Plan Automations - Plan v. Work Automations

Purpose

OnePlan supports automation at multiple levels. The two most common types are Plan Automations and Work Plan Automations.

This article explains the difference between these automation types and helps you decide which one to use based on what you are trying to automate.

What you will understand
After reading this article, you will understand how Plan Automations differ from Work Plan Automations, what each is designed to automate, and when to use one versus the other.

High‑Level Difference

At a high level, the difference comes down to what level of the system the automation acts on.

• Plan Automations operate on the plan itself
• Work Plan Automations operate on work items inside a plan

Both automation types use triggers and actions, but they solve different problems.

Plan Automations

Plan Automations are used to automate plan‑level behavior.

They are typically used to:

• Enforce governance and consistency across plans
• Respond to plan lifecycle or process changes
• Perform actions that affect the plan as a whole

Common characteristics

• Triggered by plan‑level events (for example, a plan is created or a plan field changes)
• Actions apply to the plan, not individual tasks
• Often configured by administrators, PMO leads, or advanced users
• Support scaling plan management across portfolios

Examples

Use a Plan Automation when you want to:

• Update plan fields when a process step changes
• Trigger approvals at key lifecycle stages
• Reorganize or create plans automatically
• Send notifications related to plan governance

Work Plan Automations

Work Plan Automations are used to automate task‑ or work item‑level behavior inside a plan.

They are typically used to:

• Reduce manual updates to tasks
• Support execution workflows
• Keep work items moving consistently through a schedule or backlog

Common characteristics

• Triggered by work item events (for example, a task is created or a field changes)
• Actions apply to tasks or work items
• Used heavily by delivery teams and project managers
• Focused on execution rather than governance

Examples

Use a Work Plan Automation when you want to:

• Automatically update task fields based on status changes
• Send reminders or requests for updates on tasks
• Create or copy work items when conditions are met
• Support task‑level approval workflows

How to Choose the Right Automation

Use this simple guideline:

• If you are automating how a plan behaves, use Plan Automations
• If you are automating how work is executed, use Work Plan Automations

If an automation needs to affect multiple tasks or enforce governance rules across plans, it almost always belongs at the plan level.

If an automation needs to manage individual tasks as work progresses, it belongs in the Work Plan.

Where to Learn More

• Plans → Automations 
  For plan‑level automation concepts, triggers, and actions.
• Work Plans → Automations 
  For task‑level automation concepts, triggers, and actions.

Understanding this distinction will help you design automations that are easier to maintain, scale, and explain to others.