Approvals are an important component of many business processes. Flowingly provides configurable Approval Steps allowing you record Approvals from individuals, teams or multiple approvers at any point in your Flow.
Approvals can allow a Flow to continue to the next Step, revert back to an earlier Step to allow a Task to be re-done or additional information provided, or even end the Flow with a 'Rejected' status..
For more information on creating go-back links please see: http://help.flowingly.net/design-and-build-your-business-processes/Return-to-Previously-Completed-Steps
When running a Flow, it is easy for an approver to record their decision.
Approve:
Select the Approve option in the Step. If a Step is Approved, entering a Comment is optional. The user who started the Flow will receive an Email Notification.
Approved steps will be recorded as "Completed" in the workflow's Completed Steps and Steps tab.
Reject:
Select the Reject and send back option to send the Flow back to an earlier Step (if configured). This is useful if additional work needs to be completed or more information provided.
Selecting Reject and complete this flow will end the Flow immediately with a status of Rejected.
Rejected steps will be recorded as "Completed" in the workflow's Completed Steps and Steps tab.
If a step is Rejected, the Comment Field is required to explain the reason. The user who started the Flow will receive an Email Notification.
There are three Types of Approval - Single, Parallel and Sequential Approval.
In multi-paths and parallel paths Flow Modals, all Steps in progress at the time a workflow is rejected will be recorded as "Abandoned" in the workflow's Completed Steps and Steps tab.
Single Approval
A Single Approval can be assigned to an individual User or a Team. The Flow will proceed as soon as any assigned person records their Approval.
To configure a Single Approval:
Select Approval as the Task Type
Assign a User, Team or Dynamic Actor
Set a Step Reminder
Set the Step Deadline
Add a Planned Time
Add a Planned Cost
Parallel Approval
A Parallel Approval allows Approvals by multiple users or teams to be required within a single Step. All configured approvers are able to record their decision simultaneously, and you can configure whether Approval is required from all or a defined number of approvers. If any approver selects Reject, the Flow ends or reverts back as applicable. The approvers can be either defined when creating the Flow (Model Time) or selected when the Flow runs (Run Time).
To configure a Parallel Approval:
Set the Task Type to Parallel Approval
Choose the Step where Approvers will be chosen from the dropdown.
Click on Select Approvers and choose the desired Users or Teams.
Choose whether the approvers are pre-selected when designing the Flow or chosen by the user when the Flow is being run.
Choose whether all or a subset of approvers are required for the Flow to progress. For example, choosing a subset of 3 will allow the Flow to progress once three Approvals are received regardless of the total number people who are able to Approve.
Sequential Approval
A Sequential Approval allows multiple approvers to Approve the step. The selected approvers record their Approvals in sequence one after the other. Each approver will only be prompted to record their decision after the preceding user has completed their Approval. If any approver selects Reject, the Flow ends or reverts back as applicable. The approvers are selected when the Flow is run.
To configure a Sequential Approval:
Set the Task Type to Sequential Approval
Choose the Step where Approvers will be chosen from the dropdown.
Click on Select Approvers and choose the desired Users or Teams.
Choose how many approvers must be selected by the user when the Flow is run. For example, if 4 approvers are configured, and the required number is set to 3, the user must select 3 approvers from those available. Approvals from all 3 would be required.
Selecting Approvers in an earlier step
By default, when using Parallel or Sequential Approvals, the Approvers are selected by the user completing the task preceding the Approval. It is also possible to configure this selection to be made in any previous task in the Flow. This for example allows a user completing a form to pre-select approvers for one or more Approval steps that will not be made until much later in the Flow. As a result, it is not necessary to include additional steps before each approval for the approver selections to be made.
To configure the approvers to be selected in an earlier step, choose the desired step from the drop-down list. Note that this option is only available for Parallel and Sequential Approvals.