Create & Apply Workflows

A Workflow is a pre-defined series of tasks.

Workflows help eliminate extra admin work by allowing you to automatically designate tasks that happen for every matter.

The best way to think about how workflows can help your practice is to think about what areas of your current process are repetitive. If you are completing the same "to-do" tasks for every client or specific matter type, then it's best to set up a workflow. 

Review sample workflows in our Practice Area Guides for suggestions on what workflows to use for your firm.

Create a Workflow

Navigate to Workflows in Smokeball Settings.

On the Workflows tab, click Add New.

1. Enter a name for the Workflow
2. Click on change.. to select the relevant matter types this Workflow should apply to.
3. Expand the arrows and Check the box(es) for the matter types this workflow should apply to
4. We recommend checking always apply this Workflow to new Matters for any Workflow that is widely used. This setting saves you from having to manually apply the workflow each time you want to use it.

Adding tasks to your Workflow

1. Select New Task.
2. Enter the name of the task.
3. Select a Due Date, based on a number of days before, after or on a critical date, or upon completion of another task in the workflow.
4. Assign the task. It is recommended you select Matter Fee Earner or Person Assisting.
   • If someone leaves your firm, the tasks will be reassigned at the same time the matter is reassigned. If you select a specific staff member by name, tasks will not re-assign. If you need to assign to multiple people, select Staff.
     
     
5. [Optional] Enter a Category for this task. Later on, you can use these categories to filter your list of tasks to only show particular ones.
   • Categories, Details (any additional information for the task) and Hours (the expected time to complete the task) are optional fields.

You can link a Form or Precedent letter from the Precedent Library to a task within a workflow from the Documents tab.

A task with linked documents will show a Create button for the assignee when they look at the task

Continue creating the next tasks related to this Workflow. Once all tasks are entered, select Save and Close to complete the Workflow.

Reorder tasks in a Workflow

To rearrange the order of tasks, select the task and use the up/down arrows to move it.

Duplicate, delete or export a Workflow

You can duplicate, delete, and export a workflow by right-clicking on the individual workflow from Smokeball Settings.

Next Steps

Once you've created your workflow, learn how to apply it to your matter.