Using workstreams
About this task
- Your own workstreams, either workstreams that you configured using predefined activities or custom workstreams that you created, tested, and published.
- Out-of-the-box workstreams that are available in the system for everyone to use, such as the leave of absence request, request work-from-home resources, and review new safety procedures.
- Published workstreams that other people in your organization assigned to your team, which you can access based on user role, and use for your work.
When you start a workstream, a workstream instance is created, which you can configure before using it for your work. Each activity in the workstream instance becomes a task that is assigned to a specific user or team. When the task is assigned to a specific user, it shows up in the user's Tasks list, and the user can start working on it. When the task is assigned to a team, it shows up in the Tasks list of each member of that team. Any team member can claim the task to work on it. When you're done working with the task, you can submit it to mark it complete.
Typically, multiple instances of the same workstream can run at the same time. You can view and manage workstream instances from the Workflows list in Workplace. The latest instances that you've started are also listed in the Start workflow page, under Recent workflows.
Procedure
Let's use the workstream you configured earlier in Creating workstreams as an example. To use the configured workstream:
- Log in to Workplace.
- In the main page, click Start workflow. In the Start workflow page, under Existing workflows, click the workstream name and then Launch to start a new instance of the workstream.
- The form task is sent to the Tasks list of the assigned team. The team member who claims the task opens it, fills out the form, and clicks Submit to mark the task complete.
- A second task for the checklist shows up in the Tasks list for the
assigned team. The user who claims the task opens it, completes the checklist items, and clicks
Submit to mark the task complete. When the tasks are complete, your workstream instance shows up under Workflows in a Completed status.
What to do next
- Update the workstream, which returns it to a draft status (it requires a supervisor or configurator role).
- Archive the workstream when it's no longer needed (it requires a supervisor or configurator role). Archiving a published workstream hides it from the Workflows list so that no new instances of it can be created.
- Restore the archived workstream, which brings it back to its former published state (it requires a supervisor or configurator role).
- Delete an archived workstream (it requires a supervisor or configurator role). When you delete an archived workstream, all of its instances, including the active ones, are deleted alongside the workstream.
For restrictions and other limitations that you might encounter, see Workstream limitations.