Workflow in the most general sense denotes any sequential series of steps taken to accomplish a task or goal. In the Worldox environment, workflow has a specific connotation. Here workflow means the pre-defined routing (or successive movements) of one or more documents for a defined purpose.
Files move into, out of and through Worldox in many ways, including being sent as email attachments or being referenced via links. These movements are most often ad hoc, performed one time as the need arises.
The Workflow module allows you to create a more controlled type of document movement, one in which files are routed to one or more users for a defined purpose, and in which successive actions can be based on input/decisions received from recipients.
Workflows start off as Workflow > Create forms or Template > Select forms. Each workflow has the following elements:
Application |
Description |
Subject |
A descriptive name for the workflow, used in My Workflow dialog listings. |
Message |
The short message accompanying outbound email messages for workflow transmittals. |
Route |
The defined document path, including recipients, decision/action requested, how success is defined and the date by which responses are due. Any one workflow can have one or several routes. |
Recipient list |
Participants – those to whom documents are routed – selected from the Worldox user list. |
Decision/action request |
What recipients are asked to do – review/comment, approve/reject or rate workflow documents. |
Definition of success |
A pre-set decision point, based on percentage response received. This decision point allows Worldox to declare the success or failure of a route separate from its completion. |
Document workflows are useful in a variety of situations. Here are some examples:
Use Case #1
You have assembled a Worldox project file of source documents which will be used in an upcoming off-site team meeting. Draft documents have to go to the four invited participants for pre-meeting review and comment.
Use Case #2:
One of your colleagues has a set of draft documents ready for distribution. These documents have to go out to a five-person project team for final approval. If and when the drafts are approved, they can then be submitted to upper management for review and comment. If certain key decision-makers approve the documents, they then go to the client.
Use Case #3
Your project team is defining strategy for an upcoming client engagement. Several very different plans have been proposed informally. You decide to document these ideas, and circulate them to the team for input on which strategy statement is most promising.
In all three cases, document transmittal can be done via email. So why use the Workflow module? What are the benefits to using Workflow, rather than just attaching files to email with receipt requests?
Email works well enough for simple transmittals. Even there, emailing may take more work to administer than you think. You’ll need to monitor your email inbox to make sure you know when all responses have been received, and to see which recipients still have not responded so you can follow up on your original request.
Benefit: Ease in monitoring response is one great advantage of the Workflow approach. Schedule reviews via the Workflow module, and Worldox does the work for you. You can see at a glance who has responded and who has not – from inside Worldox, without checking your email inbox.
Email alone offers little support for a structured, multi-part communication plan. The Workflow module does exactly that.
Benefit: The ability to automatically trigger follow-on actions in Workflow is a big plus. With regular emails, you have to decide at some later point whether further action is needed, and if so, what that action will be. With Workflow, follow-ups can be defined in advance, and are triggered automatically based on pre-defined goals for the current route. You can even add additional routes to pending (still active) workflows as needed.
One thing email cannot do is provide an aggregate tally of participation. The Workflow module does exactly that, automatically generating email receipts (tickets) at the conclusion of each scheduled workflow.
Benefit: Workflow initiators can save and track just this one document – the concluding, automatic email – to validate the fact that a certain communication happened, also to show the results of that communication. If you’re concerned with compliance issues, this one feature will prove incredibly valuable. No need to sort through emails sent and received. Just profile and save these email receipts as your proof of workflow activity.
Action "Tickets" Receipts for completed workflows
Completed and pending workflows are available in one central place - in the M Workflows dialog. There is a more important proof of workflow completion. That is the concluding email sent to the workflow originator when a workflow succeeds, fails, or times out.
Template-driven Requests
Workflow requests can be created from scratch, as the need arises. You can also create request templates, complete with customized recipient lists, structured routings/decisions and any other elements you care define in advance. Templates are an excellent way to save time and standardize workflow communications. For details, see How Templates Speed the Workflow Process.
Conditional Due Dates
Conditional due dates are a necessity in developing templates, as there is no defined start date to work with on the template itself. Conditional dating allows you to set up request response timing in advance. Then, when a template is used as the basis for a new request, dues dates fill in based on whatever start time is used for the request.
Conditional due dates are also used in scheduling second and following workflows.
The Email Connection
The Workflow module is email-dependent, and may not work equally well with email programs other than Outlook.
Workflow Categories
There are two basic types of workflows in the Workflow module:
- Sent workflows, those you have initiated
- Inbox workflows, those in which you are a participant
For each type, you can monitor and track both active and completed workflows in the My Workflows dialog. For details about Workflow status types, see Workflow Status.