How to build Power Automate Approval Workflows for SharePoint | Step by Step Tutorial

TL;DR

Learn how to create an approval workflow using Power Automate that includes item level security, allowing users to modify items only when necessary.

Transcript

hello everyone approvals in power automate is one of the most popular actions that is used a lot specifically with SharePoint lists or libraries however what's the point of the approval if users can edit the item under approval or even delete that item imagine a scenario in which you as the maker of the approval workflow can Define item level secur... Read More

Key Insights

• 🖤 Approval workflows in Power Automate are highly utilized in SharePoint lists but lack default item level security.
• 😫 Setting permissions at the list level can grant users unnecessary editing capabilities, compromising data integrity.
• 👥 By using the "get group members" action, approvers can be dynamically defined based on pre-defined security groups.
• 🤑 Implementing item level security ensures that the creator and approvers are the only ones with access to modify the item during the approval process.
• 👻 Granting edit access to the creator allows them to make changes and resubmit the item for approval if it has been rejected.
• 🫵 Logging the approval history provides a transparent view of the entire decision-making process, including response times and individual decisions.
• 😑 Using HTML tables and expressions, the approval history can be formatted and styled to improve readability.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the purpose of item level security in an approval workflow?

Item level security ensures that users can only edit items when necessary, maintaining data integrity during the approval process.

Q: How can you dynamically define the approvers in a Power Automate approval workflow?

By using the "get group members" action and selecting the approvers from a security group, you can dynamically assign approvers based on the members of the group.

Q: Can users resubmit an item for approval after it has been rejected?

Yes, by implementing item level security and granting the creator of the item edit access, users can make modifications and resubmit the item for approval.

Q: How can you log the approval history in Power Automate?

You can use the "start and wait for an approval" action to collect all the approval responses and then create an HTML table to display the details of each approver's response, including decision and response time.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Approval workflows in Power Automate are popular for SharePoint lists but lack item level security.

• This video demonstrates how to set permissions, dynamically define approvers, and log approval history using Power Automate.

• By implementing item level security, users can only edit items when necessary, ensuring data integrity during the approval process.