Setting up the Project Manager Approval Workflow

Leverage the "Project Managers" approval workflow to enable project managers to review timesheets.

How does it work?

Upon a user's timesheet submission, every project manager—associated with the projects the user worked on—is prompted for a review. The timesheet gains approval only after every project on it has been reviewed. However, if any manager rejects it, the user must resubmit the timesheet, requiring a fresh round of approvals from all managers.

Projects without a manager

When a project lacks a manager, the fallback reviewer steps in for approval. If neither a fallback reviewer nor a project manager is assigned, the project's tracked time gets auto-approved. To specify a fallback reviewer, visit the "Approval Configuration" screen, available once the "Project Managers" workflow is activated.

Projects with multiple Project Managers

A project may have multiple project managers assigned to it. In such a scenario, only one of the project managers needs to approve the hours tracked for that project. This flexibility enables you to have a backup in case the primary project manager is unavailable or unable to approve the timesheet.

Excluding projects

A project can be excluded from the approval workflow. The project manager is not asked for approval, and time is automatically approved. To exclude a project, navigate to the settings of the project you want to exclude and check Section 4:

You can also reverse this and only include selected projects for approval.

Enabling

You can enable the Project Manager workflow by selecting the Project Managers tab in the Approval Workflow configuration screen.

Example:

Select the "Project Managers" tab when Configuring Approvals to enable the Project Managers Approval Workflow. 

The Project Manager workflow is enabled, but no fallback reviewers are set.

The process is:

1. In week 18, Andrew tracked time on three different projects;
2. Andrew requests approval;
3. Two of those projects have a Project Manager set: John and Sally. Both project managers receive a notification by email;
4. John reviews the hours for his project on Andrew's timesheet and approves. The timesheet is still pending;
5. Sally also reviews the hours for her project on Andrew's timesheet and approves. The timesheet is approved;
6. Andrew receives an email notifying him that his hours are approved.

Example with a fallback reviewer

The project managers' approval workflow is enabled, and the line manager, Thomas, is configured as the fallback reviewer for Andrew.

1. In week 19, Andrew was two days on vacation. He tracked hours on the vacation/PTA project and the Development project;
2. The development project has John as PM, while the PTA project does not have a PM set;
3. Andrew requests approval;
4. John needs to approve the hours for the Development project;
5. Thomas needs to approve the hours for the PTA project as he is Andrew's Line Manager;
6. When both John and Thomas approve, the whole timesheet is approved, and Andrew is notified by email.