Power Automate & Planner 

In a world of ever-increasing deadlines, content management, or a campaign for outreach. Sending emails tracking Todo's and keeping track of deliverables can be a daunting task. In a previous blog we talked about Microsoft Loop, a great tool for real-time collaboration and project management. Planner’s ease of use and intuitive design gives you many ways to view your project called a plan. You can build it from scratch or use many of the templates for the most relevant scenario. Power Automate is a cloud-based platform that allows you to run, schedule and create your own automated workflows. This can be very helpful if you need to see reminders, emails, notifications, and much more. Power Automate works seamlessly with Microsoft and third-party applications. Some flows are very easy to use. We will follow a scenario to learn how we can use a scheduled flow.  

Scenario 

An editor at Contoso. is responsible for managing the publication of blog posts. To streamline the process, they use Microsoft Planner to track the progress of each blog post and Power Automate to send scheduled summary emails. 

Creating The Planner Board

1. Navigate to Microsoft 365 login at https://m365.cloud.microsoft.com. Sign in with your user credentials and authenticate with the Microsoft Authentication App.   
2. While you are signed in, navigate to the top-left corner of the App launcher (Grid icon), then select the planner app or use the search bar by typing “Planner.” 
3. Navigate to the bottom-left corner of the screen and click “New plan” then select “Basic.” The editor creates a new plan in Microsoft Planner called "Marketing Blog" or whatever you would like. 
4. Select the desired group from the dropdown menu, then click "Save" button.
5. In the top left-hand menu, select "board" for the kanban view.
6. Create buckets for different stages of the publication process by typing in the "Add a new bucket" area.
7. Create the following buckets. "Backlog," "Final Draft," "Review," and "Published."
8. Each blog post is added as a task in the relevant bucket. For example, a new blog post idea is added to the "Final Draft" bucket. 

Tasks to Accomplish

Now that we have created the planner, let's assume the role of the editor. The editor must closely monitor the blog editorial calendar, which is represented by our Planner board. To streamline the process of tracking outstanding items and blockers, the editor should receive a scheduled summary of each bucket we have created. The editor will need to perform the following tasks

1. The editor assigns tasks to team members responsible for drafting, editing, and reviewing the blog posts. 
2. The editor regularly updates the status of each task, moving them to the appropriate bucket as they progress through the stages. 
3. Lastly, the editor will receive a summary every Monday at 9:00 AM before the teams Morning standup meeting. You can tailor the time to your needs. 

Using Power Automate for Scheduled Summary Emails 

1. You can access Power Automate from the Microsoft 365 App Launcher, or directly by going to https://make.powerautomate.com/enviroments. Once you’re logged in:   
2. Click “Templates” on the left-hand panel.  
3. In the search bar above, type “Create a daily summary of Planner tasks by bucket.” 
4. Click on the corresponding card. 
5. The editor sets up a Power Automate flow to send a weekly summary email to the team. 
6. They create a scheduled cloud flow in Power Automate, specifying the start date, time, and frequency (e.g., every Monday at 9:00 AM).  
7. Scroll to the bottom of the page and sign into your “Planner” and “Office 365 Outlook” account then press the “continue” button. 

1. In the top tab click on the “Reoccurrence” card. Add the following information “Interval,” “Frequency,” “Time zone,” and “Start time.” For the time portion please use military time and the (Year-Month- 24T- 00:00) change the relevant time.  
2. Next add the “List buckets” by clicking on the corresponding card and entering the plan you created under “Parameters,” PlanId “Marketing Blog.” 
3. Next add the “List Tasks” add the PlanId again under the parameters. 
4. Then add your username or email address to the last card “Send an email.” 
5. Lastly save your flow.

Testing the Flow 

It is recommended that you first test your flow. This is beneficial to flag any issues and the process and see how best to troubleshoot the flow.  

Note:  

Trigger: The event that starts automation. 

Actions: What happens after the trigger (e.g., creating or updating a Planner task). 

• Next, click on the top-right ribbon and select the test button. 
• You will see two options. However, the automatically test will be greyed out because there is no initial test.  
• Click “Manually.” The flow is now listening for a trigger to perform an action. Just like the one we set up.  
• Go to your Outlook email and see if you received the email. It may take some time to run. However, if an issue has occurred see if there is an issue with the flow. If the flow was successful, you should see an email like the one below.  

The Reviewing and Collaborating 

• The editor reviews the summary email to ensure all tasks are on track and deadlines are met. 
• They use the summary to identify any bottlenecks or tasks that require additional resources. 
• The editor collaborates with the team to address any issues and ensure a smooth publication process. 

In Conclusion 

Automating tasks in Microsoft Planner with Power Automate can significantly reduce manual overhead and enhance team productivity. By leveraging triggers, conditions, and planned actions, you ensure tasks are created, tracked, and completed more efficiently. Whether it’s converting emails into tasks, updating task statuses, or sending reminders for approaching deadlines, harnessing the power of automation in Planner can transform the way you manage work. 

Hyperlinks 

• Microsoft Planner for admins - Microsoft Planner | Microsoft Learn 

• Templates | Microsoft Power Platform 

• Power Automate Documentation 

• Planner Templates on Power Automate