Administration - Workflow Configuration

This configuration guide will provide some examples of how to configure workflows using a variety of rules and configuration options.  The examples cited in this document reflect the configuration of an instance of Cora PPM, which may be different to your site’s setup.

If you want to replicate the examples below, you can build a smart form similar to this.

Go to ADMINISTRATION | Configuration | Workflow:

• Click Add to create a new workflow process.
• Enter the workflow name 
• Select a type of workflow from the drop-down list, e.g., smart form, project register, project request, etc.

After selecting the type, you must select the specific smart form, project register or project request you wish to build the workflow around.

Note: If you select smart form as the type the next dropdown will give you a list of all the smart forms on the system, the same goes for project register and project request.  You can associate the workflow item with whatever is selected.

• Set the Workflow Manager(s).  There must be at least one Workflow Manager per workflow process. These users can then access processes associated with this workflow via the workflow management screen.

• On the Workflow Versions Panel select Add to create the Process Map.

This will bring you to the “Add Workflow Version” page.

In the top left panel, you can see the workflow version information.

The function buttons on the top right of the panel control the view of the process map:  

Watch the following video on Workflow Configuration:  “Building a Workflow in Cora PPM”  

Some examples of how to build a process

Below, we have an example of a Business Case Smart Form Process.

• Select Publish to make the process active.

Whenever a user submits the Business Case Smart form, the start of the process will be triggered.

The Workflow can be viewed at the bottom of the Smart Form.

Auto Route Based on System Variable

You can get your workflow process to automate based on project variables which can be configured as part of the process. This partially automates the workflow process for you and streamlines the need for user intervention.

Here we will look at routing the workflow Item to an approver based on a Project Variable.

• Click Variables to view the workflow variables.
• Click Add to add a Project Variable to the workflow Process.

In this example, the Variable will be configured to reference the Head of Department Field on the Business Case Smart form.

We then adjust the Project Manager Review and Approver step and configure it to reference the Head of Dept Variable.

Then we will go to the Project Idea Smart form and set the Head of Department.

The workflow item will be routed to the head of department for approval.

Watch the following video on Variables within Workflows.

Updating a Field Via Workflow

Workflow can be used to update field values based on workflow decisions.

This is particularly powerful functionality as it allows for status fields and other information to be updated automatically on the system without the need for user intervention.

In this example we will update a field on a smart form based on a decision in the workflow.

To do this we need to add a variable to the Workflow Process.

Add a variable of this type to your Workflow Variables Library to reference the Proposals Description field on the Business Case screen.

Name: You can make the name whatever you like but it must be one word.

Type: The type of field that you want to reference

Source Type: Allows you to pull from a Smart Form, Register or Project Variable

Source: The Source option is driven by your selected source type. The selection criteria are dynamic based on the type that you choose.

Add a new step to the Workflow Process using an Update Step Type.

Select the variable from the library and insert the comment that you want to have the field updated with in the expression panel.

Be sure to use single quotes around the comment.

Submit the Business Case as per previous examples and once approved the Proposal Description Field will be updated.

Multiple Approvers

Cora Workflow allows for steps to be configured that require multiple approvers in parallel.

This means that a workflow item can be sent to multiple users for approval at the same time.

Create a new Workflow Process.

Add three Variables to the Process Library to reference the following fields on the business case Smart form:

• Initial Idea Owner
• Responsible Officer
• Head of Department

Configure the following steps:

Approving a Multi Approver Process

Go to the Business Case screen and define the three roles on the screen and submit the form.

In this case the three approvers will be Derry, Amy and Tom.

A workflow request will be generated and sent to the three Stakeholders.

They will be able these requests via the My Approvals widget on the My Dashboard.

Once approved the Audit Trail on the workflow will illustrate the history of the workflow item.

Email Variables

It’s possible to configure the wording of an email notification to reference project variables.

This will allow you to populate the workflow email with information such as the name of the project, the project manager and the project owner etc.

Add a Variable to the work flow process with the following parameters.

Add a simple workflow process with the following parameters.

• Go to the Project Idea form and submit it.

An Email should be triggered containing the name of the Project based on the Variable selected

On the step in the workflow, you can determine whether the email that’s generated contains a direct link to the items, a link to the dashboard or no link.

Project Request

Workflow can be used to drive the direction that a Project Request can take and move it from one programme to another.

In the following example we will use a Project Request, a workflow Process and a Smart form to drive the direction of a workflow.

To begin, configure a simple project request smart form.

• Use a Project Drop down and a Text Field as an example.
• Go to Project Request configuration.

Set up a simple workflow Process with the following Parameters.

Add a Variable to the Process to refer to the destination of the Process as chosen by the User on the project.

• Add a Project Via the Project Request option.

Using the Conditions configured in you process the New Project should appear in your chosen Programme.

Examples plus screenshot of each

Smart Form

Project Register

Expense

Workflow Hints

1. It’s possible to use workflow to update a custom field that can then be used to control the editability of the page (eg. if the smart form is approved then set a hidden checkbox field to true and then use this to make the groups on the page read only so nobody can edit an approved page
2. Variables are set at the beginning of workflow so if you need to check if something has changed since the workflow started you need to get the variable again as part of your process
3. Move project step is only available with project request workflows (for the moment) 
4. The Workflow is put together after you’ve finished designing the smart form/project register/project request, you should not create the workflow until after this is done.
5. Available for smart forms only, you can configure a specific workflow audit report.  When creating or editing a workflow, ticking this checkbox at the bottom of the screen provides you with the ability to construct the layout of the audit report that’s displayed on the workflow process.

Open up the smart form that the workflow is linked to.

Scroll to the bottom of the smart form and click the status.

This is where the columns you configured are displayed.

Click View Workflow History or whatever you labelled this to export the workflow history to an excel file.