[2007] Set next approver - approval routing

[legendsfan]

I've got PS 2007 installed and running in a test environment. I've
setup some mock users and assigned an RBS to test approval routing.
Not sure what I configured wrong for one manager, but one of the
direct reports timesheets goes to the manager for approval, but the
manager has to approve and forward it on to someone higher in the
RBS. I'd like to have the manager approve direct reports and not have
multiple approvals. Where do I configure the approval process?

Thanks,

John

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

John --

Did you add the manager in question to the Resource Managers group? That
should take care of the issue. Let us know.

 

[legendsfan]

Yes the manager is a member of the "Resource Managers" group. He is
able to approve the time, but must set another approver to forward on
to, so the time is only listed as "Acceptable" until the next approver
submits the time. Is there any settings within Project that where you
can setup multiple approvers?

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

legendsfan --

You specify the timesheet approver for each resource in the Timesheet
Manager field. The final approver in the approval chain should have his/her
own name displayed in the Timesheet Manager field. For example, in our
organization we need the following timesheet approval chain:

1. Mickey Cobb submits her timesheet to Dale Howard for approval.
2. After approving Mickey's timesheets, Dale must sumbit Mickey's approved
timesheet to Gary Chefetz.
3. Gary is the final approver in the chain of timesheet approvals, so his
approval ends the process.

Given the above information, I must specify the Timesheet Manager for each
resource as follows:

Resource Name Timesheet Manager
Mickey Cobb Dale Howard
Dale Howard Gary Chefetz
Gary Chefetz Gary Chefetz

Given this fact, I would encourage you to examine the Timesheet Manager
field for the manager in question. I think you will find someone else's
name listed as this resource's Timesheet Manager. Let us know if this
helps.

 

[Gustavo Holloway]

Dale,

I have the oposite problem.
I have three resources on RBS like this:
1-Manager
2-PM
3-Resource

Timesheet managers are in the same order: Resource -> PM -> Manager

What is happening is that when PM approves, the process finishes so that the
final approval is not with the manager!

Where I'm configuring wrong?

Thanks

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Gustavo --

This is an excellent question. I used my MVP status to pose the same
problem to program managers for the Project Server 2007. The reply I got
was this:

"The approval process stops when the next approver has Approve Timesheet
perms for the resource whose actuals are in question. Since this user (the
PM in your case) has permissions to approve the timesheet, there's no reason
to complete the workflow."

To resolve your issue, I believe set the Approve Timesheet permission for
the PM to Not Allowed (neither Allow or Deny is checked) and make sure the
View Resource Timesheet permission is set to Allowed for the PM. Hope this
helps.

 

[Gustavo Holloway]

Thanks Dale! You are helping a lot while MS doesn't present the entire
documentation for this product.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Gustavo --

You are more than welcome. Thanks for the kind comment.