approval flow, Parlon uses environment variables to easily adjust the email address of the reviewer depending on whether the flow is in a test or live environment.

🟣 Implement Scheduled Flows for Routine Tasks

• Explanation: Scheduled flows allow you to run automations at specific intervals, making them perfect for routine tasks like daily, weekly, or monthly operations.

• How to Apply: Set a scheduled trigger with the desired frequency, such as every Monday at 8 AM.

• Real-Life Example: Parlon schedules monthly accounting reports to be generated and sent to managers automatically on the first day of each month, ensuring timely financial data without needing manual reminders.

🟣 Leverage Child Flows for Modular Design

• Explanation: Child flows are flows that are called by other flows, enabling you to break down complex processes into smaller, reusable parts.

• How to Apply: Create a flow for a common task (e.g., sending notifications), then call it from other flows using “Run a Child Flow.”

• Real-Life Example: In project management, Parlon uses child flows to send standardized project updates across multiple teams, saving time and ensuring consistency in the reporting process.

🟣 Use the ‘Compose’ Action for Data Transformation

• Explanation: The ‘Compose’ action is a versatile tool that lets you create, modify, or format data within a flow, useful for calculations, date conversions, and text transformations.

• How to Apply: Use ‘Compose’ to format dates, add text, or perform calculations before passing the data to other actions.

• Real-Life Example: Parlon utilizes the ‘Compose’ action in a travel reimbursement system to calculate the total reimbursement by summing mileage, meals, and lodging costs, and then sends the result in an email to the finance team.

By implementing these 10 life-saving tips, you can streamline your processes, save time, and enhance automation with Power Automate. These strategies are something Parlon uses to optimize workflows and improve operational efficiency across various projects, ensuring each task is as efficient and effective as possible.