Managing Jira Workflow Approval Process

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How often do you face the need to approve someone’s application or get approval from a specific person?

Major drawbacks. Frequent delays. Lost time and resources. If crucial processes aren’t rejected or approved on schedule, progress is frozen.

 

3 ways to include an approval step in your workflow

1. Use Jira Service Desk
2. Add an Approval to a Jira Workflow Transition
3. Add Approval step to your workflow in Business Process Manager

Use Jira Service Desk

Applying the first way, you’ll need to use the built-in functionality of Jira Service Desk to include an approval(s) as a necessary step in fulfilling a client request. JSD is set up so that requests aren’t sent to your service desk unless they’ve been approved beforehand.

Add an Approval to a Jira Workflow Transition

In a second way, you need to add an approval step to your Jira Software or Core workflow. The drawback of this approach is that you may end up managing a large number of different, customized workflows.

Add Approval step to your workflow in Business Process Manager

Now let’s find out how to add the approval step inside your business process. 

Decision-makers can use approvals to give the thumbs up (or down) on crucial issues, as well as provide any further comments. That’s why we’ve introduced approvals for Business Process Manager.

 Using the Approver step, you can streamline any processes that another person is accepting. Create approvals by a single instance, or group of users, in the following order.

1. Add Approval Tasks to your processes, so key documents, tasks, documents, and decisions arrive at you automatically.
2. Accept or disapprove items and provide guidance with a single click.

When should negotiation processes be used?

Some Approval use cases: holiday and time-off requests, client onboarding, the hiring process, the time-strapped CEO, etc.

Holiday and time-off requests Approval Template

You’re optimizing your operations and producing outstanding results for your company daily. However, you must take time to rest, relax, and avoid burnout.

Employees must submit their proposed time-off dates to HR and their line manager in most companies. 

The holiday leave application is one of the simplest ways to make this procedure go more smoothly.

1. Create a process template for Holiday and time-off requests. 
2. Add all the fields to the form that needs to be filled in to decide on vacation.

 

3. Include the approval step with a single instance, or group of users, in the following order.

There are two approvals in this template – one for the administrator’s group and another for the line manager. In general, you can add as many approval tasks as you want.

 

4. You can set a behaviour of the issue after Approve/Reject. You can start another Template or Conditional step after first Approval.

Also, after first Reject you can start another template, conditional step or reopen rejected form.

To transit the issue throught the workflow, select the issue status after all Approvals and Rejects.

After the process starts and the assignee submits the form, all approvers can make a decision – Approve/Reject.

The previously streamlined process has become even more efficient and simple overall by adding approval tasks to this pre-existing template.

Why is it so important?

Simplify collaboration with your team

Make approval processes available to your employees at all times. Assign them to your team, provide feedback, and keep an eye on the status of your checklists. Collaborate to make the greatest decisions possible.

Speed up the processes by automating 

Save time by automating tedious, error-prone procedures like approval checklists and the tools, software, and platforms you use on a regular basis.

Summing up

Using Approval Software is a way to make better decisions, automate work, save time and money.

Try Business Process Manager to simplify your regular approval activities.  

P.S. The Workflow Approval Process is closely and inextricably linked with the process of accounting for costs in projects, teams, etc. Based on our experience, our team developed the Cost Tracker for Jira Cloud app, which helps to monitor the flow of funds, and calculate salaries and costs of projects and their individual units. For example, you can even calculate vacation expenses - simply enter the expense type "Vacation of Username" in the Expenses tab and that's it. Try using Cost Tracker - we hope you find it helpful!