Plan Automation Action - Approval Task Workflow

This article explains how to configure the Approval Task Workflow action for Plan Automations in OnePlan. Use this action to initiate an approval workflow when a plan meets the trigger conditions defined in your automation.

What you will accomplish
By the end of this article, you will be able to add and configure an Approval Task Workflow action for a plan automation, including approvers, approval behavior, and follow‑up actions.

Requirements

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A OnePlan account with Licensed permissions
• Contributor or Owner access to the plan
• A Plan Automation trigger already configured

See the following trigger articles if needed:

• Plan Automation Trigger - When a Date Passes
• Plan Automation Trigger - When a Field Changes
• Plan Automation Trigger - When a Process Step Changes
• Plan Automation Trigger - When an Item is Created

Background

The Approval Task Workflow action allows you to require formal approval before a plan proceeds. When the automation runs, OnePlan creates approval tasks and notifies the selected approvers to review and approve (or reject) the plan.

Approval workflows are commonly used to:

• Enforce governance at key plan milestones
• Require approval before a plan advances to a new process step
• Standardize review processes across plans

Instructions

Add the Approval Task Workflow Action

1. In the Plan Automations editor, select Add Automation Action.
2. Choose Approval Task Workflow from the list.
3. The configuration panel opens on the right side of the screen.
   

Configure the Approval Task Workflow

Complete the fields in the configuration panel.

Assigned To

Select how approvers are determined. Options include:

• Plan Field – Select a plan‑level user field. Any user assigned to that field will receive the notification.
  
  • Shared‑With Level – Select one or more Shared With permission levels. All users with the selected level(s) will receive the notification.
    
  • Specific User – Select one or more individual users.
    
  • Specific Team – Select one or more resource teams.
    

Note
If a team is selected, each team member receives their own approval task and notification.

Approval Method

Choose how the approval is completed:

•  

  First User
  The plan is approved as soon as the first approver approves.

•  

  All Users
  All approvers must approve before the plan is approved.

Days Until Approval Is Due

Enter the number of days expected for approval completion.

Note
This value is informational only and does not enforce a deadline.

Notification Subject

Enter the subject line for the approval notification sent to approvers.

Fields Sent

Select up to 10 plan‑level fields to include in the approval request to provide additional context.

Message Body

Enter the message included in the approval request.

Configure Approval Actions

Configure the actions that run after the plan is approved. Available actions include:

• Send Notification
• Update Plan
• Change Process Step
• Reorganize Plan
• Stop (ends the automation)

You can add multiple actions to occur on approval.

Important
You cannot chain together multiple Approval workflows in a single automation.

Configure Rejection Actions

Configure the actions that run if the plan is rejected. Available actions include:

• Send Notification
• Update Plan
• Change Process Step
• Reorganize Plan
• Stop (ends the automation)

You can add multiple actions to occur on rejection.

Important
You cannot chain together multiple Approval workflows in a single automation.

Save the Action

1. Review the approval and rejection actions.
2. Select Update to save the Approval Task Workflow action.
3. When finished configuring the automation, select Save.

Next Steps

After configuring an Approval Task Workflow action, you can:

• Add additional actions to extend the automation:
  • Plan Automation Action - Send Notification
  • Plan Automation Action - Update Plan
  • Plan Automation Action - Reorganize Plan
  • Plan Automation Action - Copy or Create Plan
  • Plan Automation Action - Approval Task Workflow
• Add Filters to control when the automation runs. See Plan Automation Filters.

While there is no strict limit on the number of actions, we recommend keeping automations manageable to maintain optimal performance.