Configuring Approvers and Approval Workflows for Knowledge Articles

The Knowledge ManagementThe central process responsible for providing knowledge to all other HEAT processes. module provides an approval workflow for each knowledge article type:

Workflows consist mostly of the Get Approval Workflow Block and the Notification Workflow Block.  These define who the approvers are, the approval sequence and criteria, who receives notification during the approval process, and voting deadlines. You can change any of these settings to customize the approval process as described in the following sections.

Approvers can be configured on a group or individual basis.

Groups

By default, approvers are configured using these contact groups:

For example, if a knowledge article requires business approval, all of the members of the Knowledge Business Approval Group are notified when the article is ready for review by one or more group members. You can specify who reviews articles by adding or removing users to or from this group.

You can also create a new approval group and then reconfigure an approval workflow to use the new group instead of a default group.

Individuals

Approval workflows can also be configured to specify one or more individual approvers rather than an approval group. Under this scenario, approval is required from each specified individual.

You can also create a new approval group and then reconfigure an approval workflow to use the new group instead of a default approval group.

You can use Get Approval workflow blocks to specify individual approvers rather than approval groups. However, only one individual approver can be specified in a Get Approval block. To specify multiple individual approvers, you must use multiple Get Approval blocks.

By default, the Get Approval blocks in all of the provided knowledge approval workflows are arranged in this sequence:

All three approval types are not always required for a knowledge article. The knowledge collection in which you place the knowledge article determines the types of approval that are required.

To change the approval sequence in a workflow, see Using Workflows.

Approval criteria are controlled by the information in the Approval/Denial Criteria area of the Get Approval block properties window. Criteria that you can configure are:

• Approve if all approved: The article is approved if every member of the approval group approves it.
• Approve if any approved: The article is approved if one member of the approval group approves it.
• Approve if at least N% approved: The article is approved if the specified percentage of approval group members approve it.
• Deny if any rejected: The article is rejected if one member of the approval group rejects it.
• Deny if at least N% rejected: The article is rejected if the specified percentage of approval group members reject it.

To set the approval criteria for a knowledge article type, do the following:

Email notification occurs at two general stages in a knowledge approval workflow:

• Approvers are notified when an article is ready for them to review.
• The owner of an article is notified about the article status after it is reviewed or after a review deadline expires.

Configuring Approver Notifications for Knowledge Article

The Send Notification for Knowledge quick action (affiliated with the FRS_ApprovalVoteTracking business object) sends email to approvers when an article is ready for them to review. By default, this notification is sent to $(OwnerEmail).

To reconfigure this quick action, do the following:

1.

From the Configuration Console, click Build > Automation Tools > Quick Actions.

2.

In the resulting list of business objects, scroll to FRS_ApprovalVoteTracking and click Add/Edit.

3.

Under Your Actions, double-click Send Notification for Knowledge and reconfigure it as necessary.

4.

Click Save.

To specify that another quick action be used:

1.

Within the Service Desk Console as a Knowledge Manager or administrator, from the Knowledge workspace, open a knowledge record.

2.

From the toolbar, click View Workflow, then click Open Definition. The workflow designer appears.

3.

Double-click the Get Approval block to reconfigure it.

4.

In the Approval Notification Quick Action area, use the drop-down list to select another quick action.

5.

Click Save in the workflow designer.

Configuring Owner Notifications for Knowledge Articles

Notification blocks in the knowledge workflows are configured to send the following notifications to an article owner after an article is reviewed or if a review deadline expires:

• Failed Technical Review: Notifies the article owner that the article failed technical review.
• Failed Presentation Review: Notifies the article owner that the article failed presentation review.
• Failed Business Review: Notifies the article owner that the article failed business review.
• Technical Review Deadline: Notifies the article owner that the deadline for technical review expired and that the article must be resubmitted for approval.
• Presentation Review Deadline: Notifies the article owner that the deadline for presentation review expired and that the article must be resubmitted for approval.
• Business Review Deadline: Notifies the article owner that the deadline for business review expired and that the article must be resubmitted for approval.
• Notification to Owner: Notifies the article owner that the article was approved.

To change or create new owner notifications for knowledge articles, do the following:

1.

Within the Service Desk Console as a Knowledge Manager or administrator, from the Knowledge workspace, open a knowledge record.

2.

From the toolbar, click View Workflow, then click Show Definition. The workflow designer appears.

3.

Double-click the Notification block to reconfigure it. The Notification properties window appears.

4.

You can use the default template that appears, or modify it as needed.

5.

Click Save followed by OK to save the new workflow version.

6.

Return to the version list for this workflow and publish the new version.

Voting deadlines for article approvers are configured through Get Approval Workflow Blocks. Deadlines can be based on a duration (in days, hours, and minutes) or on the date in a field that you specify.

To configure a voting deadline for a knowledge article, do the following: