4 Ways to Boost Productivity with Teams and Power Platform

Microsoft Teams and Power Platform work together so people can automate tasks, handle approvals, use AI agents and look at reports without leaving Teams. The four integrations that make the most difference are the Workflows app for Power Automate, the Approvals app, Copilot Studio agents published to Teams, and the Power BI app for Teams.

Teams is where a lot of people already spend their working day, so putting automation and data there means they actually use it rather than having to remember another site. Power Platform provides the low-code tools behind each of these integrations, and anything built is managed through the same Power Platform admin controls as the rest of your apps and flows.

1. How do you automate work in Teams with the Workflows app?

The Workflows app is Power Automate inside Teams. It shows templates designed for common Teams scenarios, such as posting a message to a channel when something happens or getting a notification when you're mentioned, and you can switch the filter to see the full set of Power Automate templates. You pick a template, sign in to the services it uses, fill in a few details and the flow is created.

You can also create a flow from scratch, which opens the full Power Automate designer inside Teams, or start one from the menu on any Teams message so that selecting a message triggers an action. Flows created from the Workflows app are always created in your organisation's default environment, so anything that becomes important to the business should be moved into a properly managed environment later. There are no additional licensing requirements to use Power Automate in Teams with the standard connectors.

2. How do you manage approvals in Teams?

The Approvals app is a native Teams app for creating, sharing and responding to approvals. You can start an approval from a chat, a channel conversation or the app itself, choose the approval type, attach files and pick the approvers, who are notified and can approve or reject from the card or the app. Typical uses are annual leave, expenses, purchase requests, document sign-off and overtime.

Approvals run on Power Automate, so you don't need to build a flow for a simple request, but you can create one if you want custom steps before or after the decision. The app also shows approvals sent from flows in the same environment, so people have one place to see everything waiting for them. Admins can create approval templates for the whole organisation, the app logs activity to the Microsoft Purview audit log, and it supports e-signature requests through Adobe Sign and DocuSign for organisations that have those licences.

3. How do you build AI agents for Teams with Copilot Studio?

Copilot Studio, which replaced Power Virtual Agents, is used to build AI agents that answer questions and carry out tasks. Agents can use your own knowledge sources, such as SharePoint sites and documents, call Power Automate flows to do things like log a request, and be published to Teams and Microsoft Copilot. An HR agent that answers policy questions and hands anything it can't answer to a person is a common starting point.

Agents are now built in the Copilot Studio web app and published to the Teams and Microsoft Copilot channel. Since the end of June 2026, the Copilot Studio app in Teams no longer creates classic chatbots and redirects makers to the web app instead. Select Microsoft 365 subscriptions include a Copilot Studio for Teams plan, which is limited to classic agents published to Teams, while a standalone Copilot Studio subscription gives you the full set of features and channels. Once published, an agent can be shared with specific colleagues, or submitted to an admin for approval so it appears in the Built for your org section of the Teams app store.

4. How do you use Power BI in Teams?

The Power BI app for Teams brings the Power BI service into Teams, and there are several ways to get reports in front of people:

• add a Power BI tab to a channel, chat or meeting so a report, scorecard or dashboard is always to hand
• paste a link to a report into a conversation, which Teams turns into a rich preview card
• use Chat in Teams from the Power BI service to share a filtered view of a report or a single visual and start a conversation about it
• get notifications from Power BI in the Teams activity feed

People still need permission to view the underlying Power BI content, so sharing a tab doesn't bypass the security on your reports. Having the numbers in the same place as the conversation makes it much easier for a team to discuss what they're seeing and agree what to do about it.

What should you think about before rolling these out?

Each of these tools is easy for people to start using, which is the point, but it helps to agree a few things first: which environment important flows and agents should live in, who can publish agents to the wider organisation, which data policies apply to connectors, and which licences people will need for premium features. We've written more about how Power Platform can advance your business if you want the wider picture.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need extra licences to use Power Automate in Teams?

No additional licence is needed to use Power Automate in Teams with the standard connectors. Flows that use premium, on-premises or custom connectors need a standalone Power Automate or Power Apps licence, and the Approvals app needs a Power Automate, Microsoft 365 or Dynamics 365 licence.

Where are approvals created in Teams stored?

Approvals created from the Approvals app are stored in your organisation's default Dataverse environment. The first approval created triggers the provisioning of the approvals solution in that environment.

Can you still build chatbots in the Copilot Studio app in Teams?

Not classic chatbots. After the end of June 2026 the Copilot Studio for Teams app redirects makers to the Copilot Studio web app, where agents are built and then published to Teams and Microsoft Copilot.

Can people see Power BI reports in Teams without a Power BI licence?

Viewing Power BI content in Teams follows the same licensing as the Power BI service. Users generally need a Power BI Pro or Premium Per User licence, unless the content sits in a workspace on a Fabric F64 or larger capacity, where free users with the viewer role can view it.

Talk to us about Teams and Power Platform

If you'd like help deciding which of these to use and setting them up so they're manageable as they grow, get in touch or read more about our Microsoft 365 services.