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Using FootPrints Change Manager

Change management is a process of acquiring approval for steps in that process.  The steps in the process are defined as "phases".  Designated approvers vote to approve or disapprove the Issue at each phase in the process.

An Issue that is in the Change Manager approval process looks the same as any other Issue unless the Agent has been designated as an approver for that phase of the approval process.  Votes by approvers are cast either within the FootPrints interface or via email.

If the Agent has been designated as an approver, extra fields are displayed on the Details page so that the approver can cast his or her vote.  Approval votes are cast on the Details page.

The fields for voting are as follows:

• Change vote—This box is checked by default. Check the box to leave your vote unchanged. The buttons for voting are displayed when you uncheck the box.
• Approve/Disapprove/Defer—Click the Approve or Disapprove button to vote to approve or disapprove the Issue.  Click the Defer button to acknowledge that you have seen the "ballot" and leave a comment without affecting the final outcome of the decision.  If the phase does not end before you have the chance, you can go back and change your vote to Approve or Disapprove as you see fit.  If you defer, you continue receiving reminder emails.

When approval criteria have been met, the Issue is moved into another phase of the process or the process of approvals is completed.  Voters may be required to vote on only one phase or multiple phases in the process.

• End this phase - Override all voting—Some voters may be assigned the privilege of ending the phase entirely on the authority of their vote.  This is a configurable option and is not present on all ballots.

Note

If you cast your vote before entering comments, the vote is recorded and the Details page changes to show the result of your vote.  See below for information on how to change your vote, which allows you to add comments if you voted but did not include comments at that time.

• Extended Voting Details—Extended Voting Details include:
  • Issue number
  • process name
  • process description
  • phase name
  • phase description
  • approval/disapproval requirements
  • list of approvers
  • next phase in the process
  • list of approval/disapproval votes, including who voted, date of the vote, and voter comments
  • list of votes cast with voters' comments
• Comments on Vote (optional)—You can enter any comments you wish in this field.  Some comments you might include are the rational for your vote or, for example, if you vote to disapprove, you might include what you would require to vote to approve the Issue if it came back to you again.
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If approvers receive email notification when voting begins and/or recurring email reminders that a vote is pending, approvers may, depending on how the notifications are configured, be able to cast his or her vote by replying to the notification.

If you can vote by email, the email contains a line of text similar to the following:

[ ]Approve        [ ]Disapprove

To vote by email, select Reply in your mail program, enter an X between the appropriate square brackets in the reply, then send the reply.  Do not alter the security ID in any way.  That data is required for a successful vote.

If the email is configured to allow it, you can also enter comments in your reply along with your vote by simply typing your comments on the line indicated.

One of a set of responses is returned to email votes for both successful and unsuccessful votes, as follows:

• For successful votes:
  • 'Your re-vote for approval for [Issue: %s, Process: %s, Phase: %s] was counted.';
  • 'Your vote for approval for [Issue: %s, Process: %s, Phase: %s] was counted.';
  • 'Your re-vote against approval for [Issue: %s, Process: %s, Phase: %s] was counted.';
  • 'Your vote against approval for [Issue: %s, Process: %s, Phase: %s] was counted.';
• For unsuccessful votes:
  • 'Your vote for [Issue: %s, Process: %s, Phase: %s] was not counted. Voting for this phase ended.';
  • 'Your vote for [Issue: %s, Process: %s, Phase: %s] was not counted. The ballot was not clear.';
  • 'Your vote for [Issue: %s, Process: %s, Phase: %s] was not counted. Reason not known.';
  • 'Your vote for [Issue: %s, Process: %s, Phase: %s] was not counted. Your email address did not match our records.';
  • 'Your vote for [Issue: %s, Process: %s, Phase: %s] was not counted. This is not the correct workspace.';
  • 'Your vote was not counted. The security ID was invalid.';
  • 'Your vote was not counted. The security ID was not found.';

Override Votes—Super-approvers

A "Super-approver" is empowered to end any phase immediately on the authority of his or her vote only.  A super-approver's vote overrides all other votes in the phase.

If you are empowered with super-approver status and want to end the phase on your own authority, check the End this phase - Override all voting checkbox.  A warning message is then displayed.  Cast your vote to approve or disapprove and the phase is ended.

When the phase ends, it follows the normal procedure configured for approval or disapproval, depending on which way the super-approver voted.

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