Configuring a (child) ideation workflow

What is it? 

Besides the option to run campaigns where each campaign more or less follows a different process, it is also possible to configure one general idea process and open different thematic campaigns on top of such a standard process.

This requires the definition of the idea workflow and a parent-child relation between a 'campaign parent' and the 'idea children'. In the following, the process of creating the idea workflow is described.

How does it work? 

Creating an idea workflow

To configure your idea workflow, you first need to create an entity which might be called 'idea/submission'. This entity serves as a template whereas the different parts of the template will be enriched along the different stages of your workflow. Find some example processes here.

Navigate to the Settings Wheel > Entity Configuration > Entity Configuration. Use the button to add a new entity. Provide the name and select the modules that you want to activate for this entity. Please note that modules need to be activated by your Customer Innovation Success Manager first.

For defining the idea workflow, it is a must to activate the Workflow Configuration Module. To make the Workflow Configuration work, you also need to define an attribute that is a pearl chain attribute. If not yet configured, navigate to the field manager of the entity and create an attribute as a list field and the renderer pearl chain.

For example, your idea workflow can consist of the following phases: submission, concept definition, implementation, and transfer to the asset catalog.

To create the example workflow, you would just need to fill these values in the create mask of the pearl chain field.

Once configured, you will be able to select this specific field, e.g., idea phase, under the choose workflow field in the workflow configuration tile on the entity-specific configuration page. This is important as the pearl chain field will define what actions are possible per stage of the workflow. The workflow phases are thus also reflected by the pearl chain shown on any content element of the entity.

Add and specify the action buttons per phase

As a next step, you need to define what the users should do in the different phases of your workflow. In our example, the workflow starts with the submission phase. Any idea submitter thus needs to be able to submit their idea in a structured form which you provide and configure on the idea entity. 

Please note that this is just an example and you can use the workflow and entity configuration to design any workflow that you want.

The submission phase actions as an example

As a first action, your users will need to submit their ideas in a structured format. You can define your own attributes that allow structuring the idea intake. Start first by adding the attributes that you want to place on the submission form in the field configuration. Once ready, navigate to the 'create form configuration'. Here, you can place the attributes that are part of the submission intake.

In this example, the following attributes have been added:

• Idea Capture Template (as a group field) including
  • Who needs it? (RTE Field)
  • What is novel? (RTE Field)
  • Why is it good? (RTE Field)
  • How does it work? (RTE Field)
• Idea Submitter(s) as a user search field
• Idea Status as a single-select dropdown list field with the following values:
  • Work in progress
  • Under review
  • Rejected
  • On hold
  • Transferred to operation
• Key Strategic Benefit as a single-select dropdown list field with the following values:
  • New savings
  • New earnings
  • New skills
  • Better Relationship
• Tags (for free-form categorization) and Reference Field (for linking additional sources/documents)

This form will thus be triggered once idea submitters hit the button Submit on the linked parent element. A relationship with the parent campaign will be automatically created and the campaign creator informed.

Now, you need to define the action buttons which will trigger any further activity on the idea, e.g., 'update the submission details' or 'submit for submission review'. These action buttons can be used by the idea submitter.

After the activation of the workflow module and the definition of the pearl chain field, a new menu item will appear on the entity-specific configuration page. It is called workflow configuration and, from here, you can define the action buttons and trigger the actions as desired.

To add an action button, click the respective button, and you will see a new pop-up for defining it.

From the configuration pop-up, you will be asked to:

• Define the label, e.g., Update submission details
• Assign the button to the respective workflow step(s), e.g., Submission
• Define who can trigger the button, e.g., every user placed in the user search field 'idea submitter(s)'
• Define when the button can be triggered, e.g. no dependency
• Define what the button triggers, e.g., 
  • Enrichment: Indicate which attributes should be enriched,e.g., the dropdown field 'idea status' and the group field 'idea capture template'
• Define whether the trigger status should be shown by a checkmark or not; e.g., not

Once you have configured one action button, you can continue with the procedure until you have configured all the actions necessary to bring your process alive in the application. Please find further explanations and tips on the workflow configuration in this article.

