Processing an Action

An Action in Enate will begin in a status of 'To Do' until a resource has picked it up. This could be a human resource or a robot resource.

Unlike a Ticket or a Case, an Action is never in a status of Draft. Enate creates it in To Do.

Once you start updating an Action sitting in this state, it will:

• automatically assign to you and

• the status will change to 'In progress'

You can also choose to change the state yourself. This signifies that work is now underway and it will stay in 'In Progress' until it's resolved, assuming for example no waiting for further information.

When an Action moves past To Do, its parent Case moves to In Progress as well if the Case was still sitting in To Do.

Setting an Action back to 'To Do'

If you've picked up an Action in error, or if your reach the conclusion that it's not a piece of work you're going to be able to progress you can unassign it from yourself, either to another resource or just back to its Queue. This could be after 10 seconds or half an hour, but when you do this the system will automatically set the status back to 'To Do' to let everyone know that it's not going to be progressed until another resource picks it up. You can also just manually set the status back to 'To Do' if for example you started working on it in error and need to quickly undo the status change.

Similarly if a robot resource rejects a piece of work its status will be set back to 'To Do' as part of handing it over for a human resource to carry out.

Using 'Wait' for Actions

If you're working on an Action and you have to temporarily halt work on it because you're waiting for some additional information or because of some other temporary blocker, you should choose the 'Wait' status.

When placing an Action into a state of 'Wait', you need to specify the type of wait. Every Action offers:

• Wait for more information

• Wait Until

Two further wait types appear on particular Action types:

Wait type	Where it appears
Wait for Sub Case	On a 'Wait for Sub Cases to Complete' Action whose Sub Case has not finished yet.
Wait for External System	On a 'Trigger External API' Action. Enate also uses this wait type for IDP Document Extraction and AI Analyst Actions while they are being processed.

If you confirm the Wait status without choosing a wait type, the system responds with 'Please specify a wait type before continuing.'

An Action may be configured so that when it is paused, the parent Case also pauses. However, it is important to note that the Case will only pause when a user selects the 'Wait for more information' option at run time. If the user selects the 'Wait Until' option, then the parent Case will not pause.

When that Action comes off Wait, Enate resumes the parent Case to In Progress automatically.

Wait for more information for Actions

Impact on SLA clock: IF the Action's due date rule (configured during process design) has 'Add Wait Time To Due Date' set to ON, SLA clock PAUSES while an Action is in this state. If it is set to OFF, the SLA clock CONTINUES while the Action is in this state.

If you're working on an Action and you have to temporarily halt work on it because you're waiting for some for some information from a third party or client, you should choose 'Wait for more information'.

Unlike a Ticket, an Action does not ask you for a number of days to wait, and unlike a Case it does not ask you for a wait reason. The Action waits until information arrives.

Upon confirming the 'Wait for more information' status, the Action will move from your Work Inbox into your Owned Work list, as there is no active work to be carried out on it until a response is received.

Once a response has been received, the Action will move back from your Owned Work list into your Work Inbox in a state of To Do, highlighted for you to progress.

On an Approval Action, this wait type also offers a checkbox to send a new approval request email to the approvers.

Wait Until for Actions

Impact on SLA clock: SLA clock CONTINUES while the Action is in this state. 'Add Wait Time To Due Date' has no effect on a 'Wait Until', because Enate only adds wait time back to the due date for a wait for more information.

If you're working on an Action and you have to temporarily halt work on it until a specific future date/time, you should choose 'Wait Until'.

When you select 'Wait Until', you must specify the desired follow up date and time.

The date and time must be in the future and no more than one year ahead. If you leave it blank or choose a date that has passed, the system tells you so and does not save the change. If the follow up date is later than the Action's due date, the system warns you that 'This date is beyond the Due Date. This may result in SLA failure'. It does not stop you.

Upon confirming the 'Wait Until' status, the Action will move from your Work Inbox into your Owned Work list, as there is no active work to be carried out on it until the follow up date.

When this date is reached, the Action will move back from your Owned Work list into your Work Inbox in a state of To Do, highlighted for you to progress. The Info Card says so in advance, for example 'Set to wait until 14 Oct 2026 09:00. After this date the Action will move back to To Do.'

Enate checks for waits that have expired every 30 seconds, so an Action comes off Wait shortly after its follow up date and time rather than exactly on it.

Editing an existing wait

While an Action is waiting, the Info Card offers an 'Edit Wait' button. Use this to change the wait type or the follow up date without first moving the Action to another status.

Resolving an Action

You signify completing the Action by marking it as Resolved.

Along with this there are two options to specify how the Action was resolved:

• Complete

• Unable to Complete

If you try to save without picking one, the system responds with 'Please specify a resolution type before continuing.'

Where the Action has a checklist, every item must be answered Yes, No or N/A before you can mark the Action as complete. See The Action Screen for more about checklists.

Unable to Complete

Set this option if you cannot complete the required activity. Once you have confirmed this option, the Action will be closed and cannot be re-opened. The Case Owner will be notified of this and be asked to take the necessary steps to resolve at Case level. This may involve starting another copy of the Action, reworking the Case from a previous step, or moving on.

Enter the reason you are unable to complete the Action and hit the 'can't Complete' button to confirm. The tab will close.

The reason is mandatory and can be at most 256 characters. If you leave it blank the system responds with 'Please specify the reason why this Action cannot be completed before continuing.' If it is too long, it responds with 'Reason for not completing the Action cannot exceed 256 characters.'

The parent Case is then put into To Do and flagged as needing attention, with a reason of 'Action Unable To Complete'.

Peer Review Actions

A Manual with Peer Review Action passes through Resolved twice. When the person doing the work resolves it as Complete, the Action does not close. It returns to To Do with the assignee cleared, now waiting for a reviewer.

At that point the Info Card asks for a peer review outcome rather than a resolution method, and offers:

Outcome	What happens next
Pass	The Action closes.
Fail	The Action goes back to To Do for the work to be done again, with the assignee cleared.
Unable to Complete	The Action closes as not done successfully.

Fail and Unable to Complete both require a comment. If you leave it blank the system responds with 'Please enter Peer Review Comments before continuing.' The comment then appears on the Action's Info Card as 'Peer Review failed because:'.

You cannot review your own work. The Action is read only for the person who did it, and for anyone whose Work Manager role does not include the 'Peer review Action Full Access' permission.

If the Action's peer review rules mean no review is needed this time, Enate skips the review and closes the Action straight away.

See here for more information:

'Peer Review' Actions

Resolved to Closed

After the Action has been resolved, it will move to a state of 'Closed'.

Actions do not have a feedback window. Resolved is a moment in an Action's life rather than a status it sits in, so an Action moves through Resolved to Closed in the same step.

Any subsequent mails received will launch a brand new work item. Once you have selected this, the Action will be closed and cannot be re-opened.

There is no way to reopen a closed Action, and no way to undo an 'Unable to Complete'. If the work still needs doing, the Case Owner has to launch another copy of the Action or rework the Case.

Note: You can easily move an item from 'To Do' straight through to resolved.

Actions that move on without you

Not every Action is resolved by a person. Enate changes an Action's status by itself in these cases:

What happens	Where the Action ends up	Reason recorded
A 'Send Email' Action sends its email.	Closed	Updated By Enate
The Action's General Settings flavour has 'Auto-complete on Timeout' switched on, and the Action passes its due date.	Closed	Timeout
A 'Trigger External API' Action gets no response in time, or the external system reports a failure.	To Do, so a person can pick it up	Timeout
The Case is cancelled, or the Case flow reaches an End Case Action.	Closed	Cancelled, or End Case

Worked example: an HR Approval Action that waits

Action 10040-C-A1.1, 'HR Approval' on the Case 'Jack Jones new starter', is launched in a status of To Do.

1. Priya opens it. Enate assigns it to her and moves it to In Progress. The parent Case, which was in To Do, moves to In Progress at the same time.

2. Priya needs confirmation from the hiring manager, so she selects Waiting, chooses a wait type of 'Wait for more information' and clicks Save Changes. The tab closes. The Action type is configured to pause its parent Case, so the Case moves to Waiting as well, with a wait reason of 'Awaiting Information from Action'.

3. The hiring manager replies. The Action returns to To Do in Priya's Work Inbox, and the Case resumes to In Progress.

4. Priya answers the checklist items, selects Resolved and picks 'Complete'. The Action is resolved as 'Done Successfully' and moves straight to Closed. The next Action in the step launches.