Already paying for Microsoft 365? You have access to Microsoft Forms. Here is how to use this powerful tool to streamline data collection and surveys.
Most businesses paying for Microsoft 365 are using about 30% of what they are paying for. Microsoft Forms is a particularly underused tool — a capable, polished form and survey builder that is included in every Microsoft 365 business subscription, often overlooked because people default to free tools like Google Forms or paid tools like Typeform.
If you are already on Microsoft 365, here is what Forms can do and how to start using it.
What Microsoft Forms Is
Microsoft Forms is a web-based tool for creating forms, surveys, quizzes, and polls. Responses are collected in real time, stored in Microsoft 365, and can be reviewed in a built-in summary or exported to Excel.
It is accessible at forms.microsoft.com and integrates with Teams (as a tab), SharePoint, and Power Automate.
Creating a Form: The Basics
Creating a form takes minutes:
- Go to forms.microsoft.com and sign in with your Microsoft 365 account
- Click New Form (or New Quiz for assessed content)
- Add questions using the +Add new button
- Choose question types: text, multiple choice, rating, date, file upload, ranking, Likert scale, or Net Promoter Score
- Configure each question as required or optional
- Add sections to organise longer forms
- Set branching logic (show question B only if answer to question A was X)
Sharing the form: Click Share for a shareable link or QR code. Responses can be restricted to people in your organisation only, or open to anyone with the link.
Practical Use Cases for Melbourne Businesses
Client Satisfaction Surveys
Send a post-project survey to clients with 3-5 questions: overall satisfaction (1-5 scale), specific feedback, likelihood to recommend (NPS), and an open text field for comments.
The Microsoft 365 integration means responses are stored alongside your client documents. Use Power Automate to send a Teams notification when a low satisfaction score is submitted, enabling immediate follow-up.
Staff Onboarding and Offboarding Checklists
Replace paper checklists with Forms checklists that create a digital record. A new starter works through a checklist of tasks (systems access confirmed, induction completed, equipment received) and submits the form when complete.
The form submission creates a timestamped record in Excel, confirming what was completed and when.
Meeting Agenda Submissions
Add a Microsoft Forms tab to your regular meeting Teams channel. Staff submit agenda items through the form before the meeting. The form collects item, submitter, and time required. All submissions appear in the response sheet, ready for the meeting facilitator to compile the agenda.
This replaces the “reply to this email with your agenda items” process that invariably produces a chaotic inbox thread.
Internal Polls and Quick Decisions
The Polls integration in Teams allows you to run a quick poll during a meeting or post a poll in a channel for async input: “Which day works for the company event? Monday/Wednesday/Friday.”
Results are visible to everyone in real time without requiring a formal survey link.
Application and Request Forms
Replace email-based requests with structured forms: IT access requests, purchase approval requests, leave requests (for businesses not using a dedicated HRIS), client intake forms.
The structured data capture removes the back-and-forth of incomplete requests. Power Automate can route the submission to the appropriate approver automatically.
Training Quizzes
The Quiz mode creates scored assessments with correct/incorrect answers. Use it for:
- New starter knowledge checks after induction
- Compliance training assessments (cybersecurity awareness, privacy training)
- Product knowledge tests for sales staff
Scores are automatically calculated and recorded per respondent.
Connecting Forms to Power Automate
The most powerful Forms use cases involve connecting responses to automated workflows via Power Automate:
Form submitted → Create a Planner task An IT access request form submission automatically creates a Planner task for the IT team with the request details populated.
Form submitted → Send approval email A purchase request form triggers an approval email to the manager with approve/reject buttons.
Low NPS score submitted → Alert in Teams channel A client satisfaction score below 6 sends an immediate notification to the account management channel.
Form submitted → Add row to SharePoint list All form responses are automatically added to a SharePoint list, enabling dashboard reporting and integration with other data.
Power Automate has a dedicated Microsoft Forms trigger (“When a new response is submitted”) that makes these automations straightforward to build without coding.
Limitations to Know About
Branding: Forms has limited branding options — you can add a header image and change the theme colour, but it will always look like a Microsoft Forms form. For high-visibility client-facing surveys where branding matters, a dedicated survey tool provides more customisation.
Conditional logic: Branching is supported but simpler than dedicated survey tools. Complex conditional logic (show this question if X and Y, but not if Z) may require a tool like Typeform or SurveyMonkey.
Response limits: Free Microsoft 365 accounts have response limits. Business plans have higher limits suitable for most SMB use cases.
Getting Started
If your business uses Microsoft 365 and is currently paying for a separate survey or form tool, evaluate whether Forms meets your requirements before the next renewal. For most SMB use cases — client surveys, internal checklists, meeting inputs, simple request forms — it does.
CX IT Services helps Melbourne businesses get maximum value from their Microsoft 365 investment through our managed IT and M365 optimisation service. Contact us to discuss a Microsoft 365 utilisation review.
