Approval Workflow Sends Incorrect Emails

Shawn Fritz

I have an issue where after a recipient approves or declines an approval request, the automation after approval is sending incorrect emails. The emails it is sending are from other automation setups, not the one that is triggered.

Paul Newcome

Have you double checked your triggers to make sure that they are in fact set up correctly?

If everything is correct, you may want to reach out to support.

Paul Newcome

When the approval column triggers, it does not look at previous triggers. It is just seeing that a step in the workflow has been triggered.

I would still reach out to support to see if this is intended behavior though.

In the meantime... Try adding in additional conditions between the approval request being sent and the next step(s). If you are unable to factor in the conditions like you need to, you may end up needing to add in helper columns that will populate a specific value based on the different triggers used in each of the automations. You could then use these helper columns as additional triggers.

Paul Newcome

Have you double checked your triggers to make sure that they are in fact set up correctly?

If everything is correct, you may want to reach out to support.

Shawn Fritz

Triple checked. Everything is setup correctly. I did reach out to support. They're just slow to respond. Came here to see if others are having this issue.

Paul Newcome

Are you able to provide screenshots of the automation that SHOULD be sending the email as well as screenshots of the automations that are sending instead along with a rundown of how the sheet works?

Shawn Fritz

I have a few different approval workflows setup. All are similar except for the email subject and body. The trigger condition is what determines which approval gets sent out. The approval request all get sent out correctly, but it's after they approve/decline where things go wrong. It actually sends all the post approve/decline emails for each automation workflow at once.

Paul Newcome

Are they all running off of the same Approve/Decline column?

Shawn Fritz

Yes. That might be the issue. I didn't realize that would be a collision since those other automations weren't triggered. It seems like it shouldn't operate in that manner, but I guess it does.

Paul Newcome

When the approval column triggers, it does not look at previous triggers. It is just seeing that a step in the workflow has been triggered.

I would still reach out to support to see if this is intended behavior though.

In the meantime... Try adding in additional conditions between the approval request being sent and the next step(s). If you are unable to factor in the conditions like you need to, you may end up needing to add in helper columns that will populate a specific value based on the different triggers used in each of the automations. You could then use these helper columns as additional triggers.

Shawn Fritz

Thanks. This was the issue. I just added new approval columns for each workflow so they are not overlapping. Problem solved. I do, however, wonder if that was intended behavior like you said. It seems odd to have a workflow start mid-flow when the initial trigger was never triggered.

Paul Newcome

It isn't storing the initial workflow. In all reality it is not starting mid-workflow. You actually have multiple workflows set up. It just happens to be all on the same screen kind of thing.

I am kind of curious myself whether this is intended or not. At least you got it working.

Shawn Fritz

Paul,

I just spoke with my Smartsheet Rep and she showed me a trick to make the emails dynamic and use one workflow for all instead of multiple workflows. My workflows were triggered by the Form Type column selected and sent out a standard email. Whichever Form Type the user selected determined which approvals and emails got sent out. If you enter {{column name}}, with the curly brackets, into the workflow email, it will auto-populate the value with whatever the user selected. Makes things a whole lot simpler.

Paul Newcome

Yes. I use placeholders in almost every single one of my workflows! I wasn't sure of your exact setup though, so I didn't know if that could work as a solution for you or not. Placeholders are great for adding flexibility. They can be used in both the subject and body of the email that gets sent out. I even have one workflow that contains more placeholders than actual text. Haha.

I am glad you were able to get a working solution though that didn't require too much modification to the overall build.

Andrée Starå

Hi @Shawn Fritz & @Paul Newcome,

A trick I sometimes use it to add a larger text to a cell in the sheet instead because then it's easy to add or change something for just one line. I also add links to specific documents, homepages and more. Another way I use it to include the correct contact information or signature, and so on.

I have a client where we added a personalized message cell, so when he sends that their payment request was approved, he could write things like, Your pot of gold is on the way!  🤣

I hope that helps!

Have a fantastic weekend & Happy Holidays!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD