Advanced Training for CRG Staff: Workflow System in Archie

1. Advanced Training for CRG Staff: Workflow System in Archie IMS Support Person: Becky Gray Place: Ottawa, Canada Date: Tuesday, 18 May 2010

2. Plan for today • Recap of basics of workflow system, with special emphasis on recent developments/improvements • More detailed look at a few topics identified by current pilot CRGs • Using the ticketing system • Notifications, messages, etc. • Customizing workflow templates for your CRG • Tips from experienced pilot CRGs • Hands-on exercises • Discussion and feedback

3. Log into new Training server URL is http://130.226.106.151 Snapshot of live server running on updated hardware All participants should have Maximum workflow permissions All CRGs should have at least one In Progress workflow

4. Workflow permissions Derive from Entity Roles By default set to Minimum (no permissions) for all Roles during pilot IMS Support gives pilot ME Maximum permissions ME to edit permissions for other Roles as appropriate (CRG Properties > Roles tab, click Role, then click Edit)

5. Workflow permissions For details on permission levels, see Archie Help > Help Topics: People/Entity role permissions

6. Background

7. Purposes of Archie’s workflow system To help CRGs: • Keep track of where each review is in the editorial process • Inform people (Editors, Authors, Referees) when they need to take action • Plan and prioritize work across multiple reviews • Identify and analyze trends in the Group’s processes (e.g., by identifying common “bottlenecks” in the review process)

8. What is a workflow? • An ordered and interrelated sequence of tasks that need to be completed to achieve a finished product (e.g., a published protocol) – sometimes depicted in the form of a “flowchart” • Involves some decision tasks (“yes/no”), as well as non-decision tasks • May involve repeating loops or parallel strings of tasks

9. Workflows available in Archie • Title Registration • Protocol Development • Protocol Amendment • Review Development • Review Amendment • Review Update

10. Other (Archie-specific) terms • Workflow Roles Similar to Document Roles – link specific people with specific tasks in a workflow • Workflow Manager Person at the editorial base who is responsible for the editorial processing of a review and for managing the associated workflow

11. Other (Archie-specific) terms • Task Individual task within a workflow – assigned to a specific person or persons via Workflow Roles • Milestones Markers indicating that a significant point in the workflow/editorial process has been reached (e.g., authors have submitted their review for editorial approval)

12. Recent developments • Archie 3.0 deployment (13 December 2009) • Introduction of revised workflow templates (25 March 2010) • Set the stage for ...

13. Stage 3 of workflow pilot Began 25 March 2010 All CRGs eligible to partcipate Includes (at ME’s discretion) editorial base staff, satellite staff, Co-Eds, Editors, Copy Editors, Contact Persons/lead Authors, External Referees Improved functionality in response to feedback from Stage 2 CRGs Updated documentation and training materials in response to feedback from Stage 2 CRGs

14. ACCESSING AN EXISTING WORKFLOW

15. Accessing an existing workflow To access or view your CRG’s existing workflows go to the Resources tab and open your Workflows folder In the Workflows folder, workflows are divided according to their status, e.g., Not Started, In Progress, Completed, or Aborted Columns of the display show the review title, review number, workflow type, Workflow Manager, start date, last milestone passed, and end/due date To access an individual workflow double-click the title of the workflow or right-click and choose Properties

16. Accessing an existing workflow You can also open the Properties of an existing workflow from within the Reviews folder by right-clicking the name of the review and choosing Workflow Properties

17. Accessing an existing workflow You can also access the workflows relating to the specific review from review’s Properties sheet in the Workflows tab Within this tab you can also upload files related to this review

18. WORKFLOW PROPERTIES

19. Workflow Properties General tab contains: • Title of the review • Name of Workflow Manager • Status (e.g., Not started, In Progress, Completed, or Aborted) • Start and end dates for the workflow • Information about when and by whom the workflow was created and last modified You can also generate a Workflow Report from this tab

20. Workflow Properties People tab lists the Workflow Roles available for the selected workflow and shows the people these have been assigned to

21. Workflow Properties Tasks tab lists individual tasks, grouped according to whether they are Completed, In Progress, Not Started, Aborted, or Passive. Shows progress toward several standard milestones.

22. Workflow Properties You can add your own notes to the history of the workflow by typing text into the Notes field and clicking Apply. This will create a new Event (‘Notes made’), and the text you entered will appear in the Details column. History tab preserves a record of every action performed in relation to the workflow, including actions performed automatically by the system.

23. Workflow Properties Files tab – This is where files submitted by others using the ticketing system will be saved. You can also upload and store various documents related to the review here.

