Workflow Actions

Following are the type of templates:

• Global Templates
• Block Templates
• Workforce Planning Templates
• Structural Changes to Template
• Capital Templates
• Initiative Templates
• Line Item Template
• Allocation Template

How you perform template input is based on the type of template you open via the Planning Control Panel. This portion of the guide discusses each of the different types of templates.

Dynamic Commentary in Planning Templates

The Dynamic commentary feature enables you to post and view comments in planning templates and reports. We have enabled this feature in the GTSC, GTEC, Line Item, and Allocation template types.

You can perform the following with this feature:

• Add cell-level comments
• Edit, Delete, Highlight, Reply, or Resolve comments
• Add text, #tags, and hyperlinks in the comments
• Assign tasks and track their status from Task Manager
• Mark Task as Complete in the Comment(s) pane
• View all comments in the application and perform actions such as Delete and Highlight
• All posted comments and associated actions can also be seen in the Comments Manager

Comments are currently available only for open periods for the below line types:

• RC
• L with posting (with or without sublines)
• L with posting and history accounts (with or without sublines)
• C with posting
• C with posting and history accounts
• RA with single account mapping

You can view an indicator whenever a comment is posted in the report. You can include the following in a comment:

• Add a user - Type + and select the required username to tag the user in a comment. When you type +, username suggestions are provided automatically for ease of selection. A notification is sent to the tagged user. You can turn off the notifications if required.
• Add # tags - Type # to find the most used tags in a comment.
• Add URLs in a comment.

Note:

A maximum of 1024 characters are allowed in a comment. Additionally, up to 30 comments can be posted in a thread for any data intersection and a maximum of 50000 comments are allowed in the application.

Business Value

This feature facilitates user collaboration over different tasks. In addition, the ability to access and review/update templates in a single place will save time and extra effort involved.

Note:

The Dynamic Comment feature is always enabled by default. However, if you are unable to post your comment, go to the more icon and click Comments On.

You will now be able to add your comments to the template.

Follow the instructions below to learn how you can add a comment using this feature.

In Practice: To Post a Comment

1. Select the required cell and right-click on it. From the drop-down, select Comments, and the Comment(s) pane is displayed.
   
2. Enter the required text and click Comment. The comment is saved and displayed in the Comment(s) pane.
   

Note:

You can view an indicator whenever a comment is posted for a line type. So, right-click the cell with an indicator and click Comment. You can see the list of all the comments displayed for that particular line.
To view the comments for your templates (and for the entire application) at once, go to Maintenance > Admin and Comments Manager. Learn more.

In Practice: To Edit a Comment

1. Click the More icon on the right-hand side of the Comments pop-up window and select Edit from the menu list.
2. Make the required changes and click Save.

Note:

You can edit the comments posted by you or any user.

In Practice: To Highlight a Comment

1. Click the More icon on the right-hand side of the Comments pop-up window and select Highlight from the menu list.
   
   
   

Note

You can highlight the comment(s) posted by you or any other user.

In Practice: To Delete a Comment

1. Click the More icon on the right-hand side of the Comments pop-up window and select Delete Comment from the menu list. A confirmation message appears.
2. Click Confirm to delete.
   

Note:

• You can only delete the comments posted by you or any other user.
• If you delete the first comment in a thread, all the subsequent comments on the thread are automatically deleted.
  
  

In Practice: To Resolve a Comment

1. You can resolve a comment thread by clicking the Resolve option in the first comment of the thread. Once you resolve a comment, the visual indicator is not displayed on the cells.
   

Note

If you resolve the first comment on a comment thread all the associated comments are resolved automatically.

In Practice: To Assign a task

1. Right-click in the required cell and select Comment. The pop-up window appears.
2. Enter + and type the user name.
3. Select Assign.
4. Add task title
5. Due On - Select the required to date.
6. Priority - Select any of the following:
   • Low
   • Medium
   • High
7. Click Comment. A notification is sent to the mentioned user.
   

The assignees and admin will have access to the assigned tasks. You can view the task details from the Task Manager. You can change the Status of any of your assigned tasks or mark them as Completed directly from the Comments pop-up window. Once you mark a task as completed, the status will be updated on the Task Manager page.

Workflow Actions

Approval actions are based on approval role access.

Complete Workflow Tasks Associated with a Scenario

Admin users can configure this feature directly from the Planful application (refer to the Enable Enhanced Workflow section). Please note that once this functionality is enabled within your production environment, it cannot be disabled.

When a workflow process is started, tasks are created for users for every workflow step. You can view these tasks in Task Manager grouped under each scenario.

You can complete the workflow tasks (created by Admin users) associated with a scenario by following these steps:

1. Go to the Task Manager page. A new task is available for the same scenario that has been assigned to you.

   

2. Click the Expand icon near the Scenario Code to view all the tasks associated with that scenario.

   

3. For the Forward task associated with the required budget entity/template, under the Actions column, click Forward. The budget entity/template is forwarded and the Status of the task changes to Completed.

