Manage a Live Workflow – Knowledge Base

Once a Workflow is published, it's ready to be put to work. This article covers the day-to-day management of an active Workflow: adding documents, keeping track of where they are, acting on tasks and approvals at each gate, and redirecting documents that need to go somewhere else. Most of this happens from the Workflow page and the results table, so you can stay in one place while documents move through the process.

Requirements

You must be a Project Admin or have the Workflows Admin project permission. Project Admins have this permission by default. Only Project Admins and Workflows Admins can view workflows and approve documents through Approval gates.
The Workflow search term is available only to Project Admins and Workflows Admins
The workflow must be published before you can add documents to it

Add documents

A workflow runs only on documents you add to it, and only after it is published. You can add documents in two places:

Directly in the published Workflow
From the results table

Documents can be added and removed incrementally.

Note

Adding documents in a workflow may take some time. While documents are being moved, a banner at the bottom of the workflow page will show their progress.

Tip

For Assign document steps, we recommend waiting until all documents have reached the step before assigning reviewers. Everlaw groups and batches documents based on what is at the step when the assignment runs, so assigning before a family group has fully arrived can split family members across batches.

Add from the Workflow page

To add documents from directly in the Workflow:

Select Add/Remove on the WORKFLOW START card.

This opens the search query builder.
On the dialog’s Add to Workflow tab, build a search that captures the documents you want to add to the Workflow. Then select Add.
Note
Documents already included in the Workflow will not be included in the search count, even if they match the search.

The selected documents automatically flow into the first step of the Workflow.

Add from the results table

To add documents from the results table:

Select the documents, then select Batch > Manage in Workflows.

This opens the Manage documents in Workflows dialog to the Add to Workflow tab.
In the Select Workflow field, select the Workflow you want to add the documents to.
In the Select Step field, select the specific step you want to add the document to.
Select Submit.

Remove documents

Documents can be removed from the Workflow. Removing a document takes it out of the workflow entirely. This is different from redirecting, which keeps the document in the workflow and moves it to another step.

Once removed, a document no longer appears in the workflow's progress, current-step status, or assignment counts. If it was waiting unreviewed in an assignment group, it is removed from that group. If it was already assigned to a reviewer, it is unassigned first. If it had already met the review criteria for an Assign step, it is removed from the workflow's counts. Removal is logged as a workflow event.

Codes, notes, binders, and other batch actions applied by Modify steps are not undone when a document is removed; the same is true for review work applied during assigned review.

Removal works at any point in the workflow, including Assign document steps and documents that have already moved past a gate. The redirect rule still applies to active workflows: if you remove or unlink a step that holds pending documents, you will be guided to redirect those documents before publishing.

A removed document can be added back. It re-enters at the step where you add it and moves forward from there. Its historical counts come back too, so a document that passed a Tasks gate, was removed, and was re-added at the start shows as having passed that gate again.

You can remove documents from two places:

Directly in the published Workflow
From the results table

Remove documents from the Workflow page

To remove documents via the Workflow page:

Select Add/Remove on the WORKFLOW START card to open the search query builder.
Select the Remove from Workflow tab.
Build a search that captures the documents you want to remove from the Workflow.
Select Remove.

Remove documents from the results table

To remove documents via the results table:

Select the documents, then select Batch > Manage in Workflows.

This opens the Manage documents in Workflows dialog.
Select the Remove from Workflow tab.
In the Select Workflow field, select the Workflow you want to remove the documents from.
Select Submit.

Track progress

There are a number of ways you can track Workflow progress:

The Workflows column on the homepage shows each workflow's status and progress. The progress bar counts documents that have reached a finish point. Documents waiting at a step and unreviewed documents count as in progress.
Inside a workflow, each step and finish point shows its document count. Select a count to open those documents in the results table.
To see the history of a given document within a Workflow, see the document’s History tab in the review window
The Project Management > Project Analytics page shows workflow action history:
- To see the history of movement of documents between steps in a workflow, select the user(s) and, for the Action field, select Workflow actions.
- To see batch actions taken via a Workflow’s Modify step, select the user(s) and, for the Action field, select Workflow actions. Individual document actions, and Review work.

Act on documents at a step

The following step types sometimes require monitoring and action on the Workflow Admin’s part to move documents through the flow:

Tasks gate: Check off tasks as your team completes them
Approval gate: Select Approve pending to release the documents waiting there
Assign documents: Select Assign unreviewed documents to assign documents that have reached an assignment group to your reviewers
Finish point export: Optionally select Export to send the documents at a finish point to a new or existing production protocol.
Redirect documents: See the next section of this article about redirecting steps

Redirect documents

You can add documents from two places:

Directly in the published Workflow
From the results table

Note

Redirecting documents in a workflow may take some time. While documents are being moved, a banner at the bottom of the workflow page will show their progress.

Tip

After redirecting documents, we recommend waiting until the banner at the bottom of the workflow page disappears before taking an action such as assigning or approving. This ensures all documents have finished moving to the step first.

Redirect documents from the Workflow page

Use the Redirect to move documents to a different step in the same workflow:

Documents at a finish point: To redirect these documents, select Redirect on the finish point
Documents still in progress: This includes documents pending at task gates, approval gates, and unreviewed documents. To redirect these documents, open the menu next to the document status and select Redirect documents. This option is only available if there documents currently at the step..

You must redirect documents before publishing a version that removes or unlinks a step.

Redirect documents from the results table

To redirect documents via the results table:

Select the documents, then select Batch > Manage in Workflows.

This opens the Manage documents in Workflows dialog to the Add to Workflow tab.
In the Select Workflow field, select the Workflow you want to add the documents to.
In the Select Step field, select the specific step you want to add the document to.
Select Submit.

Search by workflow

Use the Workflow search term to find documents in a workflow. You can search for documents that are:

Currently in a workflow, at any status, at a finish point, or in progress.
Ever in a workflow, version, or step

Select a single workflow or (Any Workflow).