Lesson #8: Streamlining Your Work

Every day people are involved in tasks which often are regimented and standardized or left to each individual to do what seems to be right. For example, every loan application has to go through a very specific set of steps, involving an equally specific set of people in clearly-defined roles. On the other hand, every faculty member might have a different strategy for including students and colleagues in the drafting and review of a research paper.

Whether regimented or flexible, every business process can benefit from both streamlining and automation. For example, an article submitted to an academic journal may need to go through a review process that the first-time contributor probably does not understand fully. Just as importantly, the first-time reviewer may not be used to that journal's review process. In these cases, streamlining the review process is critical. Rather than having to ask for an explanation, the review process is fully outlined in the same place where you find the content to be reviewed. Handling the notifications and tasks electronically speeds the process along.

Automation contributes further to this goal. When you receive an article it may be necessary to tag it so that someone can quickly find all articles currently under review. When the final version of the article is completed it may need to be moved into an archive location so that no one accidentally changes or deletes it. Rather than rely on human beings, who can make mistakes, most people would prefer for the system where they work to take care of these steps automatically.

Everyone can benefit from workflow. Xythos on Demand provides workflow features which are easy to use. It is also easy to design a workflow and make it available to the people who will use it.

 

Task #8a: Designing a Workflow

When you design a workflow process you are creating a reusable template. When you start a workflow process on a document or folder you are creating an instance of that template.

You will see this terminology throughout this lesson as you design a workflow for reviewing documents for a project. The workflow template will follow these rules:

When a team member submits a document to a folder it is first tagged with keywords. Next the team lead (i.e., you) will review and approve or reject the document. If the document is approved it will be moved to a folder where team members will be able to see any comments. If the document is rejected it will be moved to a folder where team members can make the necessary changes and resubmit it.

We will see how this rule translates into Xythos on Demand features in the next steps.

  1. Click the Setup link at the top right of the page and click the Workflow Templates tab.
    Here is where you will see all the workflow templates you can access.

  2. Click the New Template button.

  3. For Name, enter “Project Phoenix Document Approval”.

  4. For Description, enter “Approval process for Project Phoenix documents.”

  5. Leave the Workflow Instance Owner as is.
    The owner is an important part of the workflow template. When the workflow performs automated actions (copying, deleting, etc.) it must do it in the guise of a particular user. If that user does not have the necessary privileges to perform the action the workflow will fail. In this case, since we will be moving documents to folders created for the project the workflow will need to run as the template owner.

  6. Set the email notification option to Workflow Instance Initiator.
    This way, the team member will receive notifications of the workflows they start.

  7. Click Add Step.
    Now we are going to define the workflow process.

  8. From the dropdown list, select Add Tag, and enter, "phoenix101" in the Add tag(s) field.
    We are adding this tag to make it easier for team members to find documents related to Project Phoenix.

  9. Click Add Step and select Approval or Review.
    Here is where the team lead (i.e., you) will decide whether the submitted document meets its objectives. If so, the document will move into one folder for documents that the team lead has reviewed. If not, the document moves into a different folder for documents that need to be edited and re-submitted.

  10. For Participant instructions, enter “Please review this Project Phoenix document”.
    We are not going to touch the next option, since there is only one reviewer. When you have multiple reviewers, you can have them look at the document in a specific order (serial) or all at the same time (parallel).

  11. Click Add Participant. In the next page, enter your username, and click Next.
    Once you have added your username to the approval, you can decide whether their approval is required or optional, and how much time they have to review the document. For now, we will leave these options set to the defaults.

  12. Click the + symbol before the word Then.
    If the workflow is approved, the system will automatically perform the next set of actions.

  13. Select Move File, and enter, /home/yourAccount/Users/yourUsername/Project Phoenix/Reviewed as the destination. The document will be moved to the Reviewed sub-folder in the Project Phoenix folder.
    You can use the Browse button to locate this directory, instead of typing in that rather long list of folders.

