FA-0604Automation, RPA & Power PlatformData & AnalyticsAI for Leaders & Business

Digital-First Working with Microsoft 365

Collaboration, workflow automation, reporting and responsible AI

Practise an integrated Microsoft 365 workflow using collaboration, automation and reporting tools, with an applied scenario on day three.

Introduction

Why this course

This three-day course develops practical digital-working habits using Teams, SharePoint, Power Automate and Power BI, with an introduction to responsible use of available Microsoft 365 AI features. Two guided training days prepare participants for a small integrated scenario and review on the third day.

Exercises use a prepared learning tenant and synthetic data. Microsoft 365 E5 alone does not guarantee every Copilot, premium connector, AI Builder or reporting entitlement. Practical features require suitable licences, credits, permissions and administrator settings; unavailable advanced functions are demonstrations or design comparisons. The outcome is a reviewed learning prototype, not a production business system.

Learning outcomes

The course teaches participants to:

Explain digital-first versus digital-only working and assess a bounded process improvement.
Organise a small collaboration space using Teams and SharePoint.
Build and inspect a selected Power Automate flow with review and failure handling.
Prepare a simple Power BI report from sample data and review sharing/access assumptions.
Review AI-generated output and data boundaries for available Microsoft 365 features.
Combine collaboration, automation and reporting in a small scenario and explain its limitations.

Prerequisites

Basic to intermediate proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, Outlook)
Foundational understanding of digital collaboration and communication tools
General awareness of business processes and organizational workflows
No coding knowledge is required, but comfort with digital interfaces is important

Access to an authorised training tenant with the required tool entitlements; prepared templates and sample data support the integrated exercise.

Training outline

3 modules

01Day 1 — Digital Working, Teams and SharePoint1 topics

Mindset, culture and adoption

Evolution from traditional to digital-first operations
Possible productivity, agility and cost benefits: define measures and test assumptions.
Digital-first vs. digital-only: a cultural transformation

1.2 Key Pillars of a Digital-First Organization

Collaboration with clear access, ownership and sharing boundaries.
Workflow automation and operational intelligence
Data-driven decision-making
Ethical and practical AI integration

1.3 Breaking Resistance and Driving Adoption

Change management principles
Psychological safety and digital literacy
Embedding mindset in leadership and teams

Teams collaboration

Teams, Channels, Tabs: Planning structure for different types of work
Private vs. Public Teams, Shared Channels, and Guest Access
Lifecycle governance of Teams: Creation, archiving, retention

2.2 Effective Communication & Meetings

Persistent chat vs. video meetings vs. calls
Scheduling, meeting options, recording, and transcription
Task management using the available Planner/To Do experience in Teams.

2.3 App Integrations and Extensions

Integrating SharePoint, Power BI, Power Automate directly within Teams
Third-party app deployment for HR, IT, CRM scenarios
Overview of low-code Teams app options, with separate licences/permissions where required.

SharePoint content and governance

Sites, Site Collections, and Hub Sites
Libraries vs. Lists vs. Pages: Structuring content

3.2 Designing a Digital Workplace

Creating and managing communication sites and team sites
Navigation planning and metadata for discoverability
Document co-authoring and version control

3.3 Governance, Permissions, and Security

Understanding roles: site owners, members, visitors
Best practices for managing access and sharing
Sensitivity labels, retention and compliance controls as configuration-dependent governance concepts.

Practise a limited team/list/library setup. Enterprise retention, third-party deployment and low-code app extensions are guided overviews subject to permissions.

02Day 2 — Automation, Reporting and Responsible AI1 topics

Power Automate foundations and a selected flow

Automated, instant and scheduled cloud flows; business-process flows as a related, separately configured capability.
Key components: triggers, actions, conditions

4.2 Building a Flow

Using templates vs. custom-built flows
Common connectors: Outlook, SharePoint, Excel, Teams
Parallel branches, loops, error handling, and approvals

4.3 Advanced Scenarios

AI Builder document-processing overview or supported demonstration; premium licences, Dataverse and credits apply.
Using adaptive cards for Teams-based automation
Monitoring flow performance and logs

4.4 Process Redesign

Mapping current workflows
Identifying automation opportunities and KPIs

Power BI foundations and sample reporting

Desktop, Service, Mobile App – understanding the components
Semantic models (formerly datasets), dataflows, reports and dashboards.

5.2 Getting and Shaping Data

Connecting to Excel, SharePoint, SQL Server, APIs
Power Query basics: filtering, shaping, combining data

5.3 Visualizing and Publishing

Building compelling visuals: charts, slicers, KPIs
Using bookmarks, drill-throughs, filters for interactivity
Publishing and sharing reports securely

5.4 BI Governance and Security

Row-Level Security (RLS)
Workspaces, supported app distribution and report lifecycle; review older content-pack terminology only as legacy context.

Available Microsoft 365 AI capabilities

Overview of Microsoft Copilot and AI features across 365
Available summarisation, drafting and suggestions; outputs require checking and feature availability varies.

6.2 Responsible AI Principles

Fairness, transparency, accountability, privacy
Approved data, permissions and organisational obligations; product use does not by itself establish compliance.

6.3 Use Case Deep Dive

Selected supported Copilot demonstrations in Teams, Outlook, Word or Excel; entitlements and rollout may differ.
Ethical dilemmas in AI-based decisions and data usage

Integration examples

Case: Automating HR onboarding using Forms, SharePoint, Power Automate, and Teams
Case: Building a project dashboard using Planner, SharePoint Lists, and Power BI
Case: Creating an expense approval flow with adaptive cards and Teams notifications

7.2 Embedding Mindset in Daily Practice

Designing repeatable frameworks for digital innovation
Establishing “digital champions” in departments
Continuous improvement loops and low-code culture

Compare onboarding, project-reporting and expense-approval examples; choose one for the assessment. Use synthetic records and keep external actions bounded or mocked.

03Day 3 — Applied Scenario and Review1 topics

Bounded scenario challenge

Participants are assigned a business problem scenario

Use prepared components to build or refine one small Teams/SharePoint/Power Automate/Power BI learning workflow.

Solution must demonstrate automation, collaboration, and reporting

Presentation and peer review

Teams present their digital solution
Peer evaluation using a rubric aligned to learning outcomes

Evaluation and next steps

Knowledge check: Quiz covering key concepts
Instructor feedback: Design logic, use of tools, integration approach
Reflection session: From learning to execution – next steps in digital-first adoption

Document access assumptions, test results, unresolved issues and further review needed before operational use.

A programme built around your team.

Share your training goals and requirements.