Using Standard Ad-Hoc Workflows with Circulation Slips

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Unlike structured workflows, the standard ad-hoc workflow contains activities that are coordinated and can be combined as necessary (also see Workflows in enaio®). You can use them to easily model workflows for different purposes whenever this is needed. This includes, for example, for approvals, for polls, or for task distribution.

To create circulation slips, users require the system role Edit workflow circulation slip.

To use the ad-hoc function, start a standard ad-hoc workflow, go to the My incoming messages inbox, and open the first work item in the workflow ('Initialization') (see Starting Workflows and Editing Work Items).

A work item opened for editing consists of a Data sheet workflow form and a workflow file. It can also contain additional elements, such as a workflow log or a circulation slip. You can toggle between the Data sheet, File, Log, and other areas via the Arrow icon Arrow icon in the header area.

The Data sheet shows the workflow form of the open work item. It contains several editable fields:

  • Subject

    The Subject field must be filled in the first time the 'Initialization' work item is completed. It flags all work items of the workflow in the inbox.

  • Comment

    The Comment field is displayed in all work items. Entries are also transferred to the annotation history.

  • Poll options

    The Poll options field is used to specify options for a poll. The poll options entered here will be shown in the Poll work item in a list catalog from which participants can select the required option. The poll result is displayed in the Confirmation of notice work item on the Poll result tab.

The Circulation slip remark field shows the comment for the relevant activity entered in the circulation slip.

The Annotation history tab is displayed in all work items and contains information such as the workflow initiator, the time that the workflow was started, and which participant forwarded which work item, and when this was done. In addition, the annotation history lists the messages that the participants have entered in the various work items.

Depending on the activity, the data sheet may contain additional fields or tabs.

The file contains the objects that were selected when the workflow was started or that were added while a work item was being completed. You can find additional information on workflow files under Editing Work Items.

All work items of the taskflow are logged for all participants to see in the log. In addition to the date, time, type of activity, and process owner, the results of the 'Approval', 'Check', and 'Confirmation of Notice' activities of the individual participants are recorded in the Log column.

The circulation slip area contains various activities that you can link to a circulation slip. You can save these circulation slips and reuse them as circulation slip templates.

The activities are listed in a list, combined into groups. You can combine these activities any way you want and run them multiple times. Several activities in a group are performed in parallel, i.e., they appear at the same time in the inboxes of the participants. Once all work items of a group have been completed, the work items of the next group are started. You can click or tap on the Drag-and-drop – icon Drag-and-drop icon to move activities to other groups. Click or tap on the Remove icon Remove icon to delete activities. Empty groups are deleted automatically. Click or tap on the Drag-and-drop – icon Drag-and-drop icon to change the order in which groups appear.

You have two options for adding activities:

  • Adding activities individually

    Click or tap on the Add group button to create the first activity. A group with an activity is then added. You can add additional activities to this group by clicking or tapping on the blue Add icon Plus icon. Create the next group with an activity by clicking or tapping on the Add group button.

  • Adding circulation slip templates

    Circulation slip templates are circulation slips that have been saved. They are available in the template selection area.

    Open the template selection area by first selecting the More actions icon More actions icon and then clicking or tapping on the Load circulation slip templates icon Load circulation slip templates icon in the drop-down menu that appears.

    The template selection area offers public circulation slip templates that are available to all participants and private circulation slip templates that only you can use.

After you have added the activities to the activity list, you can configure them directly in the activity list. If you’re working in enaio® mobile on a smartphone, tap one more time on an activity in the activity list to configure it. A configuration dialog then opens. You can make the following configuration changes in the activity list or in the configuration dialog:

  • You can use User groups add-on icon User Add-On to select the participants for the activity who you want to receive the relevant work item. Except for the 'Logging' activity, participants have to be specified for all activities.

  • You can use the Lists add-on icon Lists add-on in the Escalation field or column to define various escalation measures. You can adjust the time for escalation in the Due on field or column.

  • You specify whether other participants can edit or delete an activity in the columns with the Edit icon Edit and Remove icon Remove icons. You will find the Editable and Deletable checkboxes if you are working in enaio® mobile on a smartphone.

    As the process owner, you can continue to edit the activities you created in the following work items. Other participants can only edit or delete activities for which they have been authorized by you or which they have added themselves. If other participants add their own activities, they can grant you permission to edit these activities or block you from doing so.

  • Entries in the Comment column or field will be entered in the annotation history and are shown in all subsequent work items.

An escalation can be assigned to any activity in a circulation slip. The following escalations are possible:

  • E-mail reminder

    If a work item has arrived in a participant’s inbox and is not forwarded within a specified time period, the participant will receive an e-mail to this effect. The preset time period of two days can be changed in the Due on column or field.

