Running Workflows

Workflow Runs are single-use, dynamic instances of workflows.

A workflow is the master blueprint of your process, which includes all the usual steps and details involved in a particular process. On the other hand, a workflow run is a single instance of that process in which you actually implement the work.

For example, if you have a workflow for employee onboarding, you’d run the workflow for each new hire, or if you’re working from a customer support process, you would run the workflow for each customer support ticket.

Users: To run workflows, you must be an Administrator or a Full Member who has been given ‘edit’, ‘view all’ or ‘run’ permission by your Administrator.

There are numerous ways you can run workflows, which you can learn more about below:

  • From anywhere inside Process Street
  • When viewing a workflow
  • On a recurring daily, weekly or monthly schedule, or for one-off events
  • From a CSV file, to run multiple workflows at once
  • From anywhere (inside or outside Process Street) by using a run link
  • Automatically, by integration and automation with other apps

Run workflows from anywhere

Click the “Run” button from the top right of your screen. This button is visible from anywhere you navigate inside Process Street, allowing you to run workflows whenever you need them.

Select the workflow you would like to run. You can either scroll down to find a workflow, type its name in the search box, or select one from the list of ones you have recently run.

Once you’ve selected a workflow, you’ll be prompted to give your workflow run a name, as shown above. The default name is your name and today’s date, which you can overtype with your desired name.

Once that’s done, click “Run” (or hit your enter key) and your workflow run will open up, ready to work on.

Learn more about naming your workflow runs.

When viewing a workflow

Use the search box at the top of your screen to find the workflow you’d like to run. From the menu on the right side, click “Run“, enter a name and then click “Run Workflow” to start working on it.

Alternatively, click the “Library” tab at the top of your screen and look for the workflow you’d like to run. Click on your workflow’s name to open up the menu on the right side of your screen.

Click “Run“, enter a name and then click “Run Workflow” to start working on it.

You can also copy a workflow run link from this view.

You can create a workflow run link, which allows a user to click a link to run a workflow. This link can be used anywhere, whether it’s inside another workflow, in your email signature, on your blog, or somewhere else entirely.

The person clicking the link doesn’t even need a Process Street account to use this link. Their activity will be recorded as an anonymous user.

Learn more about workflow run links.

Schedule workflow runs

You can set up workflow runs to be scheduled on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis, or to run once at a given date or time.

Start in your Library and click “Scheduled” from the left-hand menu.

Learn more about scheduling workflow runs.

Multiple workflow runs

Multiple workflow runs can be run at once, and form fields within your workflow populated at the same time, by using a CSV File.

Click on the name of your workflow to open up the menu on the right of your screen. Click “More options” and select “Run multiple“.

Learn more about running multiple workflows.

Using automations and integrations

Process Street’s automations allow workflow runs to be created or updated, using a Process Street to Process Street integration, or via different apps.

You can also integrate Process Street with over 1,000 other apps by using Zapier or Integromat. Learn more in our free business process automation ebook.

You can also assign users to a workflow run via integrations or automations.

Assign users to a workflow run

Anyone with “Run” permissions can run their workflows. By default, the user who clicks the run button is assigned to the workflow run.

You can also assign other users to workflow runs to give them access, track their progress, and ensure that they work on exactly what needs to get done.

To assign a user, open the workflow run you’d like to assign them to.

Click the “Assign users” button in the right-hand menu. From here you can search the name or email address of the person you want to assign to the workflow run, and click to assign them.

We first unassigned one user in the example above, then assigned another user to the workflow run.

Note: You can also invite a user to your organization as a guest and assign them to your workflow run, by typing their full email address into the field that opens when you click “Assign users” and hitting the enter key.

Set a completion deadline for your workflow runs

To allow you to keep track of whole workflow runs and when they are due, you can set a due date on them, as shown below:

When a run becomes due, this sends an email notification to whoever is assigned to it, to remind them that it needs completing. Using due dates in conjunction with assignees also helps your team manage day-to-day workflow runs via your Process Street Inbox.

However, if your team’s processes operate on task assignments and task due dates, then you may want to unassign users from the whole workflow run and utilize notifications and hand-offs from tasks instead.

You can also set a due date for your workflow runs via integrations or automations.

Workflow run states

A workflow run can be in one of three states – Active, Skipped (archived) or Completed.

Skipped (archived) and completed workflow runs class as being “Inactive”, and so do not count towards the workflow run limit on our free plan. Inactive workflow runs cannot be edited in any way unless they are first reactivated.

You can easily see the status of your workflow runs by using the Reports filters.

Learn more about naming conventions for your workflow runs.

 

Was this article helpful?

Yes No

Related Articles