Microsoft Lists.
One of the challenges people that seek out IT consulting look to solve is how to automate workflows. They need help moving forward from time-consuming and labor-intensive manual tasks.
Microsoft Lists was just added to business and enterprise subscriptions of Microsoft 365 and it offers a way to automate multiple workflows that use lists of things as a base.
What Exactly Can Microsoft Lists Do?
Microsoft Lists is designed to track information, allow you to share lists dynamically with your team, and organize information and processes in a meaningful way.
For example, one way that you can use the app is to track customer service issues.
create a list that includes the factors you need to track when handing customer service issues, such as:
Customer name
Description/inquiry
Severity of issue
Status of issue
Person assigned to resolve
Date created
Data resolved This type of list setup in Microsoft Lists could actually replace another tracking app that you might be using.
Features of Microsoft Lists Here are some of the main features of Microsoft Lists that make this such a powerful app and one that can automate manual workflows as well as replace certain apps you may be paying for separately.
Smart rules that can automate notifications for list activities
Use Lists in a mobile app, on the web, or within Microsoft Teams
Share and collaborate on lists with others
Control edit and read-only properties by list column
See data displayed in several different views (calendar, gallery, card, etc.)
Create lists from a template, from scratch, from another list, or from an Excel sheet
Replace Several Spreadsheets
If you’re like many businesses, you have several spreadsheets floating around in your workflows. You may have one for your list of vendors, one for leads, another for your electronics asset inventory.
Using Microsoft Lists can replace multiple spreadsheet lists and put all those lists into one easy to access dashboard.
Templates to Get You Started Microsoft Lists has several templates that can get you started using the platform right away and understanding exactly how useful it can be to your work processes. Here are a few of the several of the templates you can find in the app:
Incident management: For tracking either internal incidents (e.g. a shipping problem) or to track customer service tickets.
Asset tracker: Keep a virtual list of your electronic assets that includes a photo, warranty information, and the name of the person who was last assigned the item.
Onboarding checklist: Make your employee or vendor onboarding process more automated by using this template and adding automated notifications when each item is completed.
Project planning: Replace an expensive project planning app by using this template in Lists and view project tasks in list view or calendar view.
Team contacts: Keep track of vendors, contacts, sales leads, or visitors to your facility using this template.
Views to See Your Data How You Like There are several different ways to organize and view your list data in the application. For example, you can see an event planning list as a calendar, based upon the due dates of each activity. You can also use a card view to more easily identify contacts or assets. Some of the available views in Microsoft Lists include:
Standard view
Data sheet view
Calendar view
Card view
Gallery view