24. Workflow Properties Gantt Chart tab (a project management tool): Displays a Gantt chart depicting progress over time on the various tasks that make up the workflow

25. SETTING UP AND STARTING A NEW WORKFLOW

26. Starting a new workflow To start a new workflow: • Right-click the name of the review under Resources • Choose New, then Workflow…

27. Starting a new workflow Alternatively you can go to the review’s Properties sheet and click

28. Starting a new workflow From the pull-down menu choose the appropriate Workflow Template

29. Starting a new workflow To change the End date of the workflow click to open the calendar In the calendar choose the date and click (close button) to make the change

30. Starting a new workflow To assign a role to a person or to change an assignee, go to the People tab and click or to open the Select Person window. When finished, click Apply.

31. Starting a new workflow In the Select Person window type the name in the search field and click Click the correct person’s name Click to finish

32. Starting a new workflow To start the workflow, click To skip a series of already completed tasks before starting the workflow, click the task you want to begin with and then tick the box next to ‘Skip tasks until’

33. ACCESSING AND WORKING WITH TASKS

34. Accessing tasks You can access tasks on the Tasks tab of the workflow Properties To open a task’s Properties, double-click the name of the task or click the name of the task and click

35. Task Properties General tab displays : • the name of the workflow • the Workflow Manager • the review title • the name of assignee • the name of the task and the task’s description • status of the task (In progress, Completed, or Skipped) • dates started and due

36. Task Properties • The History tab shows the chronology of events related to the task • Most events are created automatically • There is also a Notes field where the Workflow Manager can add notes about the task manually (as on the workflow History tab)

37. Task Properties • On the Advanced tab you can create an email Ticket to allow the task assignee to complete the task without logging into Archie or sending an email outside of the system • You can also modify the Notifications related to this task, e.g., you can arrange to be notified when the task is completed, or for the task assignee to be notified if the task is overdue

38. Completing or skipping a task • To complete a task, open the task Properties and go to the General tab • If the task does not involve a decision, choose Completed or Skipped and click • If the task does involve a decision, choose from among the alternatives (e.g., Yes/No); Status will automatically change to Completed; click

39. Completing or skipping a task You can mark the task as completed or skipped from the right-click menu of the task in the Tasks tab in the workflow properties

40. Changing the due date of a task • To change the Due date, open the task’s Properties and go to the General tab • Click to open the Calendar • Choose the new Due date in the Calendar • Click to assign the new Due date

41. USING THE TICKETING SYSTEM

42. What is the ticketing system? • A special messaging system within the workflow system • Used to inform people outside the editorial base when it is time for them to perform a task • Email generated by the system is sent to the person assigned to the task; all documents needed to complete the task can be attached to the email • Recipient accesses a web link in the email to let the Workflow Manager know (via Archie) when the task has been completed and to submit relevant documents (e.g., completed refereeing forms)

43. Creating a Ticket To create a Ticket open the task Properties and go to the Advanced tab Click Create Ticket Or in the Tasks tab of the workflow Properties right-click an In Progress task and choose Send Ticket

44. Creating a Ticket The Message tab provides a preview of the ticketing email that will be sent to the task assignee and allows you to edit both the subject line and the text of the email

45. Creating a Ticket Tick “Attach a review version” to attach a copy of the review in RevMan or PDF (or both) formats On the Attachments tab you can select documents to attach to the ticketing email These may include a version of the review (in RevMan and/or PDF formats), documents stored in your CRG’s Files folder in Archie, and/or documents stored on your local computer, e.g., a document comparing two versions of the review Click OK to send the Ticket

46. Receiving a Ticket The assignee will receive an email with the subject lineand text as previewed and edited by you The email includes: a.a link to the actual ‘ticket’ which allows the recipient to notify you (via Archie) when they have completed their task b.a link to a one-page document with a brief explanation of the ticketing system c.any documents you selected for attachment a b c

47. Receiving a Ticket If the recipient’s comments are brief, they may be typed directly into the ‘Brief notes’ box, which are saved as a ‘Notes made’ Event in the task’s History If the task involves submitting comments or feedback, files containing these can be attached to the ticket for transmission back to you (and saved in the Files tab of the Workflow’s properties) When the ticket recipient clicks Mark Task as Done the task is automatically marked as Completed in the workflow in Archie

48. Advantages of the ticketing system Easy communication between editorial base and other people assigned tasks Provides task assignees with everything they need to complete their task and report back to the editorial base without logging into Archie Integrated into the workflow system – allows tracking of communication and automatic updating of information about tasks

49. NOTIFICATIONS AND MESSAGES

50. Tasks list on Organizer tab You can see a list of “In Progress” tasks assigned to you on the Organizer tab in Archie To open a task’s Properties, click the name of the task The exclamation mark in front of a task means that the task is overdue