Learn about the core feature which allows you to extract insights about the performance of your Contracts & Vendors in Gatekeeper
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Sections in this Article
Introduction
Smart Forms allow you to add a new Dimension to the metadata you store in Gatekeeper.
By organising your Custom Fields into Smart Forms, you can assign Scores & Weights so that the data provided by internal or external users can instantly provide you with summary grades.
This will allow you to benchmark performance & compliance of your Vendors/Contracts over time and also against other Vendors/Contracts in your Gatekeeper repository.
Once configured, data in Smart Forms can be populated directly in the Repository, via API, or by users within Workflows.
The below article walks through how to configure & use these Smart Forms to get the most reliable insights from your data & processes...
....Our suggestion (covered below) is to embed them in Workflow Forms so you can automate their initial completion as well schedule re-assessments in structured & collaborative processes.
Reporting & Insights Available in Smart Forms
Contract & Vendor Smart Form Tabs
When Scores have been populated in a Smart Form's scored fields, these scores will visible within the Vendor record.
You can view these by opening the record & navigating to the Smart Form using the Tab menu at the top of the record:
Pictured below: A Smart Form with the Scores at the top with the metadata groups & fields below
Smart Form vs Group-by-Group Score
Within a Smart form, the Score Summary and historical Timeline scores will provide values of the whole form.
However, you will be able to see the component parts of the summary at the top of each Group.
Pictured below: the Top-level Summary Score for the Smart Form which is comprised of the Sum of all the weighted Group scores below
i.e. 82.25 = 22.5 + 25 + 16 + 18.75
Repository Level Scores
Once you create a Smart Form, you will instantly be able to include the Score Summary as a field in your Repository view.
This will allow you to compare Scores from multiple records' Smart Forms in a single view:
We recommend storing these in a Saved View so you can easily revisit them later:
Workflow Score
Within a Workflow Card, if any of the records linked to the card (either Vendor or Contract) have a Smart Form, Gatekeeper will display the Current Score* in a Sidebar tab with a link to the Smart Form within the Record itself:
*By "Current Score", we mean the score that has been saved to the Smart Form in the metadata of the Vendor/Contract record.
In a future update, users will be able to see the Current score (i.e. the Score which has been published within the Vendor/Contract record) and the In Progress score (the Score calculated based on input provided during the current Workflow)
Configuration
The below sections will walk through how to create a Smart Form as well as how to configure the specific Scores & Weights required to begin assessing & benchmarking your data
Part 1 - Creating the Smart Form
Option A - Creating a new Smart Form from Scratch
Step 1) Go to Settings > Configuration > Custom Data
Step 2) Hit Add > Smart Form
Step 3) Enter a Title for your Smart Form & select which records it is allocated to (e.g. Contracts or Vendors)
Step 4) Set the RAG Thresholds
Step 5) Hit ✅ Save to create the new form
Once you have created a new Smart Form, you then need to add Custom Groups to organise the data, followed by the Custom Fields to be scored. This is identical to creating custom fields outside of a Smart Form.
For guidance on how do do this, see the below dedicated guides
📖 Configuring Custom Data: Creating Custom Groups
📖 Configuring Custom Data: Creating Custom Fields
NB. When creating custom fields, the only input types which can be "Scored" in a Smart Form are:
-
- Yes/No
- Percentage
- Dropdown List ("Single Pick" Only)
Option B - Converting an Existing "Custom Tab" to a Smart Form
If you have a Custom Tab where you have already been collecting data, you can upgrade this to a Smart Form so your pre-existing data can be scored
Step 1) Go to Settings > Configuration > Custom Data
Step 2) Go to the Custom Tabs tab
Step 3) Alongside a Custom Tab, click the Options menu then select Convert to Smart Form
Step 4) Set the RAG Thresholds
Step 5) Hit ✅ Save to confirm the threshold limits & complete the conversion!
RAG Thresholds
RAG stands for Red-Amber-Green and the values you enter dictate that appearance of Smart Form data in Contract/Vendor tabs:
Scores below the "Amber from" threshold will be classed as Red
Between the "Amber from" and "Green from" thresholds will be classed as Amber
Above the "Green from" score results will be classed as Green
Part 2 - Selecting Which Groups & Fields are Scored
Not all groups or fields within a Smart Form need to contribute to the total "Score", some sections may simply be there to provide context & supporting information. Therefore, you must decide which parts of your new Smart Form are "Scored".
Step 1) To begin configuring the Scores, while within the Smart Form, hit Configure Weights
Step 2) For Groups which should contribute to the Score for the Smart Form, check ☑️ Scored
Step 3) Click the ➕ symbol to expand your scored Groups, then check ☑️ Scored for all the Fields which should contribute towards the score for that Group
You will only be able to select fields which fit the Score-able field types (see above)
Part 3 - Assigning Weightings
This is where you can assign how important each Group & Field are to the overall Score which Gatekeeper calculates for the Smart Form.
