WHAT ARE WORKFLOWS
A workflow is a reusable template made of actions. Each action is a task, message, form or document request, sent to the right person a set number of days before or after the resident's start date. Actions can be grouped into sections, such as Before arrival, First week or First month.
When you start a workflow for a resident, Altra creates a running copy just for them. Staff and families complete their tasks, and you follow progress on one page until the workflow is done or closed.
There are two workflow types:
Resident — linked to a resident and their family, for example an admission, short stay or onboarding journey.
General — not linked to a specific resident.
Workflows can also be built by your group and shared with several worksites. See Group Workflows: for Group Admins and Group Workflows: for Worksite Managers.
Key words
Action — one step of a workflow: a message, survey, document request, status change and so on.
Section — a group of actions, used to organise the timeline.
Trigger date — when an action starts, counted in days before or after the resident's start date.
Due date — the trigger date plus the reminder days. After this date, the action is Late.
Version — a frozen copy of a group workflow, made each time the group publishes (v1, v2, v3…).
Customisation — a worksite's own change to one field of one action in a group workflow.
Document slot — a named placeholder for a file that each worksite provides itself, for example Welcome pack.
WHO CAN DO WHAT
Managers can create, edit, publish, start, complete, reassign and close workflows at their worksite.
Staff see and complete the actions assigned to them or their role. To start workflows for residents, they need the Can start workflows permission. A manager can switch it on in People > Staff > View Profile.
Primary relatives, relatives and residents receive the actions assigned to them, such as a welcome message or a document to upload.
Group Admins build group workflows, publish versions to worksites, manage document slots and review customisations from the group portal.
Worksite Managers can customise some fields of a group workflow for their worksite and upload the worksite's group documents.
THE WORKFLOWS PAGE
Go to Insights > Workflows. The page has four tabs:
ACTIVE — workflows running for residents right now.
ARCHIVED — workflows that are finished (DONE) or were closed early (CLOSED).
WORKFLOWS — your templates, split into Published (ready to start) and Unpublished (drafts).
GROUP DOCUMENTS (only for workflows managed by groups) — files your group workflows need from your worksite.
The Start a Workflow and + Create Workflow buttons are always at the top right.
NOTIFICATIONS
Each person chooses their own notifications in Settings > My Profile, under Push Notifications and Email Notifications:
Notify me when there is a new action assigned to me
Notify me when an action is due (on the due date)
Notify me once a week when I have overdue actions
Group Workflow updates: workflow is updated, customisation is reset or document is missing (email only)
The group workflow emails are Workflow updated (the group published a new version to your worksite), Customisation reset (a Group Admin reset one of your customisations) and Document required (a document slot is missing a file). The setting is on by default. Turning it off only stops the emails for you; badges, warnings and reports are unaffected.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
A staff member can't start workflows. Switch on Can start workflows in their staff profile under People > Staff.
How do we turn on group workflows? Altra enables it for each group and converts existing group workflows first, so no local change is lost. Contact Altra support ([email protected]) to plan the switch.
RELATED ARTICLES
Creating a Workflow
Starting, Completing and Closing Workflows
Group Workflows: for Group Admins
Group Workflows: for Worksite Managers
Giving a group user (HQ) a staff type