Requesting approval from users

Enforce business policies in your workflows by adding an approval step to a process. In approval steps, users can approve or reject a case after reviewing the case details. For example, a manager can approve or reject a job candidate in a hiring process.
  1. On the Workflow tab, click Life cycle.
  2. In the Case life cycle section, in a stage where you want to add an approval step, click Step > Approve/Reject.
    Result: Your case type includes an Approval Rejection alternate stage.
  3. In the text field that appears, enter a unique name that describes the step.
  4. On the General tab of the Step properties panel, route the approval step:
    • To route the approval step to a user in your application, in the Route to list, select Specific user, and then enter the user details.

      You can assign the task to a user by user name, a user by user reference, the reporting manager of the user who last updated the case, or a case participant.

      Note: You can route the approval step only to the participants that are of the application user type andrepresent a single user.
    • To route the approval step to a team that shares a work queue, in the Route to list, select Work queue, and then select or enter a team.
  5. In the Step properties panel, click the Flow tab, and then define what happens when a user approves the case:
    Choices Actions
    Approve and move case to the next step
    1. In the If approved then list, select Continue.
    2. Optional: To change the case status, in the Set status field, select or enter the status that you want to assign to the case when a user gives approval.
    Approve and change stage
    1. In the If approved then list, select Change stage.
    2. In the To list, select the stage that you want to assign to the case when a user gives approval.
    3. Optional: To change the case status, in the Set status field, select or enter the status that you want to assign to the case when a user gives approval.
  6. Define what happens when a user rejects the case:
    Choices Steps
    Reject and move a case to the next step
    1. In the If rejected then list, select Continue.
    2. In the Set status field, select or enter the status that you want to assign to the case when a user rejects the case.
    Reject and change stage
    1. In the If rejected then list, select Change stage.
    2. In the To list, select the stage that you want to assign to the case when a user rejects the case.
    3. In the Set status field, select or enter the status that you want to assign to the case when a user rejects the case.
    Reject and resolve
    1. In the If rejected then list, select Resolve.
    2. In the Set status field, select or enter the status that you want to assign to the case when a user rejects the case.
  7. Click Save.
What to do next: To improve the turn-around time for your request, define a goal and deadline for the approval step. For more information, see Setting goals and deadlines for stages, processes, and steps.