Creating Flows in Navgar

Sometimes a Standard Operating Procedure needs to be followed with all related tasks performed in a rigid sequence. Other times the order of operations is less important - and it's even beneficial - for multiple tasks to be performed in parallel or asynchronously as long as the end outcome is the completion of a prescribed set of task items. Navgar's Flow module allows you all of these options for building the right steps within your own organization's Flows.

The process of setting up a Flow in Navgar is straightforward and the time investment made is small, relative to the ongoing benefits you and your organization will yield from using the module to your company's needs. To get started:

1. Navigate to the Flow Templates module of Navgar.

2. You may either initiate the creation of your Flow by either:

3. Enter the name of the Flow you want to create and press enter or click Add.

4. The Flow Settings screen will appear, allowing you to:

5. Add Tasks to your Flow. These are defaulted as Human Tasks which you can either manually enter yourself or use NavgarAI to assist you with building by clicking Get steps suggestions based on the description to either augment your existing Flow steps or to replace the existing ones with one that is AI generated. (Note: Besides Human Tasks, you may also create a Mail Task (via dropdown or typing .M (This means you need to type both the period and the M at the same time)) or a Subflow (via dropdown or typing .S (This means you need to type both the period and the S at the same time)). For now we'll stick to human tasks but you can learn more about Mail Tasks and Subflows elsewhere in our support articles.

In the example above, I've populated my Handling Customer Orders Flow with tasks to be carried out sequentially and some descriptions for them, which can be expanded or contracted as needed. You are also able to toggle between Highlight Issues or not, which informs you of any issues that would prevent successful launch of your Flow. The recurring issue illustrated here is that the tasks are present but none have been assigned owners for carrying them out. As you assign owners for the tasks you've created for your Flow, the issues highlighted disappear and once all issues are corrected, your simple Flow can be launched.

You are also able to set Delays for task visibility to respective owners from this setup screen via the

icon. This allows you to determine the period between the launch of the flow and the first task being visible to its owner. Once the first task is marked "Done", the delay set on the second task starts until it is shown to its owner. The delays can be set quickly to 6 Hours, 12 Hours, 1 Day, 2 Day, 3 Day, 7 Day increments but you are able to customize this to any number of Hours, Days, Weeks, or Months that you want to.

Just as important as the Delays you set for tasks being "served" to their owners are the deadlines you set for each task in the sequence via the

icon . Because Flows are set to be recurring, it is impractical to use a Date and Time format as a Due Date without a great deal of manual configuration. Instead Navgar Flows use the same countdown format and increments as Delays until a task is due and start counting down from the moment a task is made visible to its owner.

Once you are satisfied with the Flow Tasks and their sequence in your Flow, their Owners, the Delay before each Flow Task is shown relative to the completion of the predecessor activity, the time until each task is due, then a Flow is ready to be launched. See Launching Flows in Navgar for instructions on how to do so.

Let's say you're planning a birthday party and also baking a cake for it. For the birthday party, you need to send out invitations, buy decorations, and set up the venue—each step needs to be completed one after the other. This is a standard flow, where tasks are done in a specific order.

Now, consider baking the cake. You can mix the batter while preheating the oven, and while the cake is baking, you can prepare the frosting. These tasks can be done at the same time, which has parallel tasks in the Flow.

Understanding the difference between these two types of step relationship flows—sequential and parallel - allows you to design Flows that are relevant for the workflow you have in mind.

Going back to my Handling Customer Orders Flow, I had a step called 'Order tracking and communication', which is really two different things so I split it up into 'Order Tracking' and 'Customer Communication' but these tasks - and as many others as you would like - can be assigned for completion in parallel.

To configure your Flow to recognize this, hover over the Flow Step you want to serve in parallel with another one and click on the drag and drop function (six dots that look like a dice)

Move it to the Flow step you want it to be in parallel with to the blue field that populates with the text 'Simultaneous start. Drop a task here to be grouped as simultaneous'

When completed, the two Flow steps will show that they are 'joined' by a blue field surrounding both steps on your template. When the Flow is launched both Flow tasks will be assigned simultaneously to their respective owners.