Microsoft 365: Smarter Ways to Work

Discover how tools like Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Planner, Lists, Forms, and Power Automate can be combined in clever, time-saving ways to improve productivity, visibility, and collaboration.

From simple automation everyday tasks to surfacing key data in the right place, you’ll gain practical ideas and hands-on experience of how to get more out of your Microsoft 365 licence - whether you’re working solo or across teams.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Identify smarter ways to use your existing Microsoft 365 tools

• Understand how different apps work together to create seamless workflows

• Create a basic Power Automate flow linked to a SharePoint List

• Use Lists and Forms to capture and manage information effectively

• Understand how to surface key content and processes inside Microsoft Teams

• Apply real-world techniques to reduce admin and manual work

Who Is This Course For?

This course is ideal for:

• Anyone with a Microsoft 365 licence looking to streamline their daily work

• Teams that are using 365 but not taking full advantage of integration

• Staff who are comfortable with Teams/OneDrive and want to learn what else is possible

Prerequisites: Attendees should be familiar with the Microsoft 365 environment, including basic use of Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint. 

Course Outline

Smarter Working with Microsoft 365

• What do we mean by smarter working?

• Identifying bottlenecks and repetitive tasks

• Examples of smart ways of working

• Quick wins using existing tools

Introduction to Microsoft Lists

• What is Microsoft Lists and how is it different from Excel?

• Creating a simple tracker or register

• Column types, formatting, and views

• Embedding Lists into Teams

Using Microsoft Forms for Data Capture

• Building simple forms for internal use

• Linking Forms to Lists or Excel

• Collecting and reviewing responses

• When to use Forms vs Lists vs Outlook

Setting up a Basic Flow in Power Automate

• What is Power Automate?

• Creating a basic flow from a Form to a List

• Setting notifications and reminders

• Triggering flows from emails or file changes

• Understanding the use cases within your 365 and how to combine tools

Smart Integration in Teams

• Embedding a List, Planner, or Form in a Teams tab

• Creating channels around projects or topics

• Using mentions, tagging, and task assignment

• Viewing shared files and activity in one place

Clever Use Cases to Inspire

• Leave request or onboarding tracker

• Feedback capture and auto-categorisation

• Task delegation board

• Event or training tracker

Good Practices & Avoiding Common Pitfalls

• Naming conventions

• Permissions and visibility

• Clean-up routines

• When to automate and when not to

Reflections & Planning

• Summarise the Microsoft 365 features that can make everyday work more efficient

• Pinpoint processes that could benefit from automation or smarter collaboration tools

• Decide on next steps for applying these tools while following best practices