Workflows automate the repetitive processes that consume employee time—routing documents for approval, notifying people when tasks need attention, updating records when conditions change. Done well, workflows eliminate busywork and ensure processes run consistently. Done poorly, they create frustration, errors, and maintenance nightmares.
SharePoint workflows have evolved significantly. The legacy SharePoint Designer workflows are deprecated. Today, SharePoint workflow automation happens primarily through Power Automate, Microsoft’s cloud-based automation platform that integrates deeply with SharePoint and the broader Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
This guide covers how SharePoint workflows work today, common use cases, and best practices for building automations that actually help.
SharePoint Workflows Today: Power Automate
Modern SharePoint workflows are built with Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow). Power Automate provides:
Triggers that start workflows. A new item is created in a SharePoint list. A document is added to a library. A specific column value changes. An item is deleted. These events can automatically initiate workflows.
Actions that do work. Send an email. Update a SharePoint item. Create a task. Post to Teams. Call an external API. Hundreds of actions connect SharePoint to other systems and automate tasks.
Conditions and logic. Branch workflows based on data values. If the request amount exceeds $5,000, route to a different approver. If the document type is “Contract,” apply specific handling.
Approval processes. Built-in approval actions enable multi-step approval workflows with timeout handling, delegation, and tracking.
Power Automate flows can be triggered from SharePoint, run on schedules, respond to external events, or be started manually. This flexibility enables diverse automation scenarios.
Common SharePoint Workflow Use Cases
Document Approval Workflows
Perhaps the most common SharePoint workflow. When a document is uploaded or modified:
- The workflow notifies the appropriate approver based on document type, department, or value
- The approver receives an email with approve/reject options or approves through Teams
- Upon approval, the document status updates, and the author receives notification
- Upon rejection, the author receives feedback and can revise
Approval workflows eliminate the email back-and-forth of manual approvals while maintaining audit trails of who approved what and when.
Request Processing
Employees submit requests through SharePoint lists—IT requests, purchase requests, time-off requests, facility reservations. Workflows handle routing and processing:
- Capture request details through SharePoint forms
- Route to appropriate handlers based on request type
- Notify requesters of status changes
- Escalate stalled requests
- Track completion and resolution
Document Routing
Documents need to move through processes—from draft to review to approval to publication. Workflows can:
- Move documents between libraries based on status changes
- Apply metadata based on document properties
- Notify stakeholders when documents require attention
- Archive documents when processes complete
Notifications and Alerts
Keep people informed without manual effort:
- Alert team leads when new items appear in their queues
- Notify project managers of deadline approaches
- Remind owners when content requires review
- Summarize daily or weekly activity for managers
Data Synchronization
Keep SharePoint data synchronized with other systems:
- Create SharePoint items when records appear in other systems
- Update external systems when SharePoint data changes
- Generate documents based on SharePoint data
- Archive completed items to long-term storage
For organizations managing project information, workflows can support project information management systems by routing documents, updating stakeholders, and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
Building Effective Workflows
Start With the Process, Not the Technology
Before building anything, map the current process:
- What triggers the process?
- What steps occur?
- Who is involved at each step?
- What decisions are made, and what determines outcomes?
- What exceptions occur, and how are they handled?
- What indicates successful completion?
Understanding the process thoroughly prevents building automation that doesn’t fit reality.
Design for the Happy Path and the Exceptions
Most workflows are designed for ideal scenarios. But real processes have exceptions:
- What happens when an approver is out of office?
- How does the workflow handle rejection and revision cycles?
- What if required information is missing?
- How are urgent items expedited?
- What happens when the workflow fails mid-process?
Handling exceptions distinguishes robust workflows from fragile ones.
Keep Workflows Focused
Resist the temptation to automate everything in one workflow. Complex workflows with many branches become difficult to test, troubleshoot, and maintain.
Build focused workflows that do one thing well. Chain multiple workflows together for complex processes if needed. Simpler workflows are more reliable and easier to modify as requirements change.
Build in Visibility
Users need to know what’s happening:
- Confirm when workflows start
- Notify users when actions require their attention
- Update status fields so people can track progress
- Provide clear feedback when workflows complete or fail
Opaque workflows frustrate users and generate support requests.
Handle Errors Gracefully
Workflows fail. External systems become unavailable. Data doesn’t match expectations. Users make mistakes.
Build error handling into workflows:
- Use try-catch patterns (Scope actions in Power Automate) to handle failures
- Send notifications when errors occur
- Log error details for troubleshooting
- Design recovery processes for failed workflow instances
Test Thoroughly
Before production deployment:
- Test with realistic data scenarios
- Test edge cases and exceptions
- Test with different users to verify permissions
- Test what happens when approvers are unavailable
- Verify notifications reach the right people with correct content
Testing reveals problems that looked fine in design.
Workflow Best Practices
Document workflows. Capture what each workflow does, what triggers it, who owns it, and what data it uses. Future maintainers (or future you) will need this context.
Use naming conventions. Clear, consistent names for flows, variables, and actions make workflows understandable. “Process-Expense-Request-Approval” beats “My Flow 3.”
Minimize hardcoded values. Approver email addresses, site URLs, and threshold values change. Use configuration lists or environment variables rather than hardcoding values that require flow edits to change.
Implement logging. Write workflow events to a logging list. This creates audit trails and simplifies troubleshooting when issues arise.
Assign ownership. Every workflow needs an owner responsible for maintenance and troubleshooting. Workflows without owners become orphaned and problematic.
Review and maintain. Workflows need periodic review. Do they still serve current processes? Have requirements changed? Are error rates acceptable? Schedule maintenance reviews.
Control who can edit. Limit who can modify production workflows. Well-intentioned changes can break working automations.
Common Workflow Mistakes
Automating bad processes. If the manual process is confused, the automated version will be confused faster. Fix process problems before automating.
Over-notifying. Workflows that generate excessive notifications train users to ignore them. Send notifications that matter; consolidate or suppress those that don’t.
Ignoring performance. Workflows that trigger on every item change in high-volume lists can hit throttling limits or cause delays. Design for scale.
No error handling. Workflows that fail silently leave processes stuck. Always handle errors explicitly.
Inadequate testing. Workflow bugs in production cause business problems. Test thoroughly before deploying.
Abandoning workflows. Workflows created and forgotten become liabilities. They may fail silently, produce incorrect results, or conflict with process changes. Maintain and retire workflows intentionally.
Monitoring and Troubleshooting
Production workflows require attention:
Monitor flow runs. Power Automate provides run history showing successful and failed executions. Review regularly, especially after deployment.
Set up failure notifications. Configure alerts when workflows fail so problems get addressed quickly.
Track key metrics. How many instances run daily? What’s the error rate? How long do processes take? Metrics reveal trends and issues.
Investigate failures promptly. Failed workflows mean stuck processes. Diagnose failures, fix underlying issues, and rerun failed instances when appropriate.
Maintain documentation. Update documentation when workflows change. Outdated documentation causes troubleshooting confusion.
When to Get Help
Some workflow scenarios benefit from expert assistance:
- Complex approval hierarchies with multiple paths and escalations
- Integration with systems outside Microsoft 365
- High-volume scenarios requiring performance optimization
- Business-critical processes where failures have significant impact
- Legacy workflow migration from SharePoint Designer
Power Automate is designed to be accessible, but sophisticated automations benefit from experienced development.
Ready to automate SharePoint workflows that actually work? Connect with us to discuss your automation needs.