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Configuring Workflow Actions

This article describes how to access and configure the available Workflow Actions in Gatekeeper and how to use them.

Discover:

For background, please read Kanban Workflow Engine - An Introduction

What is a Workflow Action?

 

A workflow action is - in simple terms - a task that a user can perform on the workflow which affects something outside the workflow

When a workflow card lands on a phase which has had an Action enabled, users with access to the card will be able to perform that action to make changes such as:

  • Creating a new record in the Repository using the data from the Form ("Create Contract"/"Create Supplier")
  • Amending the values of a record in the Repository using the data from the Form ("Update Contract"/"Update Supplier")
  • Updating the File Version of a Contract Document ("Upload/Submit Contract Draft")
  • Sending a Document for eSignature (eSign / DocuSign)

 

With Workflow Actions, you can control when your Gatekeeper users are permitted/enabled to perform specific activities. You can therefore control when a document is permitted to be signed, when a contract/vendor can be added to your repository - and even who can make changes to that data once it's been added!

 

There are both manual and automatic Actions available for configuration as applicable. 

"Manual Actions" are performed by users who will be able to view the  card and directly choose to click the action button

"Automatic Actions" are instantly performed by Gatekeeper whenever the card arrives at the phase where they have been enabled & configured

 

Who Can Configure a Workflow Action?

Any users with the following permissions can configure a Workflow Action:

 

How to Add an Action to a Workflow Phase

 

Note: The Actions tab is not available on the first Phase of a Workflow

This is by design, the start phase should be for initiating a process, whereas an "Action" is more intended to capture the result of a thorough process

 

Step 1) Navigate to your  "Workflows" menu in the left side navigation panel

Workflows | Navigation

Step 2) Click to open the specific Workflow you'd like to edit

Workflow Selection

Step 3) Click to edit the Phase where you wish to enable an Action

Edit this Phase

Step 4) Go to the Actions tab

Workflows | Actions Tab

 

Step 5) Check the ☑️ box to enable an Action from the available options

💡 You may notice that certain actions are unavailable for selection on a specific phase if you have enabled other actions

These inaccessible actions will be greyed out, making it clear that they cannot be selected

 

 

 

Manual Workflow Actions

Contract Actions

Workflows | Manual Contract Actions

Note: The CONTRACT ACTIONS area will only show if the corresponding predefined Contract metadata form section has been added to the Workflow Form

 

 

Supplier ActionsWorkflow | SUPPLIER ACTIONS

Note: The SUPPLIER ACTIONS area will only show if the corresponding predefined Supplier metadata form section has been added to the Workflow Form

 

 

eNegotiate Actions

 

eSign Actions

Workflow Actions | Manual eSign

When enabling eSign, you have 2 sub-options to choose:

☑️ Inline Only eSign - with this option enabled, Gatekeeper will not let a user send a document for eSignature until they have applied signature objects (signature/name/title/date/etc) to the actual document

☑️ Display Approval History - with this option enabled, Gatekeeper will display to your internal signatories all the Workflow approvals which have been provided for the Workflow card associated with the signed document

See the ▶️ Product Release Video for a demo of this Approval View in action!

 

 

 

 

Workflow AutoActions

Contract Actions

Workflows | Auto Contract Actions

Note: The CONTRACT ACTIONS area will only show if the corresponding predefined contract form section has been added to the Workflow Form

 

 

Supplier Actions

Workflow | Supplier Auto Actions

Note: The SUPPLIER ACTIONS area will only show if the corresponding predefined supplier form section has been added to the Workflow Form

When using AutoActions to create both vendor and contract records in the same Workflow process, there should be a separate phase for each AutoAction. It is recommended to use "AutoAction | Create Supplier" before "AutoAction | Create Contract" in this case. 

 

eNegotiate Actions

 

eSign ActionsWorkflow | eSign Auto Actions

With this action enabled, Gatekeeper will send the Contract Master Draft for eSignature to the Internal & Supplier Contract Owners for eSignature

If certain conditions are not met, this action can fail, such as:

  • The Contract not having a Master Record draft
  • The Master draft not being a PDF
  • The contract not possessing an Internal & Supplier Owner
  • The Internal Owner not being designated as Authorised Signatory

 

Additional AutoAction Configuration Settings

 

Edit AutoAction Values

Once an AutoAction has been enabled, the Edit AutoAction Values option appears.

Edit AutoAction Values

When you enable an AutoAction, all associated values are set to 'Take Value from Form' by default. This configuration applies to any Custom Data Groups connected to the workflow, as well as any future data that may be included.

The 'Take Value from Form' option functions precisely as its name implies; it captures the values entered by users in the workflow form up to the moment the AutoAction is executed.

