Automate Leave request notifications

Now that we have covered the steps you should follow to build and publish a workflow, let’s use that knowledge to build a workflow for a common process useful to any organization: Automating leave request notifications.

The solution is to build a workflow that automatically forwards leave requests to managers, and notifies employees of approval or rejection of the request. We are going to focus on the steps required to:

  • Create the list and required columns in SharePoint.
  • Design, configure, and publish a form to submit leave requests.
  • Open the Workflow Gallery to start designing the workflow.
  • Build the workflow to cover the following:
    • Send an email to the employee that submitted the leave request acknowledging receipt of the leave request.
    • Get the manager’s response to the leave request.
    • Send an email to notify initiator of leave approval or rejection.
  • Save and publish the workflow.

The process to follow with step-by-step instructions is given below:

Step 1: Create the list and columns in SharePoint

The SharePoint list serves as the container that holds submitted leave requests. The list title, leave type, and other columns in the list are used by the workflow.

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Step 2: Design, configure, and publish the Leave Request form

Design the Leave Request form.

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Step 3: Open the Workflow Gallery

Open the workflow gallery to start creating the workflow.

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Step 4: Send acknowledgment email

Set up the leave request receipt notification email that will be sent to the initiator.

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Step 5: Get the response for the leave request

Set up a task to be sent to the manager to get the task response.

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Step 6: Result notification email

Set up the email that is sent to the initiator informing the approval or rejection of the leave approval

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Step 7: Configure start options

Configure the workflow start options.

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Step 8: Publish and test the workflow

Publish and test the workflow.

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