Approvals

[Kelsea_Kircoff]

I have a board where my team creates tasks based on a template and creates content that requires approvals. When they make their task they assign it to themselves, and I have automated subtasks and approvals. The approval is assigned to their supervisor, and the task is assigned to them. When the supervisor activates the approval (decline, revise, approve), the task owner is not notified. What I need to do is manually go into each task, open the approval, and add a collaborator for them to get notified.

It would be super helpful if the owner of the task was notified when a change happened to an approval linked to their task.

[Andrea_Mayer]

Welcome to the Asana Community Forum @Kelsea_Kircoff

@Kelsea_Kircoff

When the supervisor activates the approval (decline, revise, approve), the task owner is not notified.

The task owner of the main task correct?

Does the task owner initially create the approval subtask? If the task with approval subtasks is created via a template then just review the template to ensure the relevant task collaborators are added.

Because how it should work normally is that when a subtask is marked as approval and assigned to Person A. Once person B marks the approval subtask as approved the main task owner is notified like this:

Can you clarify if that is what you were asking or do you have a different question?

[Malina_Diego]

It sounds like you’re dealing with a workflow issue where task owners aren’t being automatically notified of changes in approvals. Many task management tools allow for automation or notification customization, so you might be able to resolve this without manual intervention. Here’s a potential solution:

1. Check Notification Settings: Ensure that task owners have notifications enabled for updates on tasks they are assigned to. In some tools, approval updates may not be part of default notifications and need to be enabled separately.
2. Leverage Automation Rules: If your platform supports automation (e.g., Asana Rules, Monday.com Automations), you can create a rule that triggers a notification or action when an approval status changes. For example:
   *Trigger:Approval status changes (Decline/Revise/Approve).
   *Action: Notify task owner (or assign them as a collaborator automatically).
3. Add Collaborators Automatically:If your workflow tool allows you to customize templates, include the task owner as a collaborator in all approval subtasks by default. This way, they will receive updates related to approvals without manual intervention.
4. Custom Integration: If native options aren’t sufficient, consider using tools like Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat) to set up an automated workflow that notifies task owners when approval statuses change.
5. Supervisor Reminder: As a temporary workaround, you could ask supervisors to manually tag the task owner in the comments when they change the approval status.

If you share the specific tool you’re using, I can provide tailored guidance!