Acceptance paths

An approval path is a template of a decision process that a project baseline (and with it a project charter) goes through before approval. It consists of consecutive stages, and each stage of people who make a decision or give an opinion. Paths are in the main menu, under Approvals, on the Approval paths tab (see Approvals). The list has the Name column and, when the organization uses workspaces, the Workspaces column. Click a name to open the path window.

The tab is visible to users with the approval path permission in a workspace (see Workspaces and approval paths). A path is chosen when sending a baseline or a charter for approval (see Approving a baseline change).

Creating an approval path

1. Open the Approval paths tab in the Approvals section.
2. Click Add. The Approval path window opens.
3. Enter the Name, choose the Workspaces (the field is shown when the organization uses workspaces) and optionally a Description. The description is shown when the path is chosen in the Approval window.
4. Click Add stage and define the approvers (see Stages and approver roles).
5. Click Add.

Saving requires a name, at least one workspace, at least one stage, and in every stage at least one person with the Decision action. On an error a message appears, for example There must be defined at least one decisive person for each approval stage., The same user has been added twice in one level. or There is at least one inactive user defined in the approval path. Change and delete a path in the same window (click the name in the list). Deleting a path does not interrupt approvals that have already started from it; changed and deleted templates do not change paths already running in projects.

Workspaces and approval paths

Every path is assigned to one or more workspaces. The assignment decides:

• where the path is available — in a project’s Approval window, the Approval path list contains only paths that share a workspace with the project. When there are none, the list shows No approval paths defined for the workspace. A path from another workspace cannot be used (such sending is rejected),
• who manages the path — users with the Approvals permission in a workspace can add, edit and delete that workspace’s paths, and see the Approval paths tab. The list shows them only the paths of their workspaces.

The permission is granted in the workspace permissions of a user or a user group: the Configuration group, Approvals column. It has a single level and gives full management of the workspace’s paths. A new path can be assigned only to workspaces where the user has this permission; if the user has it in one workspace only, the Workspaces field is not shown.

To grant workspace permissions, see Users and permissions. For what workspaces are, see Workspaces.

Stages and approver roles

Stages

Stages are passed in order: stage 2 starts only after stage 1 has ended. Add a stage with Add stage, delete it with Delete in the stage menu, and change the order by dragging a stage by its handle. In the stage header, the sentence Approval requires decision of [all / any] Approvers defines how many decisions close the stage:

• all — the stage ends after decisions from all people with the Decision action,
• any of — the decision of the first one is enough.

A stage also ends at once when any decision maker chooses Reject or Needs work: the whole approval then ends with that result and further stages do not start.

Approvers

The Add approver button adds a row with a choice list. You can choose:

• Project manager — the managers of the project in which the approval takes place (a dynamic value),
• a project role — the people assigned to that role in the project (a dynamic value). A role can be in a stage only once,
• Line Manager — the line manager of the person who sends the request for approval (a dynamic value; the line manager is set in the user profile, see Users and permissions),
• a specific user from the list of active users.

Dynamic values are resolved at the moment the baseline is sent for approval, from the data of that project. If a person is in a stage twice (for example as project manager and as a project role member), one entry remains, with the Decision action if either had it. When sending, the Approval window checks the path and marks errors: no project manager, a role with no people or not added to the project, no line manager, an inactive user, or a license lower than full. Sending with an error is blocked.

Approver action

For every approver, the action list has two values:

• Decision — a binding vote. The stage does not end without decisions (as set by all or any of),
• Opinion — an advisor. They can leave a comment and a choice, but do not close the stage.

The approver row menu has the Information for the approver option (a short message shown to the approver at decision time, marked with a comment icon) and Delete.

Approvers on the stage in progress get a notification in the application and an email (when their Awaiting approval notification is on), and access to the project for the duration of the approval. For the course, see Project baseline.

Required approval path

The organization administrator decides whether baselines and project charters can be approved without an approval path. The setting is in the main menu: System settings, Approvals tab, the Require approval path switch (When enabled, users will be required to select an approval path before submitting for approval.). The change is saved at once.

• Switch off (the default) — the Approval path list in the Approval window has the Empty option. Choosing it approves the baseline or charter at once, with no approvers.
• Switch on — there is no Empty option, and the send button is inactive until a path is chosen. The server also rejects sending without a path. Every baseline and charter must go through a defined path.

Approval with no path cannot be undone and saves the baseline values, provided the Schedule and Budget switches are on (see Approving a baseline change).