   • You can complete the workflow actions from either the Task Manager, Planning Control Panel, Template Input pages or from the Offline Planning Template.
   • You can perform workflow actions in one place; and the changes are reflected in all other places. For example, if a Forward task is completed from the Task Manager page, the status of the budget entity/template will be changed in the Planning Control Panel, and vice-versa.
   • You can use the Planning Control Panel link to navigate to the budget entity/template on the Planning Control Panel page
     
     

4. If you also have access to Approve privileges, another task for Approve will appear. For the Approve task, under the Actions column, click Approvals. A list of options appears. You can perform any of the following actions:
   • Click Approve. The approval of the budget entity/template is completed and the Status of the task changes to Completed.
   • If the task is associated with a template, all the workflow tasks for that template are completed. If the task is associated with a budget entity, a new Final Approve task is created if the Final Approve action is enabled.
   • If you want to send the task back to the previous state, click Send Back. The Approve task is deleted from the list of tasks and the status of the Forward task for the budget entity/template changes back to In Progress.

     

5. For the Final Approvetask associated with a budget entity, you can perform any of the following actions:
   • Click Final Approve. The final approval of the Entity is completed and the Status of the task changes to Completed.
   • If you want to send the budget entity back to the previous state, click Send Back. The Final Approve task is deleted from the list of tasks and the status of the Approve task for the Entity changes back to In Progress.
     Note:

     You cannot send back a task after the final stage of its associated budget entity/template has been completed from the Task Manager page. You can, however, perform this action from the Planning Control Panel page.

Recall Templates/Budget Entities after Forwarding, Approval, and Final Approval

This functionality is now enabled by default for all new and existing customers.

The Recall option is only available for users who have performed an action on a template/entity until the template/entity has not been moved to the next stage by another user.

For example, let us consider that you have forwarded a Workforce Planning template and want to recall it to make some changes. You can recall the template until it is not approved by another user. Once the Workforce Planning template has been approved, you cannot recall it.

1. Go to the Planning Control Panel.

2. Select a scenario, a budget hierarchy entity member, and a template that you have forwarded as shown in the image.

   

3. Click Recall.

   

   The template is moved to an In progress state.

   Note:

   When you Recall an entity, this action is a “smart” undo; because this action truly reverses the action that you previously performed. Consider an example where you selected an entity that has 5 templates within it; template 1, 2, and 3 have been forwarded by another user. If you then Forward the entity, this action will forward the remaining templates (4 and 5). If you perform a Recall action, only the entity and templates 4 and 5 are moved back to an In Progress state. The state of templates 1, 2, and 3 (which were forwarded by another user before you performed the Recall action) will not be changed.
   Note:

   The Recall option is also applicable for approved/final approved entities and for approved templates.

Availability of Send Back and Recall options for users

This table lists the availability of Send Back and Recall options for users who have the following approval actions for a budget entity.

The following example explains in detail the behavior of both the Recall and Send Back options:

Hierarchy:

List of users with Approval actions:

• Joe has Final Approve permissions for Parent Entity, Entity 1, and Entity 2.

• Jack has Approve permissions for the entire hierarchy.

• Harry has Forward permissions for all the entities and templates; for example, Entity 1 (Template1, Template 2, and Template 3) and Entity 2.

• Tom has Forward permissions for all the entities and templates; for example, Entity 1 (Template1, Template 2, and Template 3) and Entity 2.

  

1. If Tom forwards Template 1, he can view the Recall option for Template 1.

   • Harry can view the Send Back option for Template 1.

   • Jack can view the Approve and Send Back options for Template 1.

   • Joe can view the Approve and Send Back options for Template 1.

     

2. If Harry then forwards Entity 1, Template 2 and Template 3 are also forwarded.

   • Harry can use the Recall option for Entity 1, and this action will move Entity 1, Template 2, and Template 3 to an In Progress state.

   • Harry can also use the Send Back option for Entity 1, Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3; if he wants to move either of these artifacts to an In Progress state and not the entire Entity 1 hierarchy.

   • Tom and Harry can use the Send Back All option for Entity 1. This will send back Entity 1 and all its artifacts (Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3) to an In Progress state.

   • Tom can use the Send Back option for Template 2 and Template 3.

   • Jack can use the Approve , Send Back , and Send Back All options for Entity 1.

     • Jack can move Entity 1 and all its artifacts (Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3) to an Approved state by using the Approve option.

     • Jack can move the Entity 1 to an In Progress state by using the Send Back option.

     • Jack can move Entity 1 and all its artifacts (Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3) to an In Progress state by using the Send Back All option.

   • Jack can also use the Send Back option explicitly for Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3.

   • Joe can use the Final Approve , Approve , Send Back , and Send Back All options for Entity 1. Joe can also use the Send Back option explicitly for Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3.

     

3. Now if Jack approves Entity 1, Entity 1 and all its artifacts (Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3) are moved to an Approved state.

   • Jack can use the Recall option for Entity 1 to move Entity 1 and all its artifacts (Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3) back to a Forwarded state.

   • Jack can use the Send Back All option only for Entity 1. He can also use the Send Back option explicitly for Entity 1 and each of its artifacts (Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3).

   • Joe can use the Final Approve, Approve , Send Back, and Send Back All options for Entity 1. Joe can also use the Send Back option explicitly for Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3.

   • Harry and Tom can only use the Workflow History option in this scenario.

     

4. If Joe then final approves Entity 1, Entity 1 and all its artifacts (Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3) are moved to a Final Approved state.

   • Joe can use the Recall option for Entity 1 to move Entity 1 and all its artifacts (Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3) back to an Approved state.

   • Joe can use the Send Back All option for Entity 1. He can also use the Send Back option explicitly for Entity 1 and each of its artifacts (Template 1, Template 2, and Template 3).

   • Harry, Tom, and Jack can only use the Workflow History option in this scenario.