Cut down on repetitive work by letting Microsoft 365 handle it for you. This interactive course shows you how to design and build efficient automations using Power Automate, no programming skills required.
You’ll explore how to integrate tools like Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Excel, and Planner into seamless workflows that save time and reduce manual effort. By the end of the course, you’ll have completed a fully functional automation and gained the confidence to create many more on your own.
Please note: Learners require access to a Microsoft 365 Business Standard account to complete core hands-on activities. For the best learning experience, a Microsoft 365 Business Premium account with the Copilot for Microsoft 365 add-on and Power Automate Premium is recommended.
COURSE LENGTH:
COURSE STRUCTURE:
- Introduction to Business Process Automation
- Data Cleanup and Management
- Automating Workflows with Power Automate
- Advanced Workflow Automation
- Notifications and Alerts
- Automating Approvals and Tasks
- Automating Document Management
- Reporting and Analytics
- Security and Compliance
- Workshop and Review
- Capstone Build Lab
- Showcase and Operationalising Automation
STUDY OPTIONS:
Part Time
1 x 3 hour live online evening class per week over 12 weeks
SUMMARY:
Power Automate is Microsoft’s intuitive, low-code automation platform included with Microsoft 365, designed to help you streamline the way work gets done. By connecting the apps and services you already use, such as Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Excel, and Planner, you can create automated workflows that handle routine tasks for you. Whether it’s sending notifications, updating data, or managing approvals, Power Automate enables you to replace repetitive manual processes with efficient, reliable automation, all without writing a single line of code.
This course provides a comprehensive, hands-on introduction to automation, guiding you through each stage of the journey. You’ll begin by learning how to identify high-impact opportunities for automation within your day-to-day work, ensuring you focus on tasks that deliver real value. From there, you’ll explore how to design effective workflows using triggers, actions, and conditions, before moving on to building and testing your own solutions in a structured, step-by-step way.
Throughout the course, you’ll work directly within Power Automate, gaining practical experience as you create real-world automations. You’ll also learn best practices for organising, maintaining, and sharing your workflows, so they remain reliable and scalable over time. By the end of the course, you’ll not only have developed a fully functional automation from start to finish, but also the confidence and skills to continue building and improving automations that save time, reduce errors, and enhance productivity across your organisation.
Learners on this course also gain access to the EBSCO Online Library for the full duration of the course, free of charge. Here, you can browse thousands of relevant journal articles and business texts such as Harvard Business Review, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Forbes Magazine to supplement your learning and assignments.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES:
Automation is becoming a core expectation in operational and administrative roles. Professionals who can build and manage workflows in Microsoft 365 are increasingly in demand. This course gives you practical, demonstrable skills you can apply immediately. Beyond job titles, the broader shift is this: as organisations standardise on Microsoft 365, the ability to automate within it is moving from a nice-to-have to a baseline competency. This course helps you get ahead of that curve.
ASSESSMENT AND CERTIFICATION
Assessment is in two parts:
- Two checkpoint quizzes (Quiz 1 at Week 5; Quiz 2 at Week 10): 20% of overall grade (10% each). Multiple-choice format, automatically graded.
- Final automation project: 80% of overall grade, due two weeks after the course ends. Learners identify a real-world process, build and test an end-to-end cloud flow with an appropriate data store (SharePoint, Excel, or Dataverse), and submit a short runbook and impact summary (time saved / errors reduced), supported by run history evidence.
Your UCD Professional Academy Diploma will be issued electronically on a secure platform, with a link that you can share with employers and others wishing to verify your credentials. You’ll also be able to add the certification to your LinkedIn profile to demonstrate your achievement to your network as well as recruiters and potential employers searching for individuals with your skills and experience.
This course is not on the National Framework of Qualifications.
LEARNER PROFILE:
This course is ideal for professionals who want practical, hands-on automation skills to improve efficiency, consistency, and communication in their organisation - especially if you’re already working within a Microsoft 365 environment.
