Workflows and Forms Overview

Workflows automate complicated business processes, like submitting and reviewing project proposals. Forms help users view and provide information about objects that workflows run against. They can also be used to replace some default pages and forms in the application. Use the Workflows and Forms app to create and maintain workflows and forms.

Workflows

Workflows use predefined sequences of steps and tasks to route different kinds of information among different kinds of workers. Organizations use workflows to manage processes that involve many people, many steps, or steps that need to be completed in a specific order.

In Primavera Cloud, workflows can be configured to manage these objects:

After a workflow has been created, it can start automatically or manually. Workflows can be set to start automatically when some action occurs with the objects they run against. For example, a project workflow can be set to start automatically when a project proposal is created. Managers and administrators can also start workflows on the Start Workflows page.

Forms

Forms are used to collect information from users and to present information to users.

In Primavera Cloud, forms can be used two ways:

  1. They can be added to workflow tasks, enabling workflow task performers to view and provide information about objects that workflows run against.
  2. They can be used to replace these default pages and forms in the application:
    • Project Details Form: This page appears when you select Summary & Settings in a project and then select the Details page.
    • Add Project Proposal form: This form appears when a user creates a project proposal.
    • Portfolio Details Form: This page appears when you select Summary & Settings in a portfolio and then select the Details page.
    • Propose Risk (System): This form appears when users propose risks in the Risk app.
    • Add Idea Form (System): This form appears when users add ideas to a workspace.
    • Edit Idea Form (System): This form appears when users modify ideas from the Idea List page.

Workflow Designs and Workflow Configurations - What's the Difference?

If you've been exploring the Workflows and Forms app, then you've probably noticed that there's one page for managing workflow designs and another for workflow configurations. Every workflow has one of each.

Workflow designs are like flowcharts. They define steps, the tasks that steps contain, and the relationships between steps and tasks. You create workflow designs in the Workflow Design Editor.

Workflow configurations are like collections of settings for workflow designs. They specify detailed properties about steps and tasks. You create workflow configurations with the Workflow Configuration Wizard.

Say you want to create a workflow that shows a user a form with project information. First, you would create a workflow design that has a form task. Then, you would create a corresponding workflow configuration that specifies which form that task uses.

Dividing workflows into designs and configurations this way makes it easier to change the details of a workflow without duplicating its entire design. Your organization may have ten processes that route steps and tasks among a group of users in ten different ways. Instead of creating 100 different workflows—one for each process—you can create one workflow design and ten configurations for it.