Apart from the mentioned 'create submission form' and the 'update submission details', the following other buttons have been configured:

Submission Phase:

• Submit for Submission Review: Submission (Phase), Idea Submitter(s) (Who?), Under Review (Value Change of Status), New submission (Notification to Campaign Manager)
• Move to Concept Definition: Submission (Phase), Idea Status (Value Dependency grey out for Work in Progress Status), Campaign Manager (Who?), Concept Definition (Phase Change), Idea Status (Value Change to Work in Progress), Comment (Comment to add a qualification comment), Phase changed (Notification to Idea Submitters)

Concept Phase:

• Add Planning Details: Concept (Phase), Idea Submitter(s) (Who?), Planning Details incl. Test Scope (RTE), Project Start Date (Date Field), Project End Date (Date Field), Task List (RTE), Budget Needed (Simple Text Field, number validation) (Enrichment of group field)
• Submit for Concept Review: Concept (Phase), Idea Submitter(s) (Who?), Under Review (Value Change of Status), Update (Notification to Campaign Manager)
• Invite Evaluators: Concept (Phase), Campaign Manager (Who?), Rating users (Enrichment of user search field), Please evaluate (Notification to Rating users)
• Evaluate Concept: Concept (Phase), Evaluators set in user search field (Who?), Idea Status (Value Dependency grey out for Work in Progress, Rejected, On Hold, Transferred Status), Idea Rating (Rating group with different rating criteria, i.e., innovativeness, impact, int. capabilities, time to readiness), Evaluation available (Notification to Campaign Manager)
• Move to Implementation: Concept (Phase), Campaign Manager (Who?), Idea Status (Value Dependency grey out for Work in Progress Status), Implementation (Phase Change), Idea Status (Value Change to Work in Progress), Comment (Comment to add a qualification comment), Phase changed (Notification to Idea Submitters)

Implementation Phase:

• Add Implementation Results: Implementation (Phase), Idea Submitter(s) (Who?), Result Summary incl. Results (RTE) (Enrichment of group field)
• Submit for Implementation Review: Implementation (Phase), Idea Submitter(s) (Who?), Under Review (Value Change of Status), Update (Notification to Campaign Manager)
• Invite Evaluators: Implementation (Phase), Campaign Manager (Who?), Rating users (Enrichment of user search field), Please evaluate (Notification to Rating users)
• Evaluate Implementation: Implementation (Phase), Evaluators set in user search field (Who?), Idea Status (Value Dependency grey out for Work in Progress, Rejected, On Hold, Transferred Status), Implementation Rating (Rating group with different rating criteria, i.e., completeness, attractivity, ease of application), Evaluation available (Notification to Campaign Manager)
• Move to Transfer Ownership: Implementation (Phase), Campaign Manager (Who?), Idea Status (Value Dependency grey out for Work in Progress Status), Transfer to Asset Catalogue (Phase Change), Idea Status (Value Change to Work in Progress), Comment (Comment to add a qualification comment), Phase changed (Notification to Idea Submitters)

Transfer Phase:

• Add to Asset Catalog: Transfer to Asset Catalog (Phase), Campaign Manager (Who?), Idea Status (Value Change to Transferred to Operation), Asset (Convert, archive source entity, please consider the mapping)

All Phases:

• Change idea status: Campaign Manager (Who?), Idea Status (Enrichment and option to update the status to any value), Status changed (Notification to Idea Submitters)

Please also consult this article to learn how to configure individual email templates per workflow action. It is also possible to place the information being entered in the idea create form in different tabs on the detail page. Furthermore, you can then restrict the visibility of certain tabs and only give access to defined users, user roles, or contexts.

Submitting ideas via the related parent campaign

Once your idea workflow has been designed and you have indicated the idea as the child element of your parent campaign, you can start with your campaign. On the campaign level, you have further options to regulate access and submission rights via the visibility tab which can be inherited to the submission level.
Please consult this article for further information: Configure a parent campaign page and the idea intake.

Your users will find the option to submit an idea in the right sidebar of a specific campaign.

Please make sure to also read this article to complete the configuration process: Configure a parent campaign page and the idea intake