Need advice on Forms & Approval Workflow

djpreece · 09/10/19

Note the word “form” below does not necessairly mean a Smartsheet form…currently it’s a Word doc

I have a form that need to be completed by at least 2 people.

Once complete, the form need to be reviewed by 1 person
1. If correction needed return to step 1
2. If correct move to step 3

Form is sent for “approval” to 5-6 people (or non-responders)
1. Wait for responses (either approve or decline), got to step 4

Notify me
1. If any declines Followup…
2. If all approves, communicate and archive
3. If no response by at least 1, Goto 3

We would like to move this all to Smartsheet, would be ideal if the “form” is contained in 1 row

I thought Smartsheet Forms would be the answer, but seems has some limitations.

Can’t have multiple users working on the same form (item 1 above)
Can’t update existing data with a form (item 2.1 above)

Is ”update request” (with Approval Workflow ) my only option (really like the “forms” format and options)

Thanks ahead of time!

-dp-

Andrée Starå · 09/11/19

Hi,

It sounds to me that the best solution would be to use a combination of all three, Forms, Update Requests, and Approval Requests.

In short.

Person 1 fills in the Form
Person 2 gets an update request to complete the forms data
Update or approval request to the reviewer
If a correction, update request
If correct, send Approvals
Alerts for different scenarios (combined if possible)

Can you describe your process in more detail and maybe share the sheet(s) or some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help. (share too, andree@getdone.se)

Would that work?

Hope that helps!

Have a fantastic day!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

djpreece · 09/16/19

Thanks Andree,

Not sure how this improves my current (Word Doc/SharePoint/Email) based flow . Forms are great...I don't understand why they are they 1 person, 1 use only.

Darrell

Andrée Starå · 09/18/19

Happy to help!

It seems that the improvement would be that it's automated and in one place.

Make sense?

How would you like the forms to function? Do you mean that it should be possible to continue to fill it in for multiple people?

Need advice on Forms & Approval Workflow

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