How to Create a Workflow Template

  Who is this article for?  

Module administrators, Managers with workflow permissions

Workflow templates are available across all modules and enable you to define and control your processes through your system, from document approvals, to corrective action plans and risk assessments.

Each workflow can be tailored to fit your needs and be as simple or as complex as required, making use of parallel steps and decision points where needed.

The article has been split into six sections:

1. How to View the Workflow List
2. How to Create a New Workflow
3. How to Add Steps to a Workflow
4. How to View the Workflow Canvas
5. How to Edit an Existing Workflow
6. How to Copy a Existing Workflow

1. How to View the Workflow List

To view the list of currently created workflow templates:

1. Navigate to Home then, Workflows and then Workflow templates. You should be presented with a screen similar to the one shown below:
2. Select the relevant workflow from the list to view the edit workflow screen.

2. How to Create a New Workflow

To create a new workflow template:

1. Navigate to Home then, Workflows and then Workflow templates.

2. Click the   Create button.  You should be presented with a screen similar to below:

You will then need to input the follow information to create the new workflow:

• Title - The name of the workflow template.
• Description - A description of the process and its purpose.
• Module - Which area of the system this process primarily relates to e.g. Document approvals would be linked with Documents and CAPA would be linked with Issues.

Once all mandatory fields have been completed you can then click Save and continue to create your new workflow template.  The screen will then reload and additional fields will be added to the template along with the workflow canvas as per the image below:

1. Ensure that the Active checkbox has been ticked to ensure the workflow can be used.
2. Build your workflow as per the sections below:

3. How to Add Steps to a Workflow

To add a step to a workflow:

1. Click the  add step icon. A panel will appear to allow you to define what the step contains.  There are a variety of different step types you can have in your workflow and they are as follows:

Parallel steps can only be selected from an add step node above a previously created action.

1. Select the Step type, the panel will update and show similar to the image below:

1. Provide a Title for the step.
2. Click Save and the panel will update again with further options as per the image below:

1. Choose to either  Select button or  Create button to add an action to include in this step
   1. If you click  Create the create screen will appear in a slide out panel. Click here for how to create a new action type.
   2. If you click  Select you will be presented with a Find action type screen, similar to below:

• If you have selected a standard or parallel step, you will only be able to select standard actions.
• If you have selected a decision or parallel decision step, you will only be able to select a decision.

1. To select an action type from the Find action type modal, select the relevant action type by checking the box, then select confirm.  The details from the action template will now populate the Edit step panel as per the image below:

1. From here, you can now edit the details of the actions as required.  For further information on editing the details of an action, please see the article regarding this here  

A standard or parallel step do not require actions to be added. Instead, you can use them as a way of merging branching paths back together. When a workflow of this type is issued, the process will simply pass through the empty steps.

1. You will then need to assign a user to the action.
2. Select whether the actionee is:

• User - An individual named user
• Group - A specified group of users.  A specified user will need to be chosen when workflows using this template are issued.
• Owner - The owner of the individual record the workflow is associated with

1. Click Save to confirm and add the action to the new workflow step.

You can add multiple actions into a single step. When the step is reached during a live process, the actions within the step will be issued sequentially.

4. How to a Viewing the Workflow Canvas

From the workflow canvas you are able to see the workflow as a whole or alternatively add new steps to the workflow.

The following actions are available on the canvas to view the current workflow

Option	Description
	Zoom in one notch
	Zoom out notch
	Zoom to a size that fits your current window
Overview	Collapse all workflow steps down, to only show step title
Detail	Expand all workflow steps to reveal the individual actions contained within all the steps

On the workflow canvas, you will be met with several icons:

Item	Description
Start	A simple node to identify the starting point of the workflow
Add a new step	Add a new to the workflow
	This icon marks the end of the workflow

5. How to Edit an Existing Workflow

To edit an existing workflow:

1. Navigate to Home then, Workflows and then Workflow templates
2. You will then need to do one of the following:

• • • Select a workflow template from the list to view the edit workflow template screen
    • Select Edit from the  Options icon on the relevant row.

1. Select the step you wish to edit from the workflow to open the Edit step panel - from here you can edit the step title and the details of the action.
2. Select the action you wish to edit to view the action details.
3. To remove an action from the workflow, select the delete icon next to the action on the canvas.

6. How to Copy an Existing Workflow

To copy an existing workflow:

1. Navigate to Home then, Workflows and then Workflow templates
2. You will then need to select Copy from the  Options  icon on the relevant row.
3. This will take you to the copy workflow template page and allow you to make any changes to a copy of the selected workflow.