That is how I managed to do it:
First, created a Sharepoint List where all Items are store, one of the columns I have a unique ID to make sure I keep track of it. Let's call it "MainList"
Then, I created a second Sharepoint List, where it contain all the approvals handling, we'll call it "Approvers"
It would be something like that:
MainList
- PKUniqueID
- Type
- Total
Approvers
- FKUniqueID
- TriggerFlow
- ApproverOrder
- ApproverName
- ApproverEmail
- Status
The MainList contains all relevant information, while the Approvers has the referenced approvers information. The benefit of this solution, is that I managed to have a "dynamic" Approvers list that will suit any quantity of Approvers, having just one or even 20 (I tested!) it simply works.
Here is a sample of the data for these two Sharepoint Lists
Now, the Flow portion of the process:
I created a flow where the trigger is "When a Sharepoint Item is changed", and indicated the Approvers list. Now, everytime a item is created or changed, it runs the process, and now it's the most complex part of it and I will try to explain it:
1. Trigger Checks if the flow is to be run, or not (this is useful as a lot of data is added or changed on that list)
1.1 If is set to false, then it does nothing and stop the flow
1.2 If is true, then move to the next step (2)...
2. List all the Items from that same list, which has the same FKUniqueID: this will generate a list of all the Approvers associated to that process. Ordering then by the ApproverOrder, and counting only those where the Status is blank is important to make it work properly
3. Then, it takes the first item from the previous list, that item will indicate the recipient of the approval: if it is the first run of this process, then it should email the ApproverEmail value from the ApproverOrder = 1. It emails the indicated address prompting for the input (either Reject or Approver, or any other action you define)
3.1 If the Approver Rejects, it updates the item's TriggerFlow value from TRUE to FALSE (the same that Triggered the Flow), Status to "Rejected", and then it wont run anything else, Recommend to send the user a notification so he knows the status
3.2 If it is Approved, it updates the item's TriggerFlow value from TRUE to FALSE (the same that Triggered the Flow), and Status to "Approved", then move to the next step (4)...
4. Check if this just changed item Order equals the Quantity (based on Count) of Items generated on the item 2, it will indicate if this is the last Approver or not
4.1 If the ApproverOrder = Count, then it was the last Approver, then it finishes the process (indicating it was approved!)
4.2 If the ApproverOrder <> Count, then there are still Approvals pending for this Requistion, so it move to the step (5)...
5. Based on the query generated on the item 2, it takes the next Item (Where ApproverOrder = ApproverOrder+1) and change it's FlowTrigger value from FALSE to TRUE: it will run the same steps for the next Approver.
(So, if it was the first Approval (ApproverOrder = 1), out of 3 approvers, it will update the item of the next Approver (where ApproverOrder = 2))
Here is a simply diagram I did for that, please, note it is simple and follows no standards:
Some important notes for that:
- make sure to always check the flows, if you use a "O3365: Send an Approval Email" service, responses can be only given within 7 days, if not, the flow will fail (you can manage fails, but you should handle how it can adjust for your requirement)
- I recommend to generate any portion of the body (of the Approval Email) by using a Compose, it is handy! Then, you just add its output to the reffered action
- The trigger you design for this process will be executed for EVERY change on the Approvals Sharepoint List, make sure you change any item's TriggerFlow value to FALSE before making any "manual" change on it, otherwise, the recipient will get messages for any change done on this item...
I hope this can help you and bring a light to whatever you need to do. This was the only way I figured out to manage these approvals, otherwise, I would have to design a huge flow, with nested actions and handling all of these multiple approvers (I managed to do it with up to 5, but it just become too hard to make any change on it, the page crashes, takes a lot to do anything, and if you keep insisting, you end up corrupting your flow)
