SharePoint 2016 For Dummies

Chapter 21

Gaining Total Control with Workflow

IN THIS CHAPTER

Getting familiar with SharePoint workflow

Figuring out SharePoint Designer

Understanding how approvals can work with workflow

Any organization is made up of processes. Some processes might be very simple, such as checking an email, responding, and then filing it in a folder. Other processes are more complex and might involve multiple people and computer systems. In any case, processes are at the core of an organization. SharePoint has the capability to manage processes through workflow.

In this chapter, you explore workflow in SharePoint. You discover the two different workflow platforms in SharePoint 2016. You find out how they work and how to develop workflows. Finally, you see firsthand how a workflow can be used as an approval system for documents.

Getting Up to Speed with SharePoint Workflow

A SharePoint workflow can be used to manage a human-centric process or a computer-centric process. For example, you might have a process that involves five people working partly in parallel and partly in sequence. If these five people are all in the same room and accomplish the process in one sitting, then using a workflow to coordinate their activities wouldn’t make much sense. If the people are dispersed in different offices or cubes or the process takes place over a period of time, then a workflow can be used to coordinate and keep the process on track.

In addition, a process might interact with other computer systems. ...