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Project Status Workflows and Approvals

This guide explains how project status change authorizations (workflows) work in ITM Platform.

What is the Purpose of the Project Status Workflow?

The workflow defines the process for updating project statuses and ensures proper approvals are in place.

For example, an organization can set a rule where projects in "Draft" status can only transition to "Initiated" or "Discarded" with approval from a Technical Project Office member.

How to Access Status Change Configuration

To configure status changes, navigate to:

  1. Configuration area
  2. Parameters dropdown
  3. Project Parameters section
  4. Project Status menu

Note: Editing status change configurations requires Full Access permissions.

Configuring Status Workflows

There are five key steps to defining project status workflows:

1. Define Project Statuses

The first step is to define all possible project statuses for your organization. ITM Platform customers set this up during the initial configuration.

Note:
- Only one status can be set as the default for new projects.
- "Draft" and "Closed" are system statuses that cannot be deleted, but their names can be customized.

1.1. Set Timesheet Visibility

When defining a project status, you can also control if projects with that status appear in users' timesheets. This is useful for hiding projects that don't require time tracking (like internal or "Scrum" projects) to keep timesheets clean.

In the status editor, you will find a new checkbox: "Show in timesheet".

  • If you check the box: Projects with this status will appear in timesheets.
  • If you leave it unchecked: Projects with this status will be hidden from timesheets.

Important: If a status has "Enable time reporting" turned on, it must be visible in the timesheet. The "Show in timesheet" checkbox will be automatically checked and disabled in this case.

Overriding Visibility for a Single Project

Sometimes you need to make an exception. A project manager can override this global rule for a specific project.

This is done from the project's General tab, inside the Status Management pop-up. A dropdown menu called "Show in timesheet" offers three choices:

  • Inherit from status: The project follows the rule set by its current status. This is the default.
  • Always show: The project will appear in the timesheet, no matter what the status rule is.
  • Always hide: The project will be hidden from the timesheet. (This option is unavailable if the project's status allows time reporting).

2. Enable Authorizations

To customize status workflows, enable authorizations by clicking the corresponding option in the configuration panel.

3. Apply Status Change Restrictions

To define restrictions:

  1. Select the origin status you want to modify.

  1. Define possible destination statuses for each origin status. By default, all previously created statuses appear as possible destinations.

  2. Apply conditional rules (optional) to establish an authorization process for status changes.

Creating Conditional Rules

To set up approval conditions for status changes:

  1. Create a new rule.
  2. Edit the rule by defining:
  3. Filters (criteria that must be met)
  4. Authorizers (users who can approve changes)
  5. Logical model (approval structure)

You can set multiple filters for conditions:

4. Submitting a Status Change Request

Once rules are configured, project managers who need to change a status requiring approval must submit a request.

  • The request is processed directly from the project menu when editing the status field.
  • Select the destination status and add comments before saving.

If approval is required, the authorization status will be marked as "Pending".

5. Approving Status Changes

To approve a status change:

  1. Log in as an authorized approver.
  2. Go to My Authorizations in the My Desktop area.

  1. Select the project requiring approval and click the Approve button.

This process ensures controlled project status transitions while maintaining workflow integrity in ITM Platform.