Signing Off
- amani imtiyas
- Paul Angelo (Unlicensed)
This article contains: |
1. Overview |
A 'Sign-Off' can appear after any step of a project and can be used to show that approval has been received. In some cases, if a 'sign-off' is rejected, it may restrict you from working on the project and continuing with the project workflow.
Business Rules
The current phase of a project will be locked down while the project is in a status of 'Pending Approval' (Except when specified or otherwise by the IPM Administrator). As the project cannot proceed until signed off, the lockdown will not delay project development and will prevent determinations being made on any fluctuating data.
The IPM administrator can amend/edit the project even after a project is closed.
The behaviour of the Phase will depend on the sign off response.
When the phase is approved sign off phase will be ready only and next phase will be editable (depending on sign off object configurations).
When a phase is ‘differed’, phase will remain editable.
When a phase is ‘rejected’ then the rejected phase will be made 'read only'. The project is to automatically advance to the phase that contains the Close object, regardless of its current phase if the setting 'Go to Close Object When Reject Phase or Object' is switched ON in the client's environment.
Sign off initiation and response depend on the object permission configured for the project positions, user’s with ‘Can edit’ permission will be allowed to initiate a sign off and user’s with ‘Can finish/sign off’ permission will be allowed to respond.
If the responder is not available, IPM administrator can nominates a new responder by simply clicking the ‘Re-apply for sign off’ button and selecting a member from the drop-down.
When a sign off phase is re-submitted, any auto created baselines for the particular phase will be removed.
When a phase is re-submitted, details such as person who re-submitted and the date will be displayed in the screen.
A separate request email will be generated in the close phase to initiate the response to that phase. When the response is ‘approved’ project will be closed and if the response if ‘deferred’ project will remain open and user is allowed to edit the phase.
2. Applying for Approval |
When the 'Sign-off' authority is determined by the IPM administrator (E.g.: Project sponsor, project owner), click on Submit for Sign Off button and an email will be generated to the staff member specified for the particular role.
When the 'sign-off authority is not specified, select a staff member from the dropdown and click Apply for Approval and an email will be generated to the specified staff member.
The wording and the layout of the email generated may vary depending on how your IPM Administrator set it up.
Once applied for approval, the project will freeze, and you will not be allowed to proceed further until the sign-off is completed.
3. Completing a Sign Off |
Upon receiving the sign-off request email, the Sign Off Authority can then review the project and choose to Approve, Defer or Reject the item. Depending on sign off settings determined by your IPM administrator, the Sign Off Authority may be allowed to provide a justification for the decision.
This can be done by either clicking the relevant link in the sign-off email or by navigating to the sign-off phase and clicking on the relevant button.
At this stage, a Sign Off Complete email is generated to the Project Owner.
4. Sign Off Emails |
4.1 Sign-Off Request
The request email contains three options which are ‘Approve’, ‘Not Approve’ or ‘Resubmit’ that the Sign-Off authority would select when signing off the project.
The request may also contain a specific URL that would direct you to the Sign-Off object of the current phase.
4.2 Sign-Off Complete
The Sign-Off is completed when the sign-off authority makes a decision by either accepting, rejecting or deferring a sign-off. The Sign-Off complete email is then sent to the user who requested for a Sign-Off.
4.3 Sign-Off General Comments
Sign-Off general comments can be entered in order to mention any related information regarding the project. However, to do this, the user must be a member of the project board and team and should possess 'can edit' permission given by the Administrator.
To enter a general comment,
STEP 1: Enter the comment in the 'Sign-Off General Comments' text box.
STEP 2: Click on Insert button.
Use the adjacent edit icon to modify comments or delete icon to delete a comment.
4.4 Sign-Off History Comments
Sign-Off history comments can be entered only by the sign-off authority. This section is located below the Sign-Off general comments section.
STEP 1: Enter the comment in the 'Sign-Off History Comments' text box.
STEP 2: Click on the relevant button to Accept, Reject or Defer the Sign-Off.
You will find Sign-Off history comments in the table immediately below the General Comments table.