Assigning steps in a workflow
Assigning a step in the workflow decides who is responsible for it in every run of that workflow. Set it once here and nobody has to remember to hand work out each time a run starts.
You can assign to a named person, or to a role that different people fill from run to run. If you are not sure which you want, read Role based assignments first, because the choice is harder to change later than it looks.
Assign one step
- Open the workflow for editing.
- Click the assignment icon on the step.
- Choose who the step belongs to: a person, a role, or yourself with the quick button.
The panel offers Person and Role side by side, so the choice between the two is one click either way, plus an Assign to me button for the steps you are keeping. A Role Settings link sits under the role dropdown and opens that role so you can check or change who is in it without losing your place.
Assign several steps at once
- Tick the checkbox on each step you want to assign.
- The Bulk Actions panel opens on the right and counts what you have selected.
- Under Set assignment, choose Assign to for a person or Or a role for a role. Every selected step is assigned at once.
Clicking a section heading selects every step in that section, which is the fastest way to hand a whole phase of the work to one team. Assigning a section of twelve steps is three clicks rather than twelve.
Assign to whoever starts the run
Some steps belong to the person who kicked the work off, whoever that turns out to be. Assign those to the Initiator role and each run resolves it to the person who created that run. See Run Initiator Role.
What reaches the run
Runs inherit the workflow's settings, so these assignments are already applied the moment a run is created. Nobody has to assign anything to get started.
Two things change in the crossing:
- Roles resolve to people. Inside a run a step is assigned to a named person, not to a role, because the run has to notify someone in particular.
- Assignments become editable for that run only. Changing who does a step in one run does not change the workflow or any other run. See Assigning steps in a run.
Changing assignments later
Editing the workflow changes the runs you start from now on. Runs already under way keep the assignments they were created with, so nobody's part-finished work is handed to someone else underneath them. See Updating Runs When a Workflow Changes.
When somebody leaves and you need their assignments moved across every workflow and run at once, that is a different tool. See How to re-assign user assignments.
Letting only the assignee complete a step
By default anyone on a run can tick off any step, assigned or not. If a step should be done by the person it was assigned to and nobody else, turn on Only assigned user can complete in the workflow's Settings, under Run behavior.
With it on, in every run of the workflow:
- A step assigned to a person can be completed only by that person.
- A step assigned to a role that has not yet resolved to a person can be completed by anyone in that role.
- A step with no assignment can be completed by any admin or user on the run. Limited, member and guest participants still need an assignment.
- A section can be completed only by someone who can complete every step still open inside it.
There is no admin override: an admin who is not the assignee cannot complete the step either, though they can change the assignment first. Automations that complete steps are not affected.
Each run copies the setting when it is created, and it can be changed for one run from that run's settings without touching the workflow.
Video walkthrough
This video walks through assigning steps in a workflow, one at a time and in bulk.