Create a new run automatically on step completion
Some work only starts because other work finished. A workflow automation links the two: completing a particular step in one workflow creates a run of another, automatically, with nobody watching for the handover.
How it works
You nominate a step in workflow A and a workflow B. When that step is completed in any run of A, a new run of B is created and assigned.
The classic shape is a decision step. A property firm reviews a tenant application; completing the step that records acceptance creates the Tenant Onboarding run. Nobody has to notice the acceptance and start the next process by hand, which is where this kind of handover normally fails.
Setting one up
Automations are configured on the step in workflow A that should trigger the new run. Choose the workflow to start, and save.
The new run is created the moment that step is completed, and appears like any other run.
Worth knowing before you build one
- Put it on the right step. The trigger fires on completion, so choose the step that genuinely means "the next process should now start", not the last step in the section.
- Conditional steps only fire when they apply. If the trigger step is hidden by a conditional rule in a particular run, it is never completed and no run is created. That is usually what you want, and occasionally a surprise.
- Chains are possible and should be kept short. A run creating a run creating a run is hard to follow when something goes wrong.
Automations do not survive being copied into another workflow, because they point at steps that exist only where they were built. Check them after copying a workflow.
Video walkthrough
This video walks through creating a run automatically when a step is completed.