People Task (Workflow)

The people task feature enables the addition of human approval steps within the recipe. Complex tasks requiring human judgment can be directed to an approver, then subsequently redirected based on whether the task was approved or rejected.

Using People Task as an admin

People Task setup

People Task feature is enabled only for certain users. Reach out to your Customer Success Manager to learn more.

For Workato accounts with People Task feature enabled, admins are able to view the People Task option in their Tools page. Select All Tools and then click People Task.

People Task Tool

Customize People Task subdomain

If accessing People Task for the first time, the People Task account needs to be configured. Provide a unique subdomain and customize the site for People Task approvers.

The following portrays the configuration for Workato Demo Inc. in the People Task setup screen. This configuration can be changed after the initial setup.

Configure and customize People Task site

Adding People Task participants

Task requesters and approvers should be added as People Task participants. Provide their names, emails, and optionally provide an avatar for them.

Adding new People Task participant

People Task example scenario

Recipe

The following recipe triggers on new hires in BambooHR and sends a People Task approval task from John in HR to Jill the payroll manager. An email notification should be sent to Jill to inform her about the new task pending her approval.

Recipe that uses People Task to approve and add sensitive data about new hires

If the task was approved, the recipe proceeds to stage the new hire's details for uploading into ADP. If the task does not get approved, however, the recipe would stop with an error to flag this particular job for troubleshooting - as all new hires should get recorded in ADP.

People Task step configuration

In the People Task step, there are several fields to take note of:

People Task action fields configuration

Fields:

• Task title

Title of the task, as viewed from the summary list of tasks.

• Task document

Presented as a table of relevant data for the approver in deciding whether or approve or reject the task.

• Requester

Select the user sending the task from a list of users.

• Approver

Select the user approving the task from a list of users.

• Decision by

Select the number of days the approver has to make a decision.

• Requester comments

Optional notes from the requester to the approver.

• User data fields

Optionally used when the requester wishes the approver to provide additional data. Fields to collect should be defined in the following format.

[
  {"control_type": "ssn","label": "SSN","name": "SSN","type": "string","hint": "nnn-nn-nnn"},
  {"control_type": "text","label": "Birth date","name": "birth_date","type": "date_time","format": "MM-DD-YYYY","hint": "MM-DD-YYYY"},
  {"control_type": "select","label": "Gender","name": "gender","type": "string","pick_list": [["Male","M"],["Female","F"]]}
]

People Task step preview

From the approver's view, these fields will show up in the task as follows.

Preview of how People Task requests shows up for approvers

Using People Task as an approver

Approver view

The approver has to login to the People Task portal to view the tasks pending their approval.

Customized People Task login page for People Task requesters and approvers

Once logged in, the approver has access to the list of pending and completed tasks.

List of requests that approver has to review and approve/disapprove

Approving tasks

As the approver, review the document sent and provide any data requested by filling in the fields. Required fields would be marked as such. All tasks will provide the approver with the option of adding an Approver note.

Subsequently, approve, or reject the task. The recipe will resume the job to carry out further recipe steps. Once a task has been approved or rejected, it can be found within the Completed tab.

Approved/Rejected request moves to Completed tab