Approvals

Approvals are an important part of serving on the Board.  OnBoard gives you the ability to create an Approval and capture vote instantly. To create an approval, click on the Actions tab in the main navigation panel, and then the Add button in the top right corner of the screen, while viewing the Approvals Tab.

Creating a New Approval

As indicated above, simply click the Add button on the Approvals tab. Once this is complete, a new Approval action will be generated for you to begin populating. Your Approval will stay in draft status until you "open the Approval." You may edit the Approval as needed up until it becomes live.

Important:  When filling out the Start/End Dates, keep in mind that these fields are completely optional. Filling them in means that OnBoard will automatically Open and Close the Approval action when these dates and times roll around. If you'd prefer to trigger these status changes manually instead, just leave these fields blank and use the Status dropdown menu to move the Approval forward in its lifecycle. 

The Approval Status Bar

Approvals have a status bar that is used to navigate from one phase of an Approval to the next.  This bar not only shows you the progress of the Approval but you also click on each phase in order to advance the Approval through its lifecycle.

Setting Results Display

When setting up your vote, you have a few different options for displaying results.  Begin by selecting either “Results Visible to Voters” or “Results Visible to Admins”. You can then pick if you wish to provide a graphical and/or roll call view.  Keep in mind, that the Roll Call option will display every participant’s name and the vote they cast. You also have the option to give voters the ability to post comments directly on the Approval.

Approval Comments are only visible to users with the Voter permission. This means that Administrators will not be able to view the comments until after the Approval has closed. Alternatively, Admins can make themselves Admin and Voters, and then gain access to view the comments before the Approval has closed.

Adding Voters to an Approval

Now that you have entered the details, you need to add your voters. Adding users can be done by Group or individual user. Like with the other permissions within OnBoard, the individual permission will override the group permission.  Click “Edit Permissions” near the bottom of the Approval Details screen. Click the + icon next to any group or user to add them as a voter, then click the Voter permission in blue to further customize the permission. Voters will receive an email notification that an Approval is ready for them once the Approval has been marked as Opened.  You can find a description of each permission in the Master OnBoard Permissions List section of this guide. 

You may add voters to the Approval at any time before it "closes," however, voters added after it opens will not receive an email notification and will need to be notified personally.

Opening an Approval

Once all of the Approval’s details have been locked in, the Approval is ready to be opened for voting. This can be done two different ways. If you wish to open the vote immediately, so that the voters may begin casting their votes right away, simply open the Status dropdown menu at the top of the Approval Details page, and click Open Approval

Alternatively, you can set an Approval to open automatically by entering a value into the Start Date field. Once the date and time entered into this field become current, the Approval will automatically open, alert the voters, and begin capturing the vote results.

Voting as an Administrator

If your permission has been set to Admin and Voter, you can switch your view to the voter's perspective to cast your vote, and then back to the admin view to access the admin tools as needed.

Closing an Approval

Once all of your votes have been recorded, you will need to close the Approval.  Click on the "Close Approval," option from the Status dropdown menu. At this point the Approval becomes locked and participants will no longer be able to cast or change votes.

Finalizing an Approval

Once the Approval is closed you can finalize the Approval results by first changing the status to Finalized from the Status dropdown menu. Next, select if the Approval is Passed, Failed, or Tabled as shown below. Once you have made your selection and entered any notes you must then click the Submit button to lock in the finalized details.

Downloading Results of an Approval

Once the vote has been finalized you are able to download the results via a Word document.  This document will include the eSignatures of each user, if you’ve chosen to enable the “Require Signature” feature for this Approval.