Delivery · Work streams
Pipeline and approvals
See every stage and approval gate a work stream moves through, approve gates, and name the people who approve them.
Every work stream follows a workflow: a sequence of stages, each with its own board, and approval gates between some of them. The Pipeline tab draws that workflow as a map, so you can see which stages are done, which one is active, what each gate is waiting for and which sub-work streams are running inside the stream.
The Approvals view, beside it, is where the workflow’s required approver roles become named people. Naming approvers means each gate lands in the right person’s work, rather than waiting for anyone who happens to hold the role.
Before you start
Open a work stream, then select the Pipeline tab. When the workflow has approval gates, a switch below the tabs leads to Approvals.
Understanding the pipeline
At the top, the pipeline names the workflow template the work stream was set up with at intake.
| Shape | What it means |
|---|---|
| Green ticked circle | A completed stage. |
| Blue circle | The active stage. |
| Dashed circle | A stage that hasn’t started yet. |
| Diamond | An approval gate between stages. |
| Dashed circle with progress | A sub-work stream running inside this one. Select it to open its own pipeline. |
The number on a stage is how many tasks are on its board. Stages grouped in a grey box marked Parallel run at the same time. A key at the bottom of the pipeline explains each shape.
Gate colours
| Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Amber | The gate is ready for a decision. |
| Red | The gate has run past its time budget. |
| Green | The gate has been passed. |
Below the map, Active sub-boards lists any side boards branched off for unplanned work, with how many tasks each holds. Select one to open it on the Sub-boards tab. See Sub-boards.
Check a stage
- Select a stage. A summary opens with its status: Complete, In progress or Not started.
If you own the stage, you can complete it from here:
- Select Complete stage.
- If tasks are still open, you see how many. Select Complete anyway to move on regardless, or Cancel.
The work stream moves on to the next stage. If you can’t complete the stage, the summary tells you who can.
Approve a gate
- Select a gate’s diamond. A summary opens with the gate’s status and Approve to advance to the next stage.
- Check the list of roles that must approve, and who has already approved. Approved roles have a tick.
- Select Approve.
When every required role has approved, the gate passes and work moves on to the next stage.
What else you might see:
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Complete the previous stage first | The gate isn’t ready yet. Finish the stage before it. |
| Awaiting followed by names or roles | The gate is waiting for someone else to approve. |
| SLA breached | The gate has run past its time budget, for example SLA breached · 6d / 4d budget. |
Reassign the work stream owner from a gate
If a gate is stuck because the work stream owner is unavailable, people with the right access see Reassign work stream owner in the gate’s summary.
- Select Reassign work stream owner.
- Choose the new owner.
Understanding approvals
The Approvals view lists each gate in the workflow, in order, with where it stands.
| Gate status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Not yet reached | The work stream hasn’t got to this gate. |
| Awaiting decision | The gate is ready and waiting for approval. |
| Passed | The gate has been approved. |
| Rejected | The gate was rejected. |
Under each gate are the roles the workflow template says must approve it.
| What you see | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Named approvers | Any one of the people named can approve for this role. A tick shows who already has. |
| Nobody named — anyone holding this role can approve. | The gate is open to everyone with the role. Name someone to make it theirs. |
| Position | The role is Project owner or Work stream owner. Whoever holds that position approves. It follows the person in the post and can’t be changed here. |
| This gate passes automatically — there is nobody to assign. | The gate has no required roles. |
The top of the view shows how many gates the work stream has, and how many roles still have nobody named.
Name an approver
Only the project owner or the work stream owner can change approvers.
- Select Add approver beside the role.
- Search for the person and select them.
You can only choose people who are on this work stream. The gate shows up in their My Tasks when it is ready for them. To add someone who isn’t on the stream yet, add them on the People tab first. See Work stream people.
To remove an approver, select the × beside their name.
What to expect
If the workflow has no gates, the Approvals switch does not appear, because there is nobody to name.
Good to know
- Gates, required roles and time budgets come from the workflow template your organisation set up. See Work stream template editor.
- A work stream’s delivery gates stay locked until the project owner or work stream owner approves the work stream itself. See Work stream board.