Import historic decisions with Structured Approvals into decision log

Overview:

1. Choose where your imported decisions belong
2. Add the Decisions tab and generate the artifacts (new Team and Channel only)
3. Turn on Structured Approvals and add roles
4. Locate the SharePoint list for decisions
5. Map your data to the required columns
6. Import once or automate with Power Automate, then validate in Teams and in Advanced reporting

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Step 1 - Choose where your imported decisions belong

• New Team and Channel (recommended for reporting only): create a brand-new Team with a dedicated Channel for historic decisions.
• Existing Team and Channel (recommended when teams want historic decisions in their current workspace): import into a Team already using Decisions so historic and new decisions live together.

Tip: Align your Team and Channel structure to how you report, for example by department, project, or business unit.

 

Step 2 - Add the Decisions tab and generate the artifacts

If the Team already logs decisions in Decisions, skip to Step 3.

1. Open the Channel in Teams, select + to add a tab, choose Decisions.
2. In the dialog, select Add decision list tab (blue link), name the tab (optional), and select Save.
3. You will see an empty Decision Log. Select New decision, add a quick Title and Decision, choose a Status (Proposed or Final), then Save.
   • On the first save the loader may take a moment. This creates the SharePoint list behind the Decision Log.

Step 3 - Turn on Structured Approvals and add roles

1. In Teams, open Decisions and the hamburger menu and select Team settings.
2. Select Decision Log.
3. Choose the scope you need: Team - all channels or Custom - per channel.
4. Turn on Structured Approvals.
5. Select your framework. If you are mirroring a historic process, or the pre-set frameworks does not suit your use case - choose Custom.
6. Add the number of roles that matches the maximum you will encounter in your import. For example, if some decisions had 1 approver and others had 3, configure 3 roles.
7. Select Save. After saving, the SharePoint list for this Team gets new columns for each role.

What columns are added per role

• Role 1
• Role 1 - User
• Role 1 - Status
• Role 2, Role 2 - User, Role 2 - Status
• and so on for each role you configured

 

Rules for data:

• Role N is required on every row. Enter the role name used for that decision, for example Recommend, Agree, Decide.
• Role N - User is optional. Enter the approver’s name here, this field has a people picker. Leave blank if the role did not participate.
• Role N - Status is required if a user is present. Use Approved or Rejected. If no user, set N/A.

 

Step 4 - Locate the SharePoint list for decisions

1. In the Channel, open the Files tab, select …, then Open in SharePoint.
2. In the browser, go to Site contents, then open (Team name) – Decisions List.

• This is the list you will import your data into. Repeat these steps for other Teams and Channels as needed.

 

Step 5 - Map your data to the required columns

Your import data must be mapped to this column order. If any two are swapped, you will not get the expected results. Some columns are visible. Others are hidden but required and can only be populated via Power Automate.

Column name	Required?	Guidance and formatting tips
Meeting Date	Yes	Meeting or decision date. Use YYYY-MM-DD
Meeting	Yes	Meeting origin title. If unknown, enter No meeting
Agenda Item	No	Agenda item/topic title from origin meeting
Title	No	Optional, title for the decision
Decision	Yes	The decision text
Status	Yes	Use exactly Proposed or Final
Team	Yes	The Team name that owns this list
Channel	Yes	The Channel name
Agenda	No	Full https:// link to the agenda
Minutes	No	Full https:// link to the minutes
Framework	Yes	Set Custom for approvals imports (unless you configured RAPID or RACI)
Replaced By	No	Do not fill
Tags	No	Use hashtags for reporting, for example #budget, #FY25, #risk. Comma and space separated.
GroupId	Yes (hidden)	The Team groupId
ChannelId	Yes (hidden)	The Channel channelId, for example 19:xxx@thread.tacv2. Keep the entire value, including 19: and @thread.tacv2. Use the same value for all rows targeting the same Channel
Role 1	Yes	Role name used for that approver, for example Recommend, Agree, Decide
Role 1 - User	No	People picker field, add responsible person. Leave blank if the role did not participate.
Role 1 - Status	Yes	If a user is provided, use exactly Approved or Rejected. If no user, set N/A.
Role 2	Yes	Role name used for that approver, for example Recommend, Agree, Decide.
Role 2 - User	No	People picker field, add responsible person. Leave blank if the role did not participate.
Role 2 - Status	Yes	If a user is provided, use exactly Approved or Rejected. If no user, set N/A.
Continue with Role 3+ columns	Varies	Add Role 3, Role 3 - User, Role 3 - Status (and so on) if you configured more roles.

 

💡How to get GroupId & ChannelId (fast)

Right-click the Channel name in Teams, select Get link to channel, then Copy. Paste the link into a text editor and extract:

• groupId= is your GroupId
• channelId= is your ChannelId. Keep the full value (19:...@thread.tacv2)

Use the same GroupId and ChannelId for every row that belongs to that Channel.

Note: If your dataset is for one Team but multiple Channels, you can import everything into the same Decisions list. The Channel and ChannelId values will differ per related decisions.

 

Step 6 - Import and validate

Import with Power Automate

• Build a flow that creates items in (Team name) - Decisions List. This can either be an ongoing sync or one-time. Map your source fields to the columns above and set GroupId and ChannelId for each row.

Validate

✅ SharePoint: items appear with required fields populated

✅ Teams: items display in the Channel’s Decisions tab and decision log

✅ Advanced reporting: decisions roll up as expected from the chosen Team

 

Troubleshooting

• Nothing appears in the SharePoint list: review your import method or Power Automate flow. Confirm the action writes to (Team name) - Decisions List and that column names and order match exactly.
• Nothing appears in Teams or in reporting, but items exist in the SharePoint list: confirm GroupId and ChannelId are populated correctly for each row.
• Rows rejected or values missing: confirm required fields and exact values, for example Final. Check date formats and URLs.
• Permissions: request Owner access, or ask IT for help.

 

Best practices

• Test with 10–20 rows before full import.
• Keep a mapping document for audit.
• Standardize tags for clean analytics.
• Repeat the process per Team. Each has its own Decisions list.
• If your data relates to one Team and various Channels; you can add everything in the same Decisions list. The difference will be in Channel Names and ChannelId.