Unanswered

Give me a nudge for approval order

(0) Share

Report

Posted on by CU15052342-0

I have two sharepoint lists, one is a project list the second is the task list. In the task list I have a column for the project ID which is the SharePoint autogenerated item ID.

In the task list I have one or more approvers. I have a number column in the task list for the approval order. If someone gives two task with the same approval order number then the approval is supposed to go out in parallel. If they select a running order of numbers the approvals are supposed to work in order of the approval order.

My thought was to trigger a flow on create of new item in the task list but this would not know about all the tasks that should be monitored as a group based on the project number. If I use a timer trigger, if the submission of tasks happens to overlap the time it will only get a portion of the new tasks.

So I am not quite sure how to begin and hope for a nudge or brainstorming ideas or maybe my base lists are not designed appropriate.

Categories:

Building flows

I have the same question (0)

All responses (3)

Answers (0)

Sort by

David_MA 14,956 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

Like
a
(0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!
Can you create a graphic to illustrate your approval order concept. I am very visual and not understanding what you are trying to accomplish based on what you've written. However, a graphic that shows the correlation between the task list, the project list, and the order of approvals will be helpful. Although, you'll need to include in your diagram how these approvals are defined.

For example, if I saw an approval order of 1, 2, 3, would it always mean:

1 = the program manager

2 = the department manager

3 = the department director

Thus, if another approval order was 3, 2, it would mean it needs to be approved by the department director first and then the department manager. The program manager would not need to approve the item.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
CU15052342-0 8 on at

Like
a
(0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

The ERD is below.

The approval order is manually set by the user. They determine who needs to review or approve and in which order.

The order is not tied to a title or position at all. It is tide to the person they select.

If, for example, the user adds five assignees to review something and they all can review it at one time, the user would selects the same approval order number for all assignees. In this case the workflow should send out an email to each assignee at the same time.

Alternatively, if the user adds five assignees and they have to review the item in sequence, they would assign approval order number 1 to the first person, then 2 to the next that will review, and 3 for the third assignee to review and so on. The workflow should send out an email immediately to the Assignee at order number 1. Once Assignee number 1 finishes and marks the status complete. Then the workflow should find assignee number two and notify him/her and so on.

I don't know where to get started nor do I know how to make the workflow wait for the status to change and find the next assignee to alert.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
David_MA 14,956 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

Like
a
(0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!
Based on what you’ve shared so far, this looks less like a specific Power Automate issue and more like a full workflow design problem.

The forums are generally best for targeted questions. For example, a specific action is not working or how to implement a clearly defined step. In your case, you're asking for the overall process:

how tasks are grouped,

how approvals are triggered,

and how sequencing should behave.

And these are not defined enough to suggest a concrete solution.

You’ll likely need to map out the full approval logic first. A simple diagram or step-by-step example will help. Once that’s clearly defined, it becomes much easier to translate into a flow.

If you run into a specific issue while implementing that design, feel free to post back with details and I’d be happy to help.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No