About the Process Manager
Use the Process Manager form to set up configurable processes that you can use to manage tasks. For example, you can set up a process to "onboard" (hire) a new employee. The process includes tasks that might be performed by different people, such as sending a welcome letter, setting up logins and permissions, entering payroll information, attaching a copy of the employee's license to the online Employee record, training the employee to use the ERP application, and so on. You can assign the tasks to employees and specify the date when each task is to be completed.
The users to whom tasks are assigned receive an automated email to notify them that they have an assigned task with a due date. They go to the My Tasks tab on the Process Manager form, review the task, and complete it. They can attach documents or add notes as needed. When their task is complete, they click Mark as Complete. The task status is then shown as complete in the process. The person who originates the process can click a link to send reminders to the assignees if they do not respond by the due date.
Templates
You can use the Templates tab on the Process Manager form to set up reusable templates for repetitive processes. For example, you could create a template that contains the standard tasks that have to be performed when you hire a sales representative. Then, whenever a new sales representative is hired, you create a process for that specific employee, using the template to fill in some of the fields and to assign the standard tasks.
The tasks that you add to a template can specify the role (employee group) to which each task is assigned. When you create a process from the template, only employees from that group are listed in the drop-down list for the Assign To field on the task. You can also specify an "offset days" value for each task in the template. The offset days for each task are used to calculate the due dates in the resulting process, based on the process' due date. For example, if you set the Due Offset value to 5 days for a task, and the due date for the entire process is May 15, that task will have a due date of May 10.
Process Types
When you set up a process or template, you must specify the process type, for example, Hiring, Promotion, Transfer, Medical Leave, or Termination. Use the Process Manager - Process Types form to set up the types.
Tasks
These types of tasks can be created:
| Task Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| To do | Perform a generic task. | Discuss end of year incentives with the employee. |
| Complete a form | Click a link to open a specific form and complete the information on it. | Add the employee to the Sales group on the Users form. |
| Attach a document | Click a button to open the Attached Documents form, where you can browse for and attach a document. The document is stored with the Process Manager record. | Upload the employee's Sales Training certificate. |
| Update a document | Click a button to download a document, fill out the document, and then click a button to attach the document to the Process Manager record. | Download an electronic W-4 form, fill it out with the employee information, save it and upload it. |
| Start a workflow | Click a button to initiate an automated event. The event workflow parameters must be pre-set. | Send an automated New Hire Announcement email to a predefined list of users. The content of the message is also predefined. |
If you create a task in the Process Manager, you can save the task to use again in future processes. Alternatively, you can use the Process Manager - Tasks form to set up reusable tasks when the same task will be performed in many processes.
To delete a range of processes or templates, use the Process Manager Purge Utility.