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Multi Person Approval: Creating an Approval Board and an Approval Flow

Azumuta Support
Updated

In the case of a multi-person approval, an approval flow must be selected. This approval flow will ensure that a request for approval reaches the required person(s). As soon as the responsible person(s) -as specified in the approval flow, has signed it, the work instruction will become official.

Note: In order to use multi-person approval, you must have access to the Continous Improvement add-on. You can reach us out through the sales@azumuta.com email address to learn more about it.

Creating an Approval Board

Before an approval flow can be defined, an approval board has to be created. This approval board will give an overview of the open approval requests -with corresponding status- as well as an overview of the accepted requests that have been requested via an approval flow. There are two template possibilities for an approval board: single wave approval and dual wave approval. We will explain the difference between the two in the next section.

Creating an approval board can be done in the following way:

  1. Go to “Continous Improvement” in the sidebar.
  2. Click on “Settings”.
  3. Click the Yellow plus button to create an approval board.
  4. Select either single wave approval or dual wave approval at the template.
  5. Enter the name of the approval board. If no groups are selected, the board and its issues are visible to everyone
  6. Determine which group(s) will be granted access to this approval board.
  7. Click “Add” to create the board.
  8. After you’ve created the approval board, you will need to configure it. See the approval board configuration guides for more details.

Note: An approval board's visibility settings are also applied to all approval flows that fall under its umbrella.

Single Wave Approval vs Dual Wave Approval

Before an approval flow can be defined, an approval board has to be created. This approval board will give an overview of the open approval requests -with corresponding status- as well as an overview of the accepted requests that have been requested via an approval flow. There are two template possibilities for an approval board:

Single wave approval: This is a one-stage approval process. When the required person(s) approve this approval request, then the work instruction will become official.

Dual wave approval: This is a two-stage approval process. When the required person(s) in the first stage gives their approval, then this request will be automatically forwarded to the required person(s) in the second stage. When the person(s) in the second stage gives their approval, then the work instruction will be officialized.

The image below illustrates well the difference between a single wave approval and a dual wave approval.

Illustration of two work instruction approval methods: Single-wave approval involves all designated individuals (Person X and Person Y) approving simultaneously before final approval, while Dual-wave approval requires the first wave of approvals (Person X and Person Y) before moving to the second wave (Person Z) for final approval.

Creating an Approval Flow

Of course, you’ll need to configure your work instruction approval mechanism. This will need to be configured on an approval flow.

After you’ve created an approval board, an approval flow (with the same name) will automatically be created as well under this approval board. Nonetheless, you can also manually create and set up an approval flow on your own. Here’s how:

  1. Go to “Continous Improvement” in the sidebar.
  2. Click on “Settings”.
  3. Click the three-dot icon next to the approval board that will host this new approval flow.
  4. Click on “Add flow”.
  5. Enter the approval flow data (only the name field is mandatory) You can fill in the other fields later.
  6. When you’re done, click on “Add”.
  7. After you’ve created the approval flow, you will need to configure it. See the approval flow configuration guides for more details.

Approval Board vs Approval Flow: What’s the Difference?

An approval board is a centralized dashboard that tracks and manages all work instruction approvals. It displays all approval requests, including their key details (e.g., approval status, the associated work instruction, the requester’s name, etc.) An approval flow, on the other hand, outlines the mechanism to process and approve approval requests.

An approval flow is hosted under an approval board. An approval board can contain multiple approval flows.

The keyword is that an approval board focuses on keeping track of approval requests, while an approval flow is the mechanism to approve an approval request.

Here’s how to see an overview of all approval boards and approval flows in your workspace:

Screenshot of Azumuta's Approval Workflows module highlighting the distinction between approval boards and approval flows. The image shows categorized workflows such as 'Washing Machine Assembly' and 'Dryer Machine Quality Control' under their respective boards, with a 'Settings' button to access detailed configurations. Includes visibility settings and navigation for managing approval tasks

  1. This is the “AzuWash Washing Machine-Related Work Instructions” approval board.
  2. These are the approval flows that fall under the “AzuWash Washing Machine-Related Work Instructions” approval board. Each approval flow is marked by a hashtag.
  3. This is the “AzuDry Dryer Machine-Related Work Instructions” approval board.
  4. These are the approval flows that fall under the “AzuDry Dryer Machine-Related Work Instructions” approval board. Each approval flow is marked by a hashtag.

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