SharePoint Automation Updates: Workflows, Approvals

Introduction: Why this matters

Business processes in Microsoft 365 are increasingly expected to be fast, auditable, and easy to evolve—without requiring every team to become Power Automate experts. Microsoft’s latest SharePoint automation updates aim to reduce friction by embedding automation directly into SharePoint content experiences (files, lists, and libraries) and aligning them with Teams. For IT admins, this means more self-service automation with guardrails, and a clearer path to scale governance as AI-driven experiences expand.

What’s new

1) Unified Workflows across SharePoint and Teams

Microsoft is refreshing the Workflows experience so users can discover, create, and manage workflows directly in context—whether they’re working in a SharePoint library/list or in Teams.

Key capabilities:

• Single, consistent Workflows UI across SharePoint and the Teams Workflows app
• Template-driven workflows designed for common SharePoint scenarios, pre-aware of site/list/library context
• Build-from-scratch option to select triggers/actions manually, with the ability to extend further in Power Automate

Availability: Early February for SharePoint Targeted Release users (and via the Teams Workflows app).

2) Guided “Mad-Lib” style workflow creation

Instead of starting with a blank canvas, users are guided through structured prompts with context-aware defaults (sites, libraries, lists) prefilled. This reduces setup time and makes automations easier to maintain—especially for recurring scenarios like reviews, notifications, and follow-up tasks.

3) Quick steps: lightweight automation directly in grid view

Quick steps add action buttons to list/library grid views to run predefined logic on selected items—without custom code, JSON formatting, or complex configuration.

Examples include:

• Move files to a predefined folder
• Compose an email to users in a Person/Group column
• Update metadata (choice/text columns)
• Translate selected files to a preset language
• Show/hide actions based on conditions (status, metadata, content type)

Availability: Targeted Release now; general availability in February across all lists and libraries.

4) Built-in approvals enhancements

Approvals can be enabled with a single toggle (no separate flow creation) and now include:

• Default approvers (set up front)
• Ordered, multi-stage approvals for structured sequencing
• In-context tracking with visibility in SharePoint and the Teams Approvals app

5) Forms for structured intake (files + metadata)

SharePoint Forms help standardize submissions by collecting files and required metadata up front, improving downstream automation reliability and governance. Forms can route content into the right library/list with consistent metadata to trigger workflows or approvals automatically.

Impact for IT administrators

• More self-service automation for business users, reducing dependency on central IT for common processes.
• Governance becomes more important: templates, quick steps, and approvals can multiply quickly—consider lifecycle, ownership, and auditing.
• Better readiness for AI experiences: consistent metadata capture and in-context automation supports future Copilot/agent scenarios.

Recommended next steps

• Validate rollout timing with Targeted Release users and prepare communications/training for library owners.
• Review Power Automate and SharePoint governance (who can create workflows/quick steps, environment policies, DLP, and connector controls).
• Pilot Quick steps in high-volume libraries (e.g., HR, Finance, Legal) where repeatable metadata actions and routing are common.
• Standardize intake using Forms to improve metadata quality before expanding workflow/approvals automation.