    This is subject to the e-mail address being specified in the workflow user administration.

  • Assigning a work item to a substitute

    If a work item arrives in a participant's inbox and is not forwarded within a specified time period, the work item will automatically be assigned to the substitute(s). The preset time period of two days can be changed in the Due on column or field.

    For this to happen, at least one substitute must be set up.

  • Automatic forwarding

    If a work item has arrived in a participant’s inbox and is not forwarded within a specified time period, the work item is skipped and the next activity is provided. Both personalized and non-personalized work items are forwarded. The preset time period of two days can be changed in the Due on column or field.

    In standard ad-hoc workflows (circulation slips), automatic forwarding (escalation) only works for polls (e.g., surveys).

To use circulation slip templates, users require the system roles Manage and delete templates for private circulation slips and Manage and delete templates for public circulation slips.

Circulation slip templates are circulation slips that have been saved. You create them by clicking or tapping on the More actions icon More actions icon in the header of the Circulation slip area and then on the Save circulation slip template icon Save circulation slip template icon after you have created a circulation slip.

The circulation slip templates are available in the template selection area. Open the template selection area by clicking or tapping on the More actions icon More actions icon in the header of the Circulation slip area and then on the Load circulation slip template icon Load circulation slip template icon.

The template selection area offers 'public templates', which are available to all participants, and 'private templates', which only you can use. You can add circulation slip templates to the circulation slip via the context menu or by clicking or tapping on the selected template. In the context menu, you can personalize or publish circulation slip templates and thus convert 'private templates' into 'public templates' or 'public templates' into 'private templates'. You can also delete circulation slip templates via the context menu.

The template selection area also allows you to display and use incompatible templates. To do this, tick the Show incompatible templates checkbox. Incompatible templates are circulation slip templates from other ad-hoc workflows. The incompatible areas of these templates are indicated in red once you have applied them and must be modified in order for the circulation slips to be used. These areas must be modified to enable the circulation slips to be used.

The first work item of a started workflow is always 'Initialization'. When opening the Initialization work item for the first time, you will need to fill in the Subject field on the data sheet. Further changes to the workflow, such as adding comments or activities, can be made.

By adding another Initialization activity, other participants are able, among other things, to edit the subject and comment on the data sheet again. In addition, upon re-initialization, the workflow initiator and the filing location of the log file are redefined.

The Revise activity is used to allow participants to edit poll options, among other things. If polling already occurred during a previous work item, this poll data will be deleted and can be accessed, provided that it was saved during a preceding logging step.

The Poll activity displays the polling options specified in the Initialization or Revise activities as a drop-down list on the data sheet, and it must be completed before it is forwarded.

The Poll activity can be carried out by more than one participant at the same time. Polling is automatically closed if either all participants have cast their vote or if the votes cast for a specific option exceed an amount in percent specified on the data sheet. If the group of participants is defined via roles, it is sufficient for one participant to forward the Poll activity.

The poll result is displayed in the Confirmation of notice work item on the Poll result tab. In addition, the polling options selected by each participant are logged and can be viewed in the log in the following work items.

Polling options can be modified in a subsequent Initialization or Revise work item. If polling already occurred during a previous work item, this poll data will be deleted and can be accessed, provided that it was saved during a preceding logging step.

The Confirmation of notice activity can be used to notify participants about the results of a poll, among other things.

The Confirmation of notice activity can be carried out by more than one participant at the same time. The next activity is provided when the last participant has forwarded the Confirmation of notice activity. If the group of participants is defined via roles, it is sufficient for one participant to forward the Confirmation of notice activity.

The Approval activity allows participants to choose between Open, No approval, or Approval in the Decision area of the Data sheet.

The selected option will be logged and can be viewed during all subsequent work items in the log.

If this is followed by a further Approval work item, the option you previously selected will be preset.

You can use the Collaboration/follow-up inquiry activity to allow other participants to enter a reply on the data sheet that can be seen by subsequent participants in the annotation history.

The Collaboration/follow-up inquiry activity can be carried out by multiple participants at once. The next activity is made available when the last participant has forwarded the Collaboration/follow-up inquiry activity. If the group of participants is defined via roles, it is sufficient for one participant to forward the Collaboration/follow-up inquiry activity.

The Log activity has no participants. It is not started by any participant; it is performed automatically. If the work item is included in the circulation slip, a log file containing the data of all items performed so far is generated and stored in the workflow file. This log file can be viewed, sent, and exported in the following work items.

If the Log activity is at the end of a workflow, a log file is created and subsequently placed in the enaio® client folder of the participant who initiated the workflow.

If you forward a workflow without activities, the workflow is terminated and removed from all inboxes.