Same Level Multiple Approvals

Paul Reeves

Is there a way to sent out a request that contains multiple approvals? There is a situation where we have a record that may contain anywhere from 1 to 3 approvals. All approvers have the same authority.

To tally the approvals I would create a separate column that evaluates the decisions of either all approved, all declined or need further review.

Ipshita

Hello @Paul Reeves

Yes, fortunately there is a way to create multiple approvals on the same level under the automation request tab where you can add more people from your org to approve/decline any decision. Here is the simplest way to do it -

using the automation workflow, send approval requests to multiple people or to contacts or to everyone shared to the sheet and store their responses in separate columns using the advanced feature of this workflow.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Ipshita

Ipshita

Hello @Paul Reeves

Yes, fortunately there is a way to create multiple approvals on the same level under the automation request tab where you can add more people from your org to approve/decline any decision. Here is the simplest way to do it -

using the automation workflow, send approval requests to multiple people or to contacts or to everyone shared to the sheet and store their responses in separate columns using the advanced feature of this workflow.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Ipshita

Neil Watson

@Paul Reeves it all depends on what you are looking to achieve.

The solution of sending a request to all approvers on the sheet does mean that once the first person approves, the approval workflow is "closed".

It becomes more complicated if you want to send simultaneously to 3 approvers and capture their individual responses. I had the latter issue to solve and this was my solution. I have included my column names and descriptions

1/ I created a drop-down column type called Approvals Needed with "Allow multiple values per cell" on.

2/ The options were Approver #1, Approver #2 & Approver #3. These could be the position names of the three approvers in your case.

3/ I created a text column type called "Approval Flow Option" which has a formula that references the Approvals Needed column.

4/ Depending on the options chosen, the formula returns Flow 1, Flow, etc, up to Flow 7. The table below explains the relationship between the options chosen and the Flow number:

5/ The formula in Approval Flow Option is =IF(AND(CONTAINS("Approver #1", [Approvals Needed]@row), CONTAINS("Approver #2", [Approvals Needed]@row), CONTAINS("Approver #3", [Approvals Needed]@row)), "Flow 7", IF([Approvals Needed]@row = "Approver #1", "Flow 1", IF([Approvals Needed]@row = "Approver #2", "Flow 2", IF([Approvals Needed]@row = "Approver #3", "Flow 3", IF(AND(CONTAINS("Approver #1", [Approvals Needed]@row), CONTAINS("Approver #2", [Approvals Needed]@row)), "Flow 4", IF(AND(CONTAINS("Approver #1", [Approvals Needed]@row), CONTAINS("Approver #3", [Approvals Needed]@row)), "Flow 5", IF(AND(CONTAINS("Approver #2", [Approvals Needed]@row), CONTAINS("Approver #3", [Approvals Needed]@row)), "Flow 6", "")))))))

6/ The Flows are used in the conditions for the approval automation.

7/ For the approval automation, create another three contact-type columns - Approver #1, Approver #2 & Approver #3). They contain the contact details of the three approvers.

8/ Create another three drop-down type columns - Approver #1 Approval, Approver #2 Approval & Approver #3 Approval. Each of these has four options - Not Required*, Submitted, Approved, Denied

9/ Create your approval automations; a total of 10 are required as per the table below. An example of automation #1 is shown.

I create separate automations so that the same three approval response options (Approver #1 Approval, Approver #2 Approval & Approver #3 Approval) can be used for all.

10/ Create a text column type called Approval Status. This column looks at Approver #1 Approval, Approver #2 Approval & Approver #3 Approval and returns either "Waiting for Approval", "Denied" or "Approved".

