PowerPoint Presentation
Workflow Solutions Best Practices and Mistakes to Avoid
SHAREPOINT AND PROJECT CONFERENCE ADRIATICS 2013 ZAGREB,
NOVEMBER 27-28 2013
About meVadim TabakmanLead Technical Evangelist, NintexOver 19
years consulting, development and corporate IT experienceEnd user
advocate
IntroductionThere are more best practices and errors to
avoidBased on real-world projectsAdvice applies to any workflow
productNo demos
SharePoint Workflow and Multiple History Lists
Why Not One Workflow History List?History Lists are just
SharePoint listsPerformance degradation with 2000-4000
itemsMultiple Workflows and One History ListGrows very
quicklyMultiple Workflows and Multiple History ListsShares the
load. Faster to access workflow history
Dont Always Use SharePoint Workflow
Good Uses of SharePoint WorkflowManaging how people workDocument
approval & feedbackCollaborative reviews &
discussionsGathering signatures
Good Uses of SharePoint WorkflowAutomating some of SharePoints
behaviorApprove site creation requestsParse incoming email in a
list and act on itPublishing items to targetMoving documents
through lifecycles
Possible Uses of SharePoint WorkflowManipulating other
applications, data sourcesEmployee onboardingResource
schedulingSharePoint lists become work queues
Bad Uses of SharePoint WorkflowTransaction-oriented
processesBlocking or modifying activityApplication-to-application
service activityAggressive data transformationsWork that doesnt
involve SharePoint at all
Plan to Fail
Consensus May Not ExistGet 3 employees and 1 manager
togetherTalk about a processLittle agreementDocumentation
disagreement, too
The Process Will Change
Exceptions are Initially IgnoredRarely is this considered in
advanceRarely does everyone agreeIgnored exceptions lead to
bypass
Initial Failure as a Winning StrategyPeople do not want to hear
these hard truths.You may have to create an initial workflow just
to show how awful a process is.Only then can you change it.
ProcessStepStepStepStart
SimpleAutomatethisfirstAutomatetheselater
Focus on Everyday Process
Policy is the abdication of thought.-Nathan Myrvold
Everyday ProcessesSteal timeGet in the wayAnnoy users
Everyday ProcessesHave few stakeholders (even if many
participants)Are easier to automateFree up time to focus on more
critical stuff
Everyday ProcessesAutomating them trains users how to think
When to use a :List WorkflowSite WorkflowReusable Workflow
Template
Reusability You should think about reusability firstSave
yourself timeSave your colleagues timeSave your business time and
moneyIs a List workflow the best solution for you?Its probably the
quickest and easiest, but is it the best solution?
Put Forms in Their Proper Place
The Form is the User InterfaceNot the workflowNot the data
If (x and y) then do this do thatEnd if
If (user is Bob) then do this and that and the other thing undo
thatEnd if
If (x and y) then do this do thatEnd if
If (x and y) then do this do thatEnd if
If (user is Bob) then do this and that and the other thing undo
thatEnd if
If (x and y) then do this do thatEnd if
Form-Only App ProblemsHidden logicDisconnected
logicSecurityComplexity without codeInheritance / Knowledge
Transfer
PresentationProcessIntegrationThink About the Whole App
Make the Workflow Do the WorkDocumentedAuditableEasier to
changeEasier to manage
One Form Per StepSubmitStartTask
Task FormsWorkflow can route new dataNew data can be written to
original formAll info can be sent to other places
Self-Reporting Workflows
Least-Loved TechniquesBrowsing individual history
entriesBuilding custom reports
Youre Already Using SharePointThe list itself can be the
reportUsers can sort, group, filter on metadata (Leverage
Views!)Write progress information to item propertiesStage Workflows
already do this
SummaryDont always use SharePoint WorkflowPlan to failFocus on
everyday processesIts not about formsSelf-reporting workflows
Questions?
