Overview
Workflow approvals in Serval offer flexible options to match your organization’s approval processes:- Individual Approvers: Specify one or more users who can approve the workflow.
- Group-based Approvals: Leverage groups created in Serval or synced from external systems. Multiple groups can be added to a single approval step.
- Manager Approvals: Automatically route approvals to the requester’s manager.
- Multi-step Approvals: Create approval chains where multiple parties must approve in sequence.
- Self-Approval: Toggling self-approval enables users, who are also approvers for the workflow, to approve their own requests.
Configuring Workflow Approvers
To configure approvers for a workflow, click Add Approvers above the workflow blocks. This will open the workflow approvers configuration dialog.
Adding Approvers
In the configuration dialog, you can:- Select Users or Groups: Use the toggle to switch between individual users and groups
- Search for Approvers: Type a name or email to find specific users or groups
- Add Special Members: Select “User’s manager” to automatically route to the requester’s manager
- Configure Self-Approval: Toggle whether approvers can approve their own requests
Multi-step Approval Process
For workflows requiring multiple levels of approval, you can add additional approval steps by clicking “Add approval step”. This allows you to create approval chains such as:- First, the requester’s manager must approve
- Then, a member of the Engineering team must provide approval
- Finally, a specific member of the IT team must provide final approval
Best Practices
- Use Groups for Scalability: Instead of adding individual users, consider using groups to make approval management easier as your team grows
- Leverage Manager Approvals: For requests that need hierarchical approval, use the “User’s manager” option
- Consider Self-Approval Settings: Carefully evaluate whether approvers should be able to approve their own requests based on your security requirements
- Document Approval Chains: For complex multi-step approvals, document the approval flow for your team’s reference
- Sole Approver: In the case of a specified user to be the sole approver, it is recommended that you turn on self-approval. Otherwise, the workflow will be unable completed whenever the requester is also the sole approver.