Workflows

Pre-establish the steps of the contract and document lifecycle to ensure compliance and avoid manual errors

Bigle workflows are customisable step configurations that serve to specify which steps users should follow in their work during the lifecycle of contracts and documents. Workflows are a method of standardising processes to pre-define the steps in contract work, avoid errors and ensure that documents go through a pre-defined set of steps.

In this article, you will find:

1. The workflow working environment
2. How to create and configure a workflow
3. How to execute workflows

The workflow working environment

Workflow control panel

Go to the ‘Manage’ module in the top menu of the platform and select the ‘Workflows’ tab to access the workflows panel. In this panel, you will find all your workflows sorted alphabetically by name, along with a description of them, their type and status.

• This panel has a search engine and a ‘Create workflow’ button from which you can create them from scratch.
• By clicking on the three dots to the right of each workflow, you will be able to delete it.

Workflow configuration view

Click on one of the workflows to access it.

A. The next window will show you the ‘Details’ tab of the workflow you have chosen. From this tab, you can edit the order in which you want the workflow steps to appear by clicking on the six dots next to each step and dragging it.

• If you click on the three dots to the right of each step, you can edit or delete it.

• From ‘Add step’, you can add new steps to the workflow.

B. From the workflow panel, click on the ‘Settings’ tab to access the workflow settings.

This tab shows you the workflow settings, where you can edit whether the workflow is active or not, its information such as name and description, to which type of documents it applies (internal or external) and to which document templates you want to assign the workflow.

How to create and configure a workflow

How to create a workflow

From the ‘Manage’ module in the top menu, select the ‘Workflow’ option to access the workflow display panel.

Select ‘New Workflow’ to add a workflow.

In the next step, you will be able to detail the name and description of the workflow, as well as set whether it will apply to internal or external documents. 

• The first step of workflows for internal documents will always be the ‘Form’ step.
• The first step of the workflow for external documents will always be the ‘Edition’ step.

After setting the type of document to which this workflow will be applied, click on ‘Confirm’.

In the next window, you will be shown the ‘Details’ tab of the workflow. Click on ‘Add step’ to introduce a new step in the workflow.

Which steps can be added to a workflow

A workflow allows multiple steps to be added in the desired order, from among five step typologies: Edition, Negotiation, Validation, Signature and Certified email. These steps can be added more than once in the same workflow. When you move the mouse over the question mark located in each of the options, you will be shown a brief description of each of the steps. Select the desired step and click on ‘Continue’ to configure it and add it to the workflow.

1. Edition

The Edition process focuses on modifying the content of the contract. When you select it, you will receive the message that no additional configuration is required for this step.

2. Negotiation

Setting a negotiation step in a workflow will help you to pre-set different negotiation parameters:

• Name and surname of the counterparty to the negotiation.
• E-mail address of the trading counterparty.
• Schedule automatic reminders every specific number of days, to remind the counterparty to carry out the trade.
• Negotiation type: choose whether the counterparty should use the platform's built-in editor or an external editor.
• "Skippable step" option: activate this option if you do not want the step to be mandatory in the workflow.
  • If you activate this option, by default, the step will be skippable at all times. However, if you set a number of days in the option ‘Prevent omission for X days’, the step can only be skipped after the selected number of days.
• Subject and text of the email that the trading counterparty will receive.

3. Validation

Adding a validation step to the workflow will allow you to adjust different parameters and notifications:

• Set whether the validators will be groups or individuals.
• Set additional collaborators.
• Schedule automatic reminders every specific number of days that you choose, to remind validators to carry out the validation.
• "Skippable step" option: activate this option if you want the step not to be mandatory in the workflow.
  • If you activate this option, by default, the step will be omitted at all times. However, if you set a number of days in the option ‘Prevent omission for X days’, the step can only be skipped after the selected number of days.
• Subject and text of the email that the person responsible for the negotiation will receive.

4. Signature

Adding a signature step to the workflow allows you to set different parameters and notifications:

• Type of signature: one-click or biometric.
• Language used in notifications.
• Type of email delivery: sequential or parallel.
• You will be able to detail the recipients during the workflow execution process.
• "Skippable step" option: activate this option if you want the step not to be mandatory in the workflow.
  • If you activate this option, by default, the step will be omitted at all times. However, if you set a number of days in the option ‘Prevent omission for X days’, the step can only be skipped after the selected number of days.
• Subject and text of the email that the signatory will receive.

5. Certified email

Adding a certified email step to the workflow will allow you to adjust different parameters and notifications:

• Name and surname of the recipient of the email.
• Email address of the recipient of the email.
• "Skippable step" option: activate this option if you want the step not to be mandatory in the workflow.
  • If you activate this option, by default, the step will be omitted at all times. However, if you set a number of days in the option ‘Prevent omission for X days’, the step can only be skipped after the selected number of days.
• Subject and text of the email.

How to execute workflows

To start a workflow, the user must initiate a new document process. The user can select the workflow depending on its type:

A. In the case of a workflow for internal documents, the workflow selection will be available when creating an internal document or template-based document:

B. In the case of a workflow for external documents, the workflow selection will be available when loading an external document:

Once the document process has been started with a selected workflow, the steps defined in the workflow will appear in the left-hand side panel.

When clicking on ‘Add step’, only the next step predefined by the workflow will be available, unless the user has the permissions enabled to skip it.

• If a user skips a step, it will appear as a "skipped step" in the future.
• If a user cancels a step, the platform triggers a warning that the workflow will be interrupted:

If you click on ‘Confirm’, the step will be cancelled and will appear in red in the top left panel. The next step to be completed will remain as pre-set by the workflow.

• If the configuration of a workflow is modified before the end user completes it, only the steps that remain to be completed will be modified, not the steps that have already been completed.

If you try to add new steps once the workflow is finished, by default, the workflow will not allow it and the message "Workflow completed" will appear in the upper left panel.