The formula for this column is =IF([Start Approval Process]@row = 0, "", IF(OR([Approver #1 Approval]@row = "Denied", [Approver #2 Approval]@row = "Denied", [Approver #3 Approval]@row = "Denied"), "Denied", IF(OR([Approver #1 Approval]@row = "Submitted", [Approver #2 Approval]@row = "Submitted", [Approver #3 Approval]@row = "Submitted"), "Waiting For Approval", IF(AND([Approver #1 Approval]@row <> "Denied", [Approver #2 Approval]@row <> "Denied", [Approver #3 Approval]@row <> "Denied", [Approver #1 Approval]@row <> "", [Approver #2 Approval]@row <> "", [Approver #3 Approval]@row <> ""), "Approved", ""))))

11/ The approval process is triggered by a checkbox column called Start Approval Process hence the bolded element above.

The final product with conditional formatting looks something like the below:

*For new row (prior to commencement of approval process), the three drop-down type columns - Approver #1 Approval, Approver #2 Approval & Approver #3 Approval ideally should have a default value "Not Required". This helps to identify for a row whether approval is required for reports etc.

Paul Reeves

Thank you both Neil and Ipshita. I really appreciate your help.

@Ipshita - I am not seeing the ability to record multiple approvals nor am I seeing an advance link.

Neil Watson

@Paul Reeves - correct. When using the method above (whether sent to multiple contacts, or all people shared to the sheet) the approval notification will go to all the contacts.

So in your case, Contact 1 and Contact 2 will both receive the approval message. As soon as the first contact approves or declines, their response will be saved in one of the columns selected.

The record is then 'closed' for further approvals or declines. When the 2nd person accesses they can add comments and save them but don't have an option to approve.

Samduarte

@Neil Watson

Your workflow above is exactly what I need to execute.

Scenario: I have a group of 8 executives who must collectively review and approve a new project request. I must be able to record the approve/deny for each individual.

I used your workflow above and scaled it up to 8 conditions in the automation. The issue is that only the first individual is receiving the email for project approval and properly updating the column with 'Submitted' status. The other 7 users do not receive the approval request/notification.

Any suggestions?

TIA!

Neil Watson

@Samduarte it must have been a mammoth task to scale this up to 8 people - well done!

In the case where you need the approvals from all 8 executives, then each will need their own automation (if you want the approvals to flow in parallel). In my table above, you can see for "flow #7" which is the case where all three are required, that there are 3 automations triggered.

Samduarte

Ah, I see now. It worked! Thank you so much for the quick response and for sharing your SS wizardry.

Neil Watson

No worries, happy to help.

dccooper7141

This is great, I just want to make sure my format works for this type of flow.

I have a form that needs to be filled out by a person, once this form is completed it then needs to kick off the approval workflow. Right now it's a waterfall because that was the only way I could find to keep the workflow from closing once 1 person approved it.

What my manager wants is something like above where it will send the approval to each of the approvers (I have 10 in this case). Each time the form is submitted it would always send it to that same 10 approvers.

Is this possible with a form submission type workflow?

Neil Watson

@dccooper7141 if you want 10 parallel flows then you need 10 seperate automations. These 10 automations are individually kicked off when the form is submitted.

Pauline J

Hello -- this workflow is really brilliant. I am setting up something similar--thank you so much for posting the formula, structure, etc. It's really appreciated!

Pauline

John Wann

Paul,
Where do I set not required in the above example when approval is not required?

Neil Watson

@John Wann, there are 2 ways to do this:

Easier Option

The individual approval columns are set up in advance and have 4 options:

• Not Required
• Submitted
• Approved
• Denied

I use a form to create new rows, as opposed to typing the record into the row directly. I drag the columns into the form and set a default value "Not Required", and make them hidden. Thus each new record will default to all fields being "Not Required". After you choose the approvers needed and kick off the automation, the appropriate columns will change to one of the other options above, depending on the workflow stage.

Harder Option

Set up each approval column with the same 4 options as described above. Use your current approval automation flows and add a "Change a cell value when specified criteria are met" automation to the end. Change the cell values of the columns not being used to "Not Required" as appropriate.

I hope this is clear.

John Wann

Thanks for the feedback.