Approval of work items via workflow on SharePoint is quick and easy when using our SharePoint Workflow Approval System. This article will take you through the approval steps of a Purchase Order from an end-user perspective.
To see this process in action, join our webinar, or have your own business process prototyped for free.
Submitting Work For Approval
The first step is to fill out a form developed in InfoPath (end users do not need InfoPath) and published to SharePoint via our SharePoint Workflow Designer where it is converted to an html form. Because of the power of InfoPath, calculations, database lookups and specific views can be presented to the user based on who they are and what they are working on. Here’s an example form. Notice the Approve, Reject, Save buttons at the bottom of the form.
Notification of Approval Needed
There are two ways that need for approval is given to users.
Approval Notification via Email
Here is a view of a typical email sent to end users notifying them that they must approval a work item. Notice that there are links back to the SharePoint site, and there are also approve and reject links that allow offline users to generate an email back to the workflow system with their disposition (approval / rejection), without having to visit the site. This is great for road warriors. Forms can be designed easily that give all of the information needed an offline user would need to make a decision.
Approval Notification on SharePoint
Similarly, notifications of approvals are listed in the My Assignments list on SharePoint. Notice the color coding (configurable). As assignments are reaching a due date that turn yellow, and then red if the become overdue. Clicking on the title of the assignment takes the user to the item for review and approval.
Checking Status of Items Under Approval
There are numerous ways to check the status of an approval on SharePoint while the workflow is running. As the initiator you can simply look at your list of initiated workflows under My Initiated Workflows on your home page, and click the link corresponding to the item on which you’re interested in checking status.
As an administrator, or a manager who has been given access, you could also look at all processes or assignments throughout the company or by task, item, workflow, person, etc. This is where the power of SharePoint list views come into play. You can define how you would like to manage your department, tasks, etc., and create views on the fly to enable your management style.
Process Status
Here is an example report of running processes grouped by process and then by the status of the process (running, approved, rejected, etc.). You could then check the status of those processes by clicking the history link, and view the item by clicking the item link.
Assignment Status
Here is an example report of assignments by person currently assigned. These show the power of the integration of our workflow system with the flexibility of standard SharePoint features. Combined they give an unlimited potential to drive work forward and to have the information needed to manage on a day-to-day basis.
Next Steps
What are your business process needs? Contact us to learn more about how our SharePoint Workflow Factory can build workflows for you on SharePoint that match your specific requirements.
