Assign User Groups to Workflow Steps
User Groups in EdSmart provide a powerful method to organise staff and assign permissions without needing to edit individual Users. We have now extended User Groups to apply to workflows for approvals and notifications.
Previously named individual staff needed to be assigned to workflow steps, to take actions such as approving a form. This can be constraining – for example, if a staff member changes roles within your school, it might mean you would have to manually update all the workflows to which they are assigned.
Assigning User Groups to workflow steps enables creation of groups of staff by role – for example, 'Leadership' or 'Heads of Department'. If staff roles change, then it is just a case of reassigning membership of the relevant Group. This can even be done via EdSmart's daily imports, if you are able to provide User Group information as part of the staff Users sync.
Configuring a Workflow Step
When editing a workflow step, you can now select a User Group, as well as individual Users. The number in brackets is the count of Users assigned to the Group.
Viewing the Workflow
The selected User Group will display on the workflow, along with any selected individual Users.
Taking Action on a Slip or Form Workflow
The User Group will display on a Workflow for any Slip or Form created from the Template.
When this Slip is sent for Approval, an email notification will be sent to all Users in the 'Heads of Department' Group, and any of them can then take action. The Slip will also appear on their My Approvals widget on their Dashboard.
If you configured the Approve Slip step to require the submitter to choose a User, they will be offered 'Heads of Department' as a choice, along with the individual User ('John Boyd'). This means you can have multiple User Groups assigned to the Step, and the submitter can select the appropriate User Group.
Once a member of the User Group takes the action, their name will appear on the Workflow.
User Groups are dynamic so it doesn't matter when you create a Slip or Form. Whomever is a member of an assigned Group can action when the relevant Step is current.