Learn about workflow
Workflow provides an automated way to collect and vet project ideas, convert the best ideas to projects, and then advance those projects through phase reviews and approvals. Engage can be configured with or without workflow. If your company has configured Engage to operate with workflow, every official project starts from an approved project idea.
- Users submit project ideas to a steering committee.
- The steering committee evaluates the ideas and converts the best ones to projects by assigning a methodology and a project owner.
- Users receive an email notification when they become a project owner, if workflow is configured to do so. Project owners execute the project in the desktop app using company-approved templates.
- To complete a phase, the project owner must submit the project to the review board. Then, the review board must approve the current phase before the project can move to the next phase.
- Everyone saves their projects to the web-based project repository.
- The Engage dashboard summarizes the data from the projects in the repository and displays the results in reports for everyone to see.
Note
Data architects configure workflow and manage company-approved data fields and templates from the Design page. If you are a data architect, go to Data architects and the Design page.
Create and submit your idea
When workflow is on, every project that starts as an idea is automatically included in the dashboard. If you have a project idea, you can create an idea and submit it using your company's official idea form. After you submit your idea, Engage notifies the appropriate steering committee.
You can create and submit your idea in the web app or the desktop app.
In the web app
- Go to your Engage web site.
- Sign in to the web app. Use the email address and password you created when you activated your Engage account.
- On the Workflow page, select New Idea. The idea form opens in a browser window.
- Enter a name for the idea, then complete the form. Be sure to complete any data fields that are required for approval.
- Select Save.
- Select Done Editing.
- In the upper right corner, select Submit to Steering Committee.
- Close the browser window to return to the Workflow page.
In the desktop app
- To open the desktop app, double-click the shortcut icon
. - Sign in to the desktop app. Use the email address and password you created when you activated your Engage account.
- Choose .
- Under New Idea, select the Create idea button. The idea form opens in the desktop app.
- Complete the idea form. Be sure to complete any data fields required for approval.
- In the upper right corner, select Submit / Review.
- Enter a name for the idea, then select Save.
- Depending on your version of Engage, do the following.
- Engage 6.3 and earlier: After the Project Workflow dialog box opens in the desktop app, select Submit for Review.
- Engage 6.4 and later: After the Workflow page opens in the web app, select Submit to Steering Committee.
Open a new project
After you submit your idea, Engage notifies the appropriate steering committee. A steering committee is a group of users that evaluate and prioritize new ideas. If the steering committee approves your idea, it automatically moves to the hopper. If the idea is rejected, Engage notifies you, and you can modify and resubmit the idea.
From the hopper, steering committee members evaluate and compare approved ideas and decide which ones to convert to projects. When a steering committee member decides to start a project, they select a methodology and assign a project owner. Engage sends a notification to the project owner, and the notification includes a link to the project.
- If you are the owner of a project, select the link to the new project in your notification. Engage opens the new project in the desktop app so you can begin to execute the project through the phases of the methodology as outlined by the Roadmap.
- Complete the forms in the Management section.The management section is the same for every project template provided by your company. The forms in this section contain much of the data needed for dashboard reports, so it is important to complete these management forms and keep them updated as you work through your project.
- Project Today
- Project Idea Proposal
- Project Charter
- Financial Data
- Team Members & Roles
- Tasks
- Complete the recommended forms and tools in each phase of the Roadmap. The roadmap is your company's blueprint to execute projects. Forms in the roadmap might also contain data necessary for the dashboard. From the Roadmap, you can perform the following actions.
- Add a form or tool. From the navigator pane, select Add Tool, search for the tool or form to add, then select Create.
- Add and open a new Minitab project. Right-click the navigator pane and choose .
- Organize the roadmap with phases or folders. Right-click the navigator pane and choose Insert Phase or Insert Folder.
- Move tools and forms to different phases or folders. You can also move folders and phases. Use the Shift key or the Ctrl key to select and drag multiple items at the same time.
Tip
After you complete a form or a tool, you can export it directly into Microsoft® Word and Microsoft® PowerPoint. Right-click the workspace, then select Send to Microsoft® Word or Send to Microsoft® PowerPoint.