  14. Add another step, End Workflow.

  15. Click the + sign next to Else.
    Here is where we will specify what happens if you reject the document.

  16. Add a step here that moves the document to /home/yourAccount/Users/yourUsername/Project Phoenix/Rejected. The document will be moved to the Rejected sub-folder in the Project Phoenix folder.
    Again, you can use the Browse button to locate this directory.

  17. Add a final step, Restart or End.

  18. Click Save. You may find that a workflow template with the same name already exists. In this case, add a number to the end of the name.

 

Task #8b: Starting a Workflow

Workflows can automate steps, such as moving reviewed documents from one folder to another. That begs the question, How do people know to start the workflow? Workflows can be started on documents or assigned to folders. In this lesson we will learn how to start a workflow on a document.

  1. In Document Manager select a document which you uploaded into your user folder.

  2. Right-click on the document and select Start Workflow.

  3. Select the Project Phoenix Document Approval workflow from the drop-down list and click Next.
    A workflow has been started on this folder.

  4. Select the Tasks tab.
    Here you will see an assigned task related to this workflow. There is a short delay between triggering the workflow and presenting Tasks. If you do not see anything displayed yet, wait a few more seconds and click the Tasks tab again.

 

Task #8c: Responding to a Workflow

What happens next after team members receive notification of approval tasks they have to perform. 

  1. Click the Tasks tab.
    You now see all the approval tasks assigned to you.

  2. Click the radio button to the far left of the one task displayed, and then click Workflow Detail.
    This page summarizes the state of the workflow. If you are not familiar with the business process behind it, you can see the steps in more detail.

  3. Click View Template Details.
    This page shows you the entire workflow and its steps.

  4. Click the Tasks tab again, click the radio button to the far left of the one task displayed, and click Do Task button.
    Here you will find the workflow instructions for you. Normally you would open the document before approving it but we will save us some time for sake of this lesson.

  5. Enter “Looks good” in the Notes field and click Approve.
    As you can tell this is the page where the important decision happens. When you feel you cannot or should not perform this task you can delegate it to a different user who then becomes responsible for approving or rejecting the document.

  6. Click the Files tab, and navigate to the Reviewed folder for Project Phoenix.
    You will see that the document has been moved into this folder and tags have been applied.

 

Task #8d: Automatically Triggering Workflows

Workflows can be also be assigned to folders. If a workflow is assigned to a folder, any document placed in that folder will trigger the workflow. In this lesson we will learn how to assign a workflow to a folder.

  1. In Document Manager, navigate to the Project Phoenix folder in your user folder.

  2. Right-click and select Manage - Workflow Template.
    In this page, we will tell Xythos On Demand to trigger the workflow we just created whenever someone uploads a document to this folder.

  3. Click Edit, select Project Phoenix Document Approval, and click Exit.
    Now that you have added the workflow, let's see it in action.

  4. From the folder listing, open the Project Phoenix folder.

  5. Upload a document into this folder.

  6. Wait a few seconds, and then click the Tasks tab.
    There is a short delay between uploading the document and triggering the workflow. If you do not see anything displayed wait a few more seconds and click the Tasks tab again.

  7. A workflow task for you has appeared. Click on Mandatory Approval to open the task.

  8. Type the note, “This document needs more supporting data” and then reject the document by clicking the Reject button.

  9. Click the Files tab and navigate to the Rejected folder for Project Phoenix.
    You will see the document moved into this folder and tag has been applied.

 

Task #8e: Reviewing and Managing Workflows

Since you dip in and out of workflows throughout the day, you often need to check on workflows you have started or in which you have been a participant.

  1. Click the Reports & Tools tab. Then click the Workflow History sub-tab.
    You now see all the workflows that are completed or stopped including the document approval workflow that you just finished.

  2. Click the name of the workflow.
    You are now reviewing the workflow detail.

  3. Click the Active Workflows tab.
    You now see all workflows in process and can review the workflow details and stop the workflow if necessary.

 

What's next

Organizations want to standardize how people work. They also want to put content into easily identifiable categories (contracts, copyrighted material, etc.). In the next lesson we will see how to categorize documents in Xythos on Demand.