Introduction to Automations

Created by Monica Madan, Modified on Tue, 21 Nov, 2023 at 2:16 PM by Monica Madan

  • Plan Availability
  • Essential
  • Standard
  • Premium
  • Enterprise

In the world of managing multiple projects, there's a lot to handle – from tracking due dates and managing task approvals to addressing CSATs and handling form responses. But what if you could manage these workflows through automation?


That's where Rocketlane comes in. We're introducing automations that seamlessly integrate into your projects. They keep an eye on due date changes, task approvals, and status updates, stepping in to prevent project delays due to manual intervention.


You're in control – these automations can be customized to match your unique workflow. And if you're not sure where to start, don't worry. Rocketlane offers a carefully curated library of automations that you can effortlessly plug into your projects. 


In this article

Do it the Automations way!


With automations as your trusty sidekick, you can streamline your workflows effortlessly. So, what can these powerful automations do for you? 


Let's quickly learn automations through an example!


An automation rule consists of a trigger, a condition, and an action.


The "Trigger" is the component that sets the automation rule in motion. 


The "Condition" is the set of requirements that the automation must meet to run. 


The "Action" is the resulting outcome of the automation rule running successfully. 


Don't have time to read through? Watch the video below.




Let's consider a scenario where the project owner needs to act on any overdue task that exceeds three days.


Here,


When any overdue task - is the trigger

Exceeds 3 days - is the condition

Notifying project owner - is the action


Add a trigger:


Automations are always on the lookout for an event to happen to get triggered. In our example, the trigger will execute when the system identifies an overdue task. You can start by setting up this trigger.


Set up the condition:


The automation then checks for certain conditions it needs to meet before firing. 

  • In our example, the task should’ve been overdue for 3 days for it to match the condition. Set it up. 
  • You can add more conditions to the automation rule. If any of these conditions are not met, the automation will fail to execute.
  • The conditions can be set to match "All" or "Any" of the filters.

For example, you can choose "Matches All" add conditions like "where" "at risk" is "true" and "priority" is "high."



Execute the action:


The action that results from the automation being triggered and meeting the conditions is the success of the automation. In our example, if the project owner is notified of the overdue task within three days, it is the result of a successfully executed automation.


You can also update the project owner as an assignee for this task by adding another action.


Note, that you can have multiple action blocks for your workflow, for example if the same task exceeds 5 days and 7 days, other project stakeholders like BU head and CEO can also be notified using automations.



Now that we understand the capabilities and workings of automations, let's explore the various ways Rocketlane empowers you to implement them!


Rocketlane offers various ways for you to use automations. You can create a standardized automation blueprint that can be applied to specific projects by seamlessly configuring automations at a template level. Click here


Alternatively, if you want to optimize workflows across all your projects, phases, and tasks, you can use Global automations to configure account-wide automation rules. Click here


Here is how Rocketlane uses triggers, conditions and actions in Automations.


Using Automation Triggers

Triggers look out for events like status changes, task approvals, CSAT ratings to kick-start an automation rule. These events can take place on a project, phase or tasks. Rocketlane enables you to set up triggers specific to projects, phases, tasks and also forms. 


For example, whenever a status change happens on projects and you have set up a status changed project trigger, it will kick-start the automation rule. The same applies for phases and tasks. Rocketlane also enables triggers to be set up on forms, so that you can automate the next set of actions that follow the form response submission.


Note: These triggers can be set up on project templates that will be inherited by projects during creation or can be set up globally for the entire account.


Here is a quick breakdown of how triggers work in Rocketlane!



Triggers that run on

What does it do?

Example

Projects

Listens to events happening across projects 

When task approval is received then email customer
When task status is changed to overdue then notify project owner
When task is in the same status for 4 days then update assignee

Phases

Listens to events happening across phases

When start date is updated then mark the phase status as “in progress”
When due date is updated then postpone the date by 3 days

Tasks

Listens to events happening across tasks

When task is overdue then notify project owner
When assignee is updated then change the status as ig progress

Forms

Listens to events happening across forms

When form response is received then create a task
When CSAT rating is less than 3 then notify project manager



A trigger can be set off for a phase but carry out actions on projects, phases or forms. Here is a quick example:


Trigger: When status of the phase “Go-live” changes to “completed,” then mark the status of the project as “completed”


\

Here is the list of triggers for projects, phases, tasks and forms


Project triggers


Project Triggers

Use case

Project created


When a project is created, import a template

Field is updated


When a field like status field is updated to in-progress, assign customers

Customer invited


When customers are invited, send welcome emails

Placeholder resolved


When placeholder is resolved, update project field like project owner name with the placeholder value

Project archived


When project is archived, notify project owner

Project deleted

When project is deleted, notify project owner


More on how to setup automations that run on project triggers here


Phase triggers:


Phase Triggers

Use case

Start date updated


When phase start date is updated, import template

Due date updated


When project due date is updated, notify project owner

Status updated


When final phase status is completed, set the project status as completed

Phase name updated


When phase name is updated, notify project owner

Phase deleted


When phase is deleted, notify project owner


More on how to setup automations that run on phase triggers here

Task triggers:


Task Triggers

Use case

Due date changed


When a task due date is changed, send a private message on the chat

Status updated


When a task field like status field is updated to in-progress, assign customers

Assignee updated


When assignees are updated, set the status of the task as in progress

Field is updated


When task field like status is updated to completed, send email to billing team

Task approval response received


When task approval response is received, import project template

New message on task

When new message on task is received, send an automated response

CSAT submitted


When CSAT received is less than 3 stars, notify project owner

Task deleted


When task is deleted notify project owner

More on how to setup automations that run on task triggers here


Form Triggers:


Has all the task triggers plus the below:


Form Triggers

Use case

Form approval response received


When form approval response is received, import project template

CSAT submitted

When a CSAT is submitted with rating less than 3, notify project owner


More on how to setup automations that run on form triggers here


Using Automation Conditions

Automations can be customized and made more flexible by using conditions to control their flow. Conditions are specific criteria that must be met for an automated rule to take effect. They act as checkpoints, determining when actions should be executed and under what circumstances.If the conditions are satisfied, the automations will run successfully; otherwise, they will remain inactive. 


Note: Adding conditions to your automation rule is entirely optional


You can add as many conditions as required and ensure “all” or “any” of the conditions are met for the automation rule to trigger.


Example for Match “All” conditions:


Trigger: When assignee is updated, Condition: Where “At risk’ is true “And” Where Priority is “high;” Action: Then notify