Approvals can be anything that requires a workflow, either internal (within your company) or external (outside your company): schedules, progress reports, certification rosters, supply lists, or anything else that requires someone else’s approval.
Creating a New Approval Document
To put a document into an approval workflow, navigate to the Approval Document Library
Note: If your company has not created any Approval Workflows, the Approvals Library will not be an available option.
- Click on the Documents tab
- Click on Approvals
Now click on the Add New button to open the New Approvals dialog box.
- Enter a Title for your Approval Document
- Make the title as descriptive as possible
- Attachments to the Approval will be renamed to “(the project name)+the title you entered”
- Select which Approval Workflow you want to use from the dropdown menu
- Click on the dropdown arrow, then click on the Workflow you want to use
- Ensure the selected workflow appears in the Approval Workflow field
- Attach the document by selecting the file or dragging and dropping the file into the Add File field
The New Approvals dialog box has three option buttons: Start Approval Workflow, Save Your Work, and Close.
- Start Approval Workflow will submit your document to the first step of the selected workflow
- Save Your Work will save the document and attachment, but will not submit it
- Close will close the dialog box and abandon any information you entered
The document you just created will now appear in the document library, and its status will depend on the option you selected.
- New – If you Save Your Work, the document will be in the Approval Document Library, but will not be entered into the workflow
- The Current Step column will be blank
- In Review – The document has been submitted, but has not been approved or rejected
- In the Current Step column, the name of the step the document is on will be listed
- Approved – The document was approved
- Rejected – The document was rejected
If the Approval was rejected, it can be re-opened and resubmitted. See Reopening a Rejected Approval.