Setting Process Approval
Example Enterprise Leave Approval System: Employee submits leave application, which needs to be approved by department leaders and HR respectively.
1. Create Questionnaire/Form
Process approval starts with data submitted through a questionnaire/form, so you need to create a form first. There are no special requirements when creating it, just add question types according to business needs.
2. Basic Process Approval Settings
1. Enable process approval
2. Set response method, select email questions from the form. Without email questions, applicants cannot receive approval response messages. When response to applicant is needed, email type questions must be set in the form.
3. Add collaborators (approvers)
3. Set Process Nodes
1. Add process nodes
First node: Department Leader Approval, Second node: HR Approval
2. Set first node as Department Leader Approval
Select approval trigger conditions, i.e., questions set in the form. Supports single-choice questions, multi-level dropdown questions, and single-line text. Example shows selecting single-choice question type.
3. Choose collaboration method
Can set different approvers based on different options. Responses will be routed to different approvers according to the set options. Supports multiple collaboration methods. When multiple people are selected, different distribution methods are supported: average distribution, OR-sign, and AND-sign. Average distribution will distribute responses evenly among collaborators. OR-sign only requires one person's approval to move to the next node. AND-sign requires all selected approvers to approve before moving to the next node.
4. Set approval decisions
Approve: After approval, select next node direction, route to next node (HR Approval), can set CC approvers.
Reject: After rejection, notify submitter directly. Notification to submitter can have different handling permissions, including notification only, notify with reply to approver, notify with form modification and reply to approver.
Form modification can be set to modify all questions or only certain questions. After modification, reply to approver and re-route to approver for approval.
5. Set second node HR Approval
When first node approval decision is set to approve and route to next node, save and click continue to add second node on the preview diagram.
The second node's approval trigger conditions are defaulted from the previous node and cannot be reset. The second node's approval method can choose specified approvers, OR-sign, or AND-sign.
6. Set second node approval decisions
Approve: Application directly passes, reply with notification message to submitter
Reject: Application rejected, process ends, reply with notification message to submitter
4. Publish Form
Publish the form for applicants to fill out.
FAQs
Q: What is Process Approval in SurveyMars?
A: Process Approval is a workflow system that routes form submissions through multiple approval levels. It's commonly used for enterprise systems like leave applications that require approval from department leaders and HR personnel.
Q: How do I start setting up Process Approval?
A: First, create a questionnaire or form with the required questions. There are no special requirements when creating the form - just add question types according to your business needs. Then enable the process approval feature.
Q: Why do I need email questions in my form?
A: Email questions are essential because without them, applicants cannot receive approval response messages. When you need to respond to applicants, email type questions must be set in the form to enable communication.
Q: What are process nodes in the approval workflow?
A: Process nodes are the different approval levels in your workflow. For example, in a leave approval system, you might have a first node for Department Leader Approval and a second node for HR Approval. Each node represents a step in the approval process.
Q: What are the different collaboration methods for approvers?
A: There are three main collaboration methods: Average Distribution (distributes responses evenly among collaborators), OR-sign (only one person needs to approve), and AND-sign (all selected approvers must approve). You can also set different approvers based on different form options.
Q: How do I set approval decisions for each node?
A: For each node, you can set what happens on approval (route to next node, set CC approvers) and on rejection (notify submitter, allow form modification, require reply to approver). You can also set form modification permissions for rejected submissions.
Q: Can I customize what happens when a submission is rejected?
A: Yes, you can set different handling permissions for rejections: notification only, notify with reply to approver, or notify with form modification and reply to approver. Form modification can be set for all questions or only certain questions.
Q: How do I add multiple approval nodes?
A: After setting up the first node and configuring its approval decision to route to the next node, save and click continue to add the second node on the preview diagram. Each subsequent node builds on the previous one.
Q: What are approval trigger conditions?
A: Approval trigger conditions are questions from your form that determine when and how the approval process is triggered. The system supports single-choice questions, multi-level dropdown questions, and single-line text as trigger conditions.
Q: Can I set different approvers for different form responses?
A: Yes, you can set different approvers based on different options selected in your form. Responses will be automatically routed to the appropriate approvers according to the options set, allowing for dynamic approval routing.
Q: What happens after the final approval node?
A: After the final approval node (like HR Approval), the application is either approved and passes directly with a notification to the submitter, or rejected and the process ends with a rejection notification to the submitter.
