Approving External Modular Questionnaire Updates

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to make an approval decision for an external modular questionnaire update.

About Approving External Modular Questionnaire Updates

The approval process for updates to a modular questionnaire can differ depending on the setup. Updates may follow the same flow as a new questionnaire, go through a different approval process, or be automatically approved. If a project template includes an approval task for updates, the updates to the modular questionnaire must be approved before they are finalized.

If there are approval processes for the updates, or if you have requested additional information from the supplier, you can compare the answers in the latest and previous versions on the questionnaire details page during approval.

How to Make Approval Decisions for External Modular Questionnaire Updates

If you're in the approval flow, use these steps to make an approval decision for an updated external modular questionnaire.

Business Scenario

NSM Global has set up its modular questionnaire processes to require approval for changes to external questionnaires. Supplier manager Amy Chen participates in the approval process for certificate updates. She reviews the updated questionnaires and decides whether to approve them. This approach aligns with NSM Global's commitment to accuracy and compliance.

In this video, you’ll watch Amy approve and request additional information about external modular questionnaire updates.

Steps

  1. Open the approval task details page by performing one of the following actions:

    • Choose the link in the notification e-mail.
    • Navigate to the Questionnaires detail area of the supplier's profile. On the Task tab, choose Take Action for the approval task.

  2. Review the supplier's answers. To display only the questions with updated answers, choose Updated. To display all answers, choose All.

  3. Optional: To compare the current answers with a version of the questionnaire the supplier submitted previously, choose the version number in the Previous Version column and select the version.

    Note

    The Previous Version column shows answers from the selected version. The Latest Version column continues to show answers from the current update.

  4. Perform one of the following actions:

    • To approve the questionnaire, choose Approve, enter an optional comment, and choose Approve.
    • To request additional information from the respondent, choose Request Additional Info, enter a comment explaining what information you want, and choose Request Additional Info.

Result

If you’re the final approver for a questionnaire update, the modular questionnaire project's update status is now Approved, and the supplier is notified of that status by e-mail. If you’re not the final approver, the questionnaire project update remains in Pending Approval status until the final decision is made. After the final approval, the questionnaire reopens so the supplier can update it again.

Comments added during questionnaire approval are displayed on both the questionnaire and approval task details pages, which you can see by viewing the questionnaire or task. Questionnaire details pages show all comments for all tasks in the project, and you can filter them to show only the comments for the current questionnaire. Task details pages show only the comments associated with the current task. Depending on how your site's notifications are set up, approval comments may also be included in approval notifications to suppliers.

If your organization uses different phases to manage tasks for new questionnaires and questionnaire updates, the questionnaire details page only shows comments for tasks in the current phase. After a recipient submits the first questionnaire update, only comments for tasks in the update phase are displayed, and the comment history shows comments for all updates.

If you requested additional information about an external questionnaire update and entered a comment, the supplier sees the most recent approval comment when they revise their response.

Approve an External Modular Questionnaire Update

In this exercise, you’ll approve an external modular questionnaire update.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Steps

  1. Open the approval task details page for the Diversity Certificates for PLC Enterprises questionnaire.

    1. Choose the Task tab in the Questionnaires detail area of PLC Enterprises’ supplier profile.

    2. Choose Take Action for the Approval for diversity certificates questionnaire update task.

  2. Review the supplier's answers.

    1. Choose Updated to display only the questions with updated answers.

    2. Choose Expand to see the details for a certificate.

  3. Approve the questionnaire.

    1. Choose Approve.

    2. Choose Approve to confirm your approval.

  4. Choose Done.

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