Power Automate can connect automation directly to the conversations and tools you use throughout the day. In this example, a simple workflow turns a Microsoft Teams message into a Microsoft Planner task. The scenario is straightforward: a coworker sends you a Teams message asking you to complete something. Instead of switching over to Planner and manually creating a task, you can select an action from the Teams message and automatically add it to your task board.

Create a Planner board

Start by opening Microsoft Planner and creating a new plan. Planner provides a task management system with a Kanban-style board, allowing you to organize tasks and move them between different statuses. For this example, create a simple task board with columns for organizing outstanding and completed work. The goal is to have Power Automate populate this board directly from Teams, eliminating the need to switch between applications just to record a task.

Create the Power Automate flow

Open Power Automate and create an automated cloud flow from scratch. Power Automate workflows contain two important components:

• Triggers determine what starts the flow.
• Actions determine what happens after the flow starts.

For this workflow, Microsoft Teams provides the trigger. Search for the Microsoft Teams connector and select When a message is selected. This trigger allows you to initiate the workflow from a specific Teams message.

Choose what information to collect

The Teams trigger provides an option to create an adaptive card. An adaptive card can be useful if you need to collect additional information from the user before continuing. For this simple workflow, additional information isn't necessary. The goal is to use the content of the existing Teams message to create the task, so the adaptive card can be skipped.

Add the Planner action

Next, add a new step to the workflow and search for Microsoft Planner. Planner offers several available actions. For this example, select the action to create a new task. Choose the Planner board where you want the task to appear. Because the task only needs to capture the request from Teams, most of the available Planner fields can be left unused.

Use the Teams message as the task title

Power Automate captures properties from the Teams message that triggered the workflow. These values can then be used in subsequent actions. For the Planner task title, select the plain-text content of the Teams message. The workflow now has two basic steps:

1. The flow starts when you select a Teams message and choose the custom action.
2. Power Automate creates a Planner task using the content of that message.

You can also use the full message content when formatting is important, but that can include HTML. Plain text keeps the task title simple for this scenario.

Name and save the workflow

Give the workflow a recognizable name, such as Create Planner Task, and save it. Although this example only requires two steps, additional steps can be placed between the trigger and final action. These steps can retrieve more information, modify data, remove or add text, and perform other actions before creating the task.

Run the workflow from Teams

Once the workflow is connected to Teams, it becomes available as an action on messages. When you receive a message containing something you need to remember:

1. Open the message's additional options.
2. Go to the available actions.
3. Select Create Planner Task.
4. Allow the workflow to run.

The text from the selected Teams message is then used to create a new task on the designated Planner board. Power Automate also provides run history, allowing you to check whether the workflow ran successfully.

Explore other automation possibilities

Creating Planner tasks is only one example of how Teams and Power Automate can work together. Depending on your workflow and available connectors, Power Automate can connect Teams interactions to other systems and actions. Examples discussed in this class include:

• Creating records in Dynamics 365
• Creating Azure DevOps tasks
• Adding tasks to Jira or Trello
• Writing information to Excel
• Creating OneNote content
• Scheduling follow-up messages

Teams triggers can also respond to scenarios beyond manually selecting a message, including new channel messages, mentions, and keywords in conversations.

Start with Power Automate templates

You don't always have to create a flow from scratch. Teams provides access to prebuilt Power Automate workflow templates that can help you explore common automation scenarios. These templates include examples for scheduling replies, creating OneNote content, and connecting messages with task-management tools. You can use a template as a starting point and then customize the resulting Power Automate flow with additional steps to fit your process.

Streamline everyday work

The Teams and Planner example demonstrates how a simple Power Automate workflow can reduce repetitive steps. Rather than constantly switching between systems to capture information and create tasks, you can use automation to connect those systems to the conversations where the work originates. Start with a simple workflow, explore the available templates and connectors, and consider which repetitive steps in your day-to-day processes could benefit from automation.