Planning · Planning steps
Hand-back step
Finish a child item by sending its documents and files back to its parent item.
A child item is created by a parent item’s Sub-workflow step to plan one part of a larger piece of work. The Hand-back step is always the last step of a child item’s workflow. It gathers what the child produced, its overview, requirements, PRDs and files, and copies it into the parent’s files, where the parent’s next steps can read it.
Handing back finishes the child item. Afterwards it is read-only.
Before you start
- Open the child item and select Hand-back in the step rail. See Portfolio item.
- Only the child item’s owner can hand it back.
- Complete the child’s earlier steps first. The Hand-back step is reached once they are approved.
Understanding the step
The header reads Hand back to parent item. Below it, everything the child will send is listed in two groups:
| Group | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Documents | The child’s outputs: its overview, requirements and PRDs. Select Open beside one to read it on its own step. |
| Files | The other files in the child’s vault. They go up as their text; the originals stay with the child. |
Everything is ticked to start with.
Choose what goes back
- Read the list of documents and files.
- Untick anything that must not go to the parent.
A note shows how many items are withheld. Withheld items stay with the child item only.
Hand back
- Select Hand back.
- Read the confirmation. It tells you how many items will be added to the parent’s files, and that the child then finishes and becomes read-only.
- Select Hand back.
A progress list shows each item as it is copied. If something fails, select Try again.
What happens next
- The step shows Handed back, with the date, who handed it back, how many files were added and a link to the parent.
- The child item becomes read-only. In the Portfolio list its Step column shows Handed back.
- The parent’s Sub-workflow step counts the child as handed back. Once every child that counts has handed back, the parent’s owner can approve that step. See Sub-workflow step.
- The handed-back files appear in the parent’s context vault, where Next reads them when drafting the parent’s later steps. See Files and the context vault.
Good to know
- Hand back is greyed out if nothing is ticked.
- A child item that was cancelled by its parent cannot be handed back. It can be reinstated from the parent’s Sub-workflow step.