To ensure a fully-configured Smart Form, Gatekeeper will require all sections to combine to make a Score of 100%:
The Sum of all Scored Fields' Weightings should equal 100 for each Scored Group
The Sum of all Scored Groups' Weightings should equal 100 for the Smart Form
Step 1) To enter the weight for a field/group, simply type in a value (between 1-100) alongside the ☑️ Scored setting
Step 2) When you have entered all weightings (and they add up to 100 for each Group & the whole Smart Form), hit ✅ Save
If every Field in a Group should be equally important, or if every Group in a Smart Form should be equally weighted, hit Distribute Field/Group Weights Equally to save time
⬆️ See above gif where both scored Groups are quickly set to 50% each ⬆️
Part 4 - Assigning Scores to the available Values
For fields of type Yes/No or Dropdown, you can assign what "score" will be given based on user input
Percentages do not need this since the value entered is the score
Yes/No fields will default to Yes = 100% & No = 0%, but these can be amended
Step 1) Alongside a Scored field, use the ➕ symbol to expand the field, displaying the available options
Step 2) For each of the values which should be a score-able answer, check ☑️ Scored
Step 3) Enter a score out of 100 for each value
Step 4) When finished with all fields, hit ✅ Save
For more information on how certain fields will be scored based on empty values or dependent fields, see the below FAQ section
The Best Ways to Use Smart Forms
This section will cover how to leverage Smart Forms in the most structured & reliable way.
That is, as mentioned briefly in the introduction, Smart Forms can be populated in a variety of ways:
- Entering data directly in the Contract or Vendor metadata record
- Entering data directly for many Contract or Vendor records (via Bulk Import)
- Entering data via API/Integrations
However, the best way to populate them with additional benefits like tailorable & structured processes with automations is by embedding them in Workflow Forms.
Embedding Smart Forms in a Workflow
Step 1) Click to edit the Start Phase of the Workflow & go to the Form tab
Step 2) Scroll to the bottom of the page & hit Add Section
Step 3) Select Predefined, followed by the record type for your Smart Form
Step 4) Alongside Custom Tab dropdown, select the name of your Smart Form to add every Group from your Smart Form
OR
To only embed specific Groups from your Smart Form, select the name within the Custom Data Group dropdown
After the Smart Form is added to the Workflow, you need to then consider where the fields should be Visible & Editable to users on the Workflow as well as where the values will be saved to your Repository (via Create/Update Actions)
The scenario above shows how to embed Smart Forms in a Vendor Onboarding assessment workflow as well as within automated follow-up assessment (i.e. an Annual ESG Assessment)
For more detail on these specific processes, see the below walkthrough guides
⚡️ Gatekeeper Expert - Dynamic Dates
🛠️ Create Your Own - Vendor Onboarding Best Practice Workflow
FAQs & Technical Aspects 👨💻
Q: What if I add new options to a dropdown list after assigning the scores?
A: These would be added to the Smart Form by default as un-scored options.
After adding the new option you would need to return to the Configure Weights view to mark it as ☑️ Scored & assign the value:
Q: What if a user selects a dropdown field value which is not scored?
A: If a not-scored value (like "New Option Added Later" in the above screenshot) is selected, Gatekeeper will disregard the field from the scoring calculation & automatically redistribute the weighting assigned to the current field to the remaining fields from the Custom Group
Q: What if a scored dependent field is hidden while a Smart Form is being completed?
A: If a scored field is hidden based on the value entered in another field, Gatekeeper will disregard the hidden field & automatically redistribute the weighting assigned to the hidden field to the remaining fields from the Custom Group
When Scoring/Weighting dependent fields, Gatekeeper highlights these using a icon:
Q: What if scores are amended/populated more than once during a single assessment
A: This is fine. However, Gatekeeper will only capture separate "snapshots" of scores if they occur on different days.
i.e. The Score History Timeline does not show more than one score from the same date
Q: What happens if I embed only one Custom Group from a Smart Form in a Workflow
A: This is also fine, when the specific Group is updated via that workflow, the Smart Form will recalculate the overall score regardless of how much data is changed
Q: Who can complete a Smart Form ?
➡️ Who can Configure groups/fields/weights/scores: Only Configuration level Admins
➡️ Who can populate values in a Smart Form: Technically, anyone
Data entered via the Repository, the API or Workflow Forms will be scored. Therefore, any user who is granted access to populate values via any of these methods will be able to influence a Smart Form's score
Additional Reading 📚
Read about all the steps for adding Custom Fields to your Gatekeeper data model
Learn about the precursor feature to Smart Forms which allows you to segment & organise your Custom Fields (without Scores)
Learn about creating Workflow Forms, including how to add Custom fields so that your users can view & interact with the data which you store in your Contract & Vendor repositories