Workflows

Using Workflows on EmConnect

What are Workflows?
Workflows are used to create a multi-step approval process for a form submission. Workflows are attached to forms on CampusGroups. They allow you to see the submissions of the respective form and take various actions, like approving or rejecting the submission or communicating with the submitter or other workflow team members.

Marking a workflow "Approved" only affects the workflow interface on CampusGroups and does not affect other CWRU systems. Depending on the form, you may be expected to take action outside CampusGroups before approving the workflow.

You will need to be added to a Workflow that is attached to a form, along with submissions to that form, to be able to see Workflows.

How to Navigate to Your Workflows

Email notifications
You will get an email from admin@campusgroups.com when there is a new submission available for your review.
The subject of the email will be "Workflow: [Workflow Name] by [Submitter] needs your approval"
If you have issues with email notifications please email SEAL@emerson.edu

To navigate to your Workflows in CampusGroups:

  1. Login into CampusGroups at emconnect.emerson.edu
  2. In the sidebar, Go to My Activity and then My Workflows
  3. Your view defaults to Action Required Workflows, but you are able to filter your Workflows with the drop down menus in the gray toolbar at the top of the page.

How to Use Workflows

To open a Workflow, click the gray View button in the top right corner of the submission.

View the submission, under Details, Open Submission will show you the form submission.

To approve, you will see a green I Approve button by your name under the step you are added on.

Besides I Approve, under Actions, you do the following:

  • Reset Workflow - sets workflow back to step one.
  • Requires Modification - mark the submission as Requires Modification when the submission needs some modification to gain approval. Using this will prompt you to send a message to everyone involved in the workflow AND the submitter. The submitter will be able to modify their submission to gain approval and move forward in the workflow.
  • Reject - end the approval process. When rejecting a submission, please include a reason for the rejection. Using this will send a message to everyone involved in the workflow AND the submitter. This will stop the approval process from moving forward.

If you want to communicate with anyone on the workflow or the submitter, you can open a chat with:

  • The submitter
  • Everyone involved in the workflow
  • Both submitter and everyone involved in the workflow.

  • What are Workflows?

    Workflows are EmConnect's multi-step approval process for forms. They allow to create a single process from submitting a form to approval all within your EmConnect page. Before creating a workflow, you must first create a form.

    Refer to the Form Creation Guide to more info on creating forms.

    Each submissions is accessible to everyone included in the workflow and reviewers can take various actions, like approving or rejecting the submission or communicating with the submitter or other workflow team members.

  • Accessing Your Group's Workflows

    You will need to be an officer of your group in order to create an event or edit workflows.

    1. Log in to EmConnect (emconnect.emerson.edu)
    2. Manage your group (click on Groups tile the top menu Groups dropdown list, then select your group)
    3. Click on the Workflows tile, or select Workflows under Surveys & Forms on the left sidebar menu

    Note: If you are unable to manage a group or navigate to Survey and Forms page, you may not be an officer of your group, or it may not be active on EmConnect yet. If you are unable to locate your group, contact SEAL@emerson.edu for assistance.

  • Workflow Overview

    A Workflow is made up of successive Steps. Each step must be approved before moving onto the next. If someone in one step rejects a submission, the entire submission is rejected. For approval, every step must be approved.

    There are 6 steps to creating a workflow

    1. Create your survey or form
    2. Create the workflow
    3. Within the workflow, create and name each step
    4. Create the Workflow Teams
    5. Add EmConnect users to each team
    6. Edit each step in the workflow and add one or more teams
    7. (Optional) Add logic to form questions for dynamic workflowsA Step is made up of one or more team(s). A team is made up of one ore more participant(s).

    A Step is made up of one or more team(s). A team is made up of one or more participants,

    Each Step represents the current state of the workflow approval like “SEAL Review,” “ECPD Compliance Review,“ “Advisor Approval,” etc. Make sure you use a descriptive name for each step so it is clear what is happening on the step.

    Each Step requires a team to be added. A team consists of the reviewers of the submissions. A team can represent a position, office, department, or any related group of reviewers

    After creating a team, you will need to add at least one person as a participant. Teams can have multiple people if needed. Everyone on the team will have access to review the submission on the respective workflow step. You can set how many participants in a team need to approve before moving forward to the next step.

  • Creating Workflow Teams

    A workflow team consists of a person or people who are a part of the same group or team who need to review and approve a form for their team, office, or position.

    Under Survey & Forms > Workflows. In the top right hand corner, click Workflow Teams to open the Workflow Teams Dashboard. You can view, edit, and create teams. Use the Create Teams button in the top right corner and name your team. Use the name of a position or team name and avoid using names of approvers. The name of the team communicates to the submitter and other workflow members who are approving.

  • Adding Participants onto Teams

    After creating a team, you must then add participants onto the team. These are the people who can review and approve the steps in the workflow. Participants can be anyone with a CampusGroups account. They do not need to be members or officers in your group. Teams can also be made up of multiple people.

  • Adding Teams to Steps

    After creating your teams, go back into the workflow you created. To the right of each step, there is a grey Edit Teams button.

    In the Workflow teams menu, use the Add to Step checkbox next to each team to add or remove accordingly.

  • Connecting a Workflow to a Form

    After creating your workflow, you will need to connect it to your form.

    Open the Settings of your form. Under the Basic Information tab, scroll down to the Approval/Workflow section. Select your workflow in the dropdown menu next to Select a workflow template (Optional)

  • Adding Logic for Dynamic Workflows

    By default, a step will always be added to a workflow. If you see the green Active icon next to the workflow step, it means that it will always be included. By adding logic to form questions, you can conditional add or remove steps based on answers that submitters choose.

    To add this conditional logic to a question, edit your form.

    1. Locate the question that you want to add logic to. This question will add and remove workflow steps based on the logic you set-up
    2. Open the logic menu by click the icon of arrows crossed in an “X.” At the top of menu, click the purple Create Logic button to open a Create/Edit Survey Logic menu. Change Logic Type to Workflow
    3. Check if the question in the Question field is correct
    4. Edit the Condition field as needed
    5. Select the answer in Value that will add or remove a workflow step
    6. Adjust the Do field as needed
    7. You then can select the workflow step in the The Following Step drop down menu. Make sure Activate Logic is set to Yes. Click Save in the bottom right hand corner.