Approvals

Click the More icon (3 stacked dots) to the right of the item for which you wish to request an approval, then choose Request approval from the drop-down menu. Alternatively, click the Request Approval button at the top of the document details page. The “Request Approval” page will appear. Specify the approvers, due date and instructions for the approval. Click Save Changes.

If an item is out for approval, an icon and the words “Out for approval” will show next to the item in the file list view and on the details page for the item.

When an approver responds to an approval request, his/her response and comments will be recorded in the comment list for the document/link, and an email will automatically be sent to both the approver and the person who had requested the approval (this feature needs to be enabled under Settings).

Folder level approvals work exactly the same way as document approvals, described above.

The Approvals dashboard, located at the bottom of the folder list on the left in Documents, displays those items currently out for approval in the selected workspace. For each outstanding item, the dashboard lists each approver, the status of their response, date of response and comments.

A record of Closed Approvals can be found by clicking on the Filters button and then selecting the Closed radio button under SHOW.

The Approvals Dashboard, for a specific workspace, or combined across All Workspaces, can also be viewed under Reports in the Documents section.

Note: The Approvals Dashboard is only visible once an Approval has been initiated.

When the necessary approval has been received for a document or link (for some processes, this may mean all have approved; for others, it may mean that one of the approvers has approved), the open approval should be closed by an Administrator or Manager, so that it no longer shows on the Active Approvals dashboard. By closing the approval, you are marking the approval request complete (whether or not all approvers have responded).

To close an active approval, select the checkbox next to one or more approvals in the Approvals Dashboard and then click on the Close Approval button at the top of the Approvals Dashboard. Once an approval has been closed, the words “Approval closed” will show next to the document/link in Documents. The approval will be removed from the Active Approvals dashboard and will now be listed on the Closed Approvals dashboard (accessed via the Filters page).

To reopen a previously closed approval, from the folder list in Documents, click the name of the item. At the top of the details page, click the Edit Approval button. At the top of the next page, click the drop down menu next to Status, and change the value from Closed to Active. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

To update an existing approval, go to the comment list for the document. At the top of the page, click the Edit Approval button. On the Edit Approval page, make any desired changes to approvers, the due date or instructions, and click Save Changes.

To delete an existing approval, go to the comment list for the document. At the top of the page, click the Edit Approval button. On the Edit Approval page, at the bottom of the page, click Delete Approval (only approval creator or Administrator can do this). Note: you will need to delete an approval to remove it from the Approvals dashboard and remove the Out for approval note next to the document in Documents.

WorkZone can send an automatic email notification when an approval response is made or when an approval becomes late. When enabled, the email notification will be sent to the approver, as well as the approval creator.

To enable automatic notifications of approval responses or late approvals for a specific workspace, select the workspace from drop-down menu at the top of the screen. Click the Settings link. On the left menu, under Settings – This Workspace, click Auto notification. On the right side of the screen, under Automatically send reminders to:, click the checkbox next to Approver and creator when approval form is completed by an approver or Approver and creator when document approvals become late and then click the Save Settings button.