Advance Workflow is a feature that will allow you to assign each section to users.

For example, if you are building a simple process that should be conducted by just one person and doesn't need any kind of approval, like an invoice, you will not need this feature. But if you need to build a process that will involve different people working on the same WORKFLOW in different stages, this article is for you.

Let's assume that our WORKFLOW will be called "MAINTENANCE PROCESS" and will have the following sections:

First: We need section 1. KICK OFF to be completed by Bob before Mary can start working on 2. FOLLOW UP.

Second: We need Mary to complete 2. FOLLOW UP before the maintenance teams can start working.

Third: Maintenance Teams A and B need to complete sections 3 and 4 in parallel.

And finally, once all of the above sections are completed, Sarah and John can review the whole process and approve or reject any of the sections.

Setting Up Advanced Workflow Is Easy

In order to do this, we must name our new WORKFLOW and activate the ADVANCED WORKFLOW switch. You will be able to access this switch by expanding the WORKFLOW settings clicking on the icon next to the WORKFLOW NAME.

Now that ADVANCED WORKFLOW is active, we will also be able to include APPROVAL sections in our process. This means that we can start adding all the sections we need with their needed elements inside.

According to our example, if we collapse every section, it will look something like this:

By default, every section that gets added will be available from the beginning of the process. But in our example, we don't want Mary to start filling the second section ("FOLLOW UP") until Bob completes the first one ("KICK OFF").

In order to achieve this, we need to use the "WAIT FOR COMPLETION" feature. This is a switch that basically will make sure that the next section will remain BLOCKED until every section from above is completed. If we need to make sure that the current section (e.g. "1. KICK OFF") and all of the above ones are completed in order to UNBLOCK the next one, then we need to flip the "WAIT FOR COMPLETION" switch.

Our second section ("2. FOLLOW UP") also needs to be completed (and all of the above) to UNBLOCK the next sections. And that is why we should also activate the "WAIT FOR COMPLETION" switch here as well:

*The key to easily understanding the "WAIT FOR COMPLETION" feature, is to look at the flow of the arrows on the left. When you activate the switch, the flow will have a hard stop on that same section, meaning that in order to continue, that section and all of the above will have to be completed. As you can see, there is no hard stop between sections 3 and 4, which means that both will become enabled in parallel.

The APPROVAL SECTION doesn't need a "WAIT FOR COMPLETION" switch, because APPROVAL SECTIONS will only become available if all of the sections above are completed.

*IMPORTANT: I think it's important to mention that TRIGGER SECTIONS are not part of this logic. The WAIT FOR COMPLETION login does not take TRIGGER SECTIONS into consideration, only VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL sections matter.

Now that our WORKFLOW logic is ready, the only remaining thing to do is to assign the responsibilities to Mary, Bob, Sarah, John, and the Maintenance Teams. And for this, you have two options:

A. ASSIGNING FROM THE BUILDER

You could assign the sections right here, from the WORKFLOW BUILDER.
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But keep into consideration that a WORKFLOW can be used by different TEAMS, and different TEAMS will involve different PEOPLE. This means that assigning the first section to Bob might make sense while reporting from a TEAM that includes Bob. But if our MAINTENANCE PROCESS will also be used by the Night Shift Safety Team, and Bob is not part of it, this won't make sense.

All the USERS or TEAMS assigned from the WORKFLOW BUILDER will be assigned by default every single time a USERS starts reporting.

For example, when someone from the Night Shift Safety Team needs to complete a MAINTENANCE PROCESS, the first section will be assigned to Bob by default, and the USER from the Night Shift Safety Team will have to re-assign that section EVERY TIME.

B. ASSIGNING FROM THE ACTIVITY

When a WORKFLOW will be included in multiple TEAMS, you can let USERS assign responsibilities whenever they need to start a process (by clicking on NEW in the left sidebar and choosing the WORKFLOW that they need to use).

HOW ARE USERS NOTIFIED?

If a USER is assigned to a section that remains BLOCKED, this USER will not be notified. But as soon as this section becomes AVAILABLE, a TASK will be automatically generated and will notify him or her through email.
For example, in the screenshot from above, the only available section is 1. KICK OFF, and since it's assigned to Bob, this means that whenever this activity gets submitted, the only USER that will be notified, will be Bob. As you might have noticed, the rest of the sections are greyed out. This means that they are blocked, and WAITING FOR COMPLETION.

It's also important to mention that when a section gets REJECTED from an APPROVAL SECTION, it will be re-opened and its assignees will be notified to keep working on it.

And also, you might notice that there is a column called PROGRESS on the VIEW page. This column will let us know (only in those ACTIVITIES using WORKFLOWS with ADVANCED WORKFLOW activated) how many sections have been completed over the total.
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Using Workflow From The Command Center Web Browser

When you are completing or viewing any of your activities you will see the status of the workflow steps on the left-hand side.

*IMPORTANT*

You must remember to "Submit" your activity for the workflows to be saved and trigger any tasks. If you complete a section or approve/reject a section nothing will happen until you "Submit".

Who Can Edit A Section

If a section is not assigned to anyone, any user in that activities team can update that section. Just like any app that doesn't use workflow.

If a section has assignee's (users and/or teams), only those assigned users can edit the section.

How To Complete Sections

Sections can be completed by assigned users once all required fields have been filled in. Sections can only be uncompleted by Admins or if the section is Rejected by an approver.

Assigning And Re-assigning Sections

Once an activity is created only assigned users to that section can assign/re-assign. Admin's are also granted the ability to assign/re-assign. This is the same for Approve/Reject sections.

Using Workflow From Mobile App (Apple/Android)

The same logic applies to the web browser. If you are offline and update the activity, tasks are not processed until you receive an internet connection and synced.

Validation Logic

• With Workflow OFF: Validation will not allow you to submit new activities (or save changes) if any of the mandatory fields are empty.
​•With Workflow ON: Validation will allow you to submit new activities (or save changes) even if mandatory fields are empty. But It will not allow you to CLOSE/COMPLETE sections that contain empty mandatory fields.

As always, If you have any questions or feedback please do not hesitate to chat with us so that we can improve the Workflow feature or this article.