Instructor Notes

The first module is designed for approximately 100 minutes:

50 minutes directed teaching;
50 minutes practical activity;
five teaching blocks, each followed by an activity.

Session Map

Part	Focus	Activity
1	Start the flow	Build a manual request trigger
2	Move data	Add a connector and notification
3	Shape values	Clean, format, and route inputs
4	Pause for a decision	Add an approval branch
5	Work from a table	Send personalised test emails

The session is intentionally practical. Each short teaching block is followed by an activity where everyone builds or modifies a real flow in Power Automate.

Workshop Rhythm

flowchart LR
  A[Teach 8-10 min] --> B[Build 8-10 min]
  B --> C[Test]
  C --> D[Inspect run history]
  D --> E[Discuss production risks]
  E --> A

Every activity follows the same pattern: build a small version, test with safe data, inspect the run, and then ask what would need to change before production use.

Before Teaching

Confirm which connectors are enabled in the tenant, especially Approvals, Excel Online, Word Online, Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint. If Word template actions are not available, run Activity 5 with personalised email body text instead of populated Word documents.

Prepare a small test workbook and Word template in case learners cannot create their own quickly.

Delivery Notes

Keep the examples small. The aim is for every learner to build and run flows during the session, not to produce a production-ready automation.

Emphasise:

test data only;
ownership and permissions;
run history as the first debugging tool;
Excel tables as a requirement, not an optional formatting choice;
approval outcomes needing a durable record;
bulk email needing careful testing and local communication rules.

Timing

If time is short, keep Activities 1 to 4 hands-on and treat Activity 5 as a worked design plus a short demonstration. If time is available, learners can build the full Excel-to-email loop with one or two test rows.