Get started with Document Processes

Why you'll love Document Processes​

• Powerful comment management. Reviewers can raise problems, questions and comments as an issue on the document. Issues are continually accumulated through each review of the document. They are tracked and managed in a separate register. Project fields can also be applied to issues, to collect specific feedback during your reviews.
• Faster process management. Create review rules and perform bulk updates in a few clicks using the Review Matrix. 
• Reduce errors with rule based document routing. Start reviews across multiple disciplines in a single action. Documents are automatically routed to reviewers based on each document's metadata.
• See reviews at a glance. Quickly see the status of your document deliverables and initiate subsequent reviews with ease.
• Flexible review outcomes. Create up to to 20 different review outcomes​ for each review.
• Smarter search. Tracking and reporting is a breeze with all document metadata and project fields included as searchable fields. 

Who can use Document Processes?

Document Processes is disabled on all projects by default. Once a Project Admin enables it, you'll find Document Processes on the top main navigation menu. It appears for all organizations on the project, but only users with permission can initiate reviews with it.

Permissions in Document Processes are granted to user roles in the same way as other areas of Aconex. Note: There is no permission required to review a document. Anyone can be a reviewer.

The user role permissions are:

• Initiate a document process: Start a document process review. 
• Document Process Administrator: Administer all document process reviews for your organization.
• Share saved searches: Share a search with your organization or project.
• Edit/delete shared saved searches: Edit or delete saved searches.
• Create/edit review matrix: Create or edit review processes (rules) in the Review Matrix. Note: The project-owning organization configures review processes in the Review Matrix. They can also allow an additional organization to configure this.

Who can see the Document Processes menu?

Document Processes is disabled on all projects by default. Once a Project Admin enables it, you'll find Document Processes on the top main navigation menu. It appears for all organizations on the project, but only users with permission can initiate reviews with it.

Under the menu you'll find the following options:

• Steps assigned to me: Reviewers use this screen review documents. They'll see which steps across all reviews need their action. They add comments, markups, and provide an outcome (if they are the lead reviewer). see Review a document in Document Processes
• Issues assigned to me: Originators and other assignees view their assigned issues from here and respond accordingly. See Respond to issues in Document Processes 
• Review Steps: See all steps across all reviews your organization is involved with. 
• Review Issues: See all issues across all reviews your organization is involved with. 
• Deliverables: This is where the Process Owner keeps track of their deliverables. They provide a QA outcome, add reviewers, skip steps, or terminate reviews. See Manage a review in Document Processes  
• Review Matrix: The project-owning organization configures review processes/rules for the project in the review matrix. They can allow an additional organization to configure the review matrix if required. See Create and manage review rules for Document Processes 

Roles in Document Processes

There are different types of people involved in a document process review. Each has their own area of responsibility.

How does Document Processes work?

1. The process initiator starts a review for a document.
2. The document is routed to the reviewers by matching its metadata against the rules configured in the Review Matrix. This creates a deliverable which is a representation of the document being reviewed.
3. The process owner checks the document and selects the QA Outcome as Accepted to begin the review.
4. Reviewers receive a notification that they have a review to complete.
5. Reviewers pin issues to the document to provide their comments, markups and other feedback.
6. A lead reviewer chooses a review outcome (For example, Approved with Comments) to move the review onto the next stage. 
7. During the review, the process owner keeps things on track by skipping steps or adding more reviewers.
8. At the completion of the review, issues are either assigned to the originators for action, or manually assigned by the process owner. 
9. Issues are either reassigned or responded to. They can be left open if required and will remain pinned for the next review of the document.
10. After the issues have been managed, the originators or process initiator may decide to update the document in the Document Register, and/or start another review to capture more feedback.
11. The process owner can close a deliverable if they want to start a new review on the document without including the previous issues.

Initial set up

There's a few things that need to be configured before you can use Document Processes on your project. 


Step 1: Configure review outcomes and issue metadata

The Project Administrators from the project-owning organization:

• Configure review outcomes. These are the choices that lead reviewers select to move the review onto the next step, such as Approved or Rejected.
• Configure Issue metadata. Assign project fields to issue types to capture specific information from your reviewers.
• (Optional) Grant an additional organization the ability to create and edit rules in the Review Matrix (from Matrix Settings). 

Step 2: Assign permissions

• The Organization Administrator from the project-owning organization grants the Create/edit review matrix permission to users in their organization who will configure review rules for the project. Note: If another organization has been given access to manage the Review Matrix, their admins should also assign this permission to the users who need access.
• The Organization Administrator for each organization provides the appropriate permissions to users that need to start and manage reviews. 

Step 3: Configure review rules in the Review Matrix​

• Users from the appropriate organization with Create/edit review matrix permission configure review rules in the project's Review Matrix.
• The review rules determine who needs to be involved in a review based on the document's metadata.

How is Document Processes different from Workflows?

Both Workflows and Document Processes are available to use for document reviews on your project. They are independently integrated with the Document Register, but not with each other. Learn more about the key differences and benefits.

Terminology

• Document Processes: The feature/module within Aconex to help you manage document reviews and track comments across organizations, in real time.
• Deliverable: A representation of a single document in a review process. When a document process is started, a deliverable is created if one does not exist. The deliverable remains open and is reissued for each review to continually collect comments and coordinate issues.
• Deliverables (screen): The deliverables screen displays all documents that are currently in review or have previously been reviewed. This is where a process owner or document controller manages the document reviews to keep things on track.
• Review Outcome: The response to a review step. Can only be applied by a lead reviewer. See Configure review outcomes.
• Issue: These are raised against a document by the reviewers and lead reviewers and are used to collect comments, markups and feedback. Issues are assigned to originators who will either respond, resolve or reassign them. Project fields can be added to issues to help you collect detailed information about the issues being raised. Issues continue to accumulate against a document during each review. They do not have to be closed before another review begins. Issues are often referred to in the industry as comments, so the terms are sometimes used interchangeably when talking about this feature.
• Markup: An annotation added to the document through the document viewer. They can be added by reviewers and lead reviewers when raising an issue during the review.
• Review Matrix: This is where you configure the rules for which documents need to be reviewed and by whom. Rules can be created and updated in bulk directly from the matrix, or you can use the visual process builder. If you've previously used Workflows this is similar to creating a workflow template where you add steps and reviewers.
• Rule: The review rules are configured in the Review Matrix. These determine which documents need to be reviewed and by whom, based on document metadata. 

Frequently Asked Questions

• Will Workflows be turned off? No. Both Workflows and Document Processes are available to use on your project. See How is Document Processes different from Workflows.
• Can I use both Document Processes and Workflows? Yes, but if you choose to use both you should have clear guidelines on when they should be used. See How is Document Processes different from Workflows.
• Do Document Processes and Workflows work together? No. Workflows and Document Processes are independently integrated with the Document Register, but not with each other.
• Can I turn on/off Document Processes? Document Processes can be enabled or disabled by the Project Admin. If it's enabled on your project, you can manage permissions to prevent users in your organization from initiating reviews with it.
• How will this be licensed? Document Processes is not individually licensed. It is available for all projects.