Creating a workflow

From the workflow, you can follow the idea processing

The purpose of the statuses in the workflow is to model the processing of ideas and tell those who are interested at what stage the idea is in the process. There must be at least one status in the workflow before a proposal form can be created on a channel.

There's two ways to create a workflow. You can create them with our best-practice templates in a few seconds or build your own process step by step. You may also start with our template and modify it afterward.

You can customize the idea evaluating process to suit your own needs by creating new statuses and defining how to move forward in the workflow.

Creating a workflow when starting a new channel

When you create a new channel, you need to define a workflow before it is possible to post ideas.

• Right after creating a new channel, the following view will pop on your screen. From there you can choose will you use one of Orchidea's two best-practice templates or will you want to create your own workflow process. If you want to use Product and service development template or Continuous improvement template press Create workflow under the template that fits best for you. Press Start building a workflow if you want to build your own workflow step by step.

Editing a ready-made template for your needs

If you chose one of our two best-practice templates, Orchidea will guide you to your channel's feed after it. Although it's ready-made you can still edit to fit your needs. You can add a new status or delete an old one. You can also add a status description. More about status descriptions can be read here. Here's how to add or delete a workflow status:

1. Go to the channel where you want to modify the workflow.
2. Go on the Workflow tab.
3. To create a new status press + New Status next to the other statuses.
4. Write a Status name and an optional Status description if needed. You must also specify its type as either active or closed. Give a status type Active if the proposal process normally to a next status in workflow. Closed type is for status where the processing ends, for example, "Approved" or "Archived". The status type is utilized in reporting when handling times are being counted.
5. At the end press Submit to create a new status.
6. To move the new status drag it with your cursor to your preferred place.
7. If you want to delete a status press on the button on right corner of the status. From there press . Be aware that you can only delete statuses that don't have proposals.
   
   

Creating your own workflow step by step.

If you chose Start building a workflow in the beginning, then you need to create the statuses yourself. Be aware that there has to be at least one status in the workflow before a proposal form can be created on a channel. You can create statuses in the same way that's told on the text above. Only the beginning view is different. Start creating your own workflow by pressing + New Status and from that work the same as in the previous example.

Add all the steps you feel are necessary in your workflow process. Usually it's smart to start with a few statuses and if they are not enough you can easily add more statuses afterwards.