Governance · Planning
Workflows
Manage the planning workflows portfolio items move through, choose the default, and arrange workflows into groups.
A planning workflow is the run of steps a portfolio item moves through, from its Overview to sign-off. A simple workflow might be Overview, PRD, Review. A larger one might have several requirement sets, several PRDs, task boards and a review after each.
The Workflows tab in Governance → Planning lists your organisation’s workflows. From here you choose which one new items use, create new ones and open any workflow to change its steps.
Before you start
- You need permission to change Governance settings to create, change, group or delete workflows. Without it, each workflow shows View instead of Edit, and New group, + and ⋯ are hidden.
- If you cannot see this page, your organisation may not use it, or your role may not include it. See Understanding roles.
Understanding the list
| Section | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Default | The workflow new items are promoted onto. |
| Group sections | Workflows you have arranged into groups, with a count of each. |
| Other workflows | Workflows that are not the default and not in a group. |
Each workflow shows:
| Item | What it means |
|---|---|
| Name and description | What the workflow is called and what it is for. |
| Child workflow label | The workflow ends in a Hand-back, so it is only ever started by another workflow’s Sub-workflow step. |
| Step chain | The steps in running order, from Overview to the closing Review. |
| Summary | The number of steps, requirement sets and PRDs, such as 5 steps · 2 requirement sets · 1 PRD. |
| Edit or View | Opens the workflow. Built-in workflows show View, because their steps are fixed, although each step’s settings can still be changed. |
| ⋯ | Set as default, Duplicate, Move to a group, or Delete. |
Create a workflow
- Open Governance → Planning and select the Workflows tab.
- Select + at the bottom of Other workflows, or at the bottom of a group to create the workflow inside that group. If there are no workflows yet, select New workflow.
- Enter a Name, such as Dual-document planning.
- Select Create. The workflow is created with an Overview, a PRD and a Review, and opens so you can add to it.
See Planning workflow editor for adding and setting up steps.
Change a workflow
- Find the workflow.
- Select Edit.
- Change its steps. Changes save automatically.
Choose the default workflow
New items are promoted onto the default workflow.
- Select ⋯ on the workflow you want.
- Choose Set as default. It moves to the Default section.
Child workflows cannot be the default.
Duplicate a workflow
- Select ⋯ on the workflow.
- Choose Duplicate.
Duplicating is a quick way to start a variation of an existing workflow, including a built-in one.
Arrange workflows into groups
Groups only arrange this list — they change nothing about how a workflow runs. The Portfolio list shows each item’s workflow group.
Create a group
- Select New group.
- Enter a Name, such as Modernisation.
- Select Create.
Move a workflow into or out of a group
- Select ⋯ on the workflow.
- Choose Move to, then pick a group, or Other workflows.
The default workflow always stays in Default.
Rename, reorder or delete a group
- Select ⋯ beside the group heading.
- Choose Rename, Move up, Move down or Delete group.
Deleting a group does not delete its workflows. They move to Other workflows, and nothing about them changes.
Delete a workflow
- Select ⋯ on the workflow.
- Choose Delete, then Delete again to confirm.
Items already running on a deleted workflow are unaffected.
What happens next
- Items promoted from the Inbox go onto the default workflow and follow its steps on their step rail.
- An item keeps the workflow it started on. Changes to a workflow do not rearrange items already in progress.