For dropdown fields, such as Status and Approval, you can choose to deselect 'Take Value from Form' and instead select a specific field from the Status and Approval categories to hardcode those values in the workflow.

After you have finished modifying the AutoAction values, remember to click Save to ensure your changes are applied.

 

Note: The "Publish Contract Draft & Convert MS Word to PDF" AutoAction does not have any other related settings to set up beyond the option to "Submit Card on Action".  For the "Send for eSign" AutoAction, you'll see the option to indicate "External Signatory only". 

 

Submit Card on Action

Certain selected Actions (both Manual & Automatic) will present you with an additional checkbox option to "Submit Card on Action".

Submit Card on Action Example

When enabled, cards on these Phases will automatically transition to the next Phase when a user completes that action. 

Note: This checkbox is available for Creating, Updating or Cloning a Supplier or Contract.

 

Update Form on Action

Certain selected Actions will present you with an additional checkbox option to "Update Form on Action".

Workflow | Update Form on Action

When enabled, this option will sync the data used to update the record back to the Workflow Form when the Action is completed.

Without this enabled, the data in the repository will be updated by the Action, but it leads to the possibility that the data on the Workflow Form is no longer an exact match!

Note: This checkbox is available for Creating, Updating or Cloning a Supplier or Contract.

 

 

How to Use a Workflow Action

Each manual Workflow Action will result in a corresponding button that displays within the related Card

Contract Record Actions

  • Create Contract
    Create Contract
  • Update Contract
    Update Contract
    A contract record can be updated if the Workflow Card is already associated with a contract. You can verify this by checking for the contract icon on the Workflow Card.  
    Workflow Card || Atached Contract
  • Clone Contract
    Clone Contract 

Note: The "Clone Contract" button will not be visible if the contract record was created as a part of the same Workflow process.

Supplier Record Actions

  • Create Supplier
    Create Supplier
  • Update Supplier
    Update Supplier
    A supplier record can be updated if the Workflow card is already associated with a supplier. You can verify this by checking for the supplier icon on the Workflow Card.
    Workflow Card || Attached Supplier

 

eNegotiate Actions

  • Create Contract with eNegotiate Draft
    Create Contract with Draft


  • Create Contract and associate a Contract Master Draft
    Create Contract with Draft
    Associate a Contract Draft
    Both of the above Actions can be enabled at the same time. If this is the case, the following options will display after clicking the "Create Contract with Draft" button: 
    Two Draft AutoActions

Note: The option to select a "Template" correlates to the selected "Contract Type" above. To learn more about setting up eNegotiate Templates in Gatekeeper click here. 

  • Generate Draft from Contract
    Workflow | Generate Draft From Contract
    Select an ENeg Template
    This Action should be used in a Phase following either "Create Contract" or "AutoAction | Create Contract". The option to select an available template correlates to the "Contract Type" set during the earlier contract record creation Phase of the Workflow.

Note: If there are no eNegotiate templates matching the set "Contract Type" for this record, the dropdown will display as "No matches found". To learn more about setting up eNegotiate Templates in Gatekeeper click here. 



  • Submit Contract Draft
    Within the Workflow Card view, a user will have the option to upload a new Draft, clicking the "Upload New Version" button


    As configured, users will also receive an email with options to "Submit New Draft" along with the ability to "Accept Draft" and "Reject Draft" after reviewing the attached file.
    Email | Submit Contract Draft

Note: The "Accept Draft" and "Reject Draft" buttons correspond to the enablement of settings found on the "Approval" tab of the Workflow configuration area. 

 

 

• Submit Contract Draft with Office for the Web 

Within the Workflow Card view, a user will have the option to begin editing the draft in-browser using the Microsoft Office for the Web plugin

 

Once an Office for the Web user clicks "Save" from within the Gatekeeper Add-In, all changes from all users will be checked back into Gatekeeper and stored as a new draft "Version"

 

 

🚨 Even if changes in OFTW have been autosaved, they do not automatically create a new version in Gatekeeper!

Until a user hits "Save", the workflow card will display a warning & pop-up message when attempting to move the card to another stage of the workflow

 

 

  • Publish Contract Draft & Upload PDF
  • Publish Contract Draft & Convert MS Word to PDF
  • Upload Signed Document - Similar to the above "Publish Contract Draft & Upload PDF", this action instructs a user to provide a finalised document version. They then can mark that the file as ☑️ Document Signed

All 3 of these actions can be enabled at the same time for the below user experience - after hitting Publish, users will be presented with options on how to proceed to a published PDF

 

eSign Actions

  • Enable eSign
    Start | Initiate eSign

Note: The blue "Start" button will only be visible to users designated as eSign Senders. For more information on these configuration settings click here. 

 

For more information on leveraging this functionality, please contact your Customer Success Manager or reach out to our Customer Success Team here