You set up a flow template in two steps: create and add tasks. You can find out when a task starts and who it goes to from your task template. You then save the template and can start it for each employee.
Create a new flow template
Click “Flow Templates” in the menu on the left.
Click “Create new flow template” in the top right corner.
Enter a name and description above. Both are mandatory.
You'll use this name to select the template later when you start a flow. So take one that everyone can immediately assign, for example “Onboarding Sales”.
Adding tasks
The tasks in a flow template are drawn from your task templates. If a task is missing, you must first create it on the "Task templates" page.
On the left, you will see the "Add tasks from templates" section.
Search for the task using the "Search by task name" field.
Click the plus icon on the card, or drag and drop the card into the list.
Clicking on the card itself displays a preview of the task without adding it. Selecting "Open task template" takes you to the task template itself.
Each card shows when the task begins and to whom it is assigned—for example, "–14 days • Employee." It appears in the list exactly as defined in its task template, including the scheduled date and assignment.
Some tasks depend on others. For instance, an "Order laptop" task might require the operating system that an employee selects in a "Preferred laptop" task. If the "Preferred laptop" task is missing, a "Resolve dependencies" prompt will appear, offering to add that task for you.
Use the trash icon at the end of a row to remove a task. If other tasks are dependent on it, a prompt will appear beforehand to show you what else will be affected.
Views
In the top-right corner above the list, you can switch between four different views of the same tasks:
List: all tasks displayed as a table, sorted by due date.
Days: one day per row.
Calendar: tasks shown in a monthly calendar.
Flow diagram: how tasks depend on one another. You can learn more about this in the article "How does a flow respond to answers?"
View: Days
View: Calendar
View: Flow Diagram
Change example date
A flow template does not yet contain an actual date. To ensure you can still see data, it uses an example date for its calculations. The real data is only generated once you launch the flow for an employee.
You can find the example’s first workday in the heading of the "Onboarding" phase. Use the "Change example date" option next to it to select a different date. This only affects the preview.
Emails
Use the "Emails" button—located next to "Save"—to specify which emails this flow should send to the employee:
"Welcome email to the employee": sent immediately after the flow begins
"Farewell email to the employee": sent as soon as their first offboarding task is due
The button appears as soon as the template contains tasks. It indicates how many emails are enabled—for example, "All emails active." The welcome email is only an option if the template includes preboarding or onboarding tasks, while the farewell email is only available if there are offboarding tasks.
For a "return from parental leave," for instance, the welcome email is disabled, as the employee is already familiar with the company.
You can edit the text of the emails in the settings under "Emails."
Adjusting deadlines and assignees (optional)
In most cases, no action is required here. Each task inherits its start date and assignee from its task template:
Deadline: a specified number of days before or after the first day of work (or, for offboarding tasks, before the last day).
Assignee: a role (employee, manager, or buddy), a specific individual, or a group. If a role is selected, the actual person is assigned only when the workflow begins. Therefore, you do not need to make any adjustments if a different manager is involved.
Customizing is only worthwhile if a task within a specific flow template needs to be handled differently than in others:
A different person is responsible: In the "Working Student" flow template, the task "Set up laptop" might be assigned to Kevin Wagner instead of the IT group. In all other flow templates, it remains assigned to IT.
The timing is different: Working students often start on short notice. In this case, the task "Fill out personnel questionnaire" could be set to occur 5 days before the start date, rather than 10.
How to customize a task:
Click the pencil icon in the task's row.
Under the "Assignment and Date" tab, adjust the number of days in the "Task starts" field. Alternatively, under "Assignment," select the category (role, individual, or group) and then the specific assignee.
Click "Save."
The original task template itself remains unchanged. The gray "Template" row in the window displays the default value, which you can restore at any time by clicking "Reset." In the list, customized values are indicated by an underline.
Good to know: You can only modify assignments if the setting "Allow task assignments to be changed per flow template" is enabled. Otherwise, the assignment defined in the original task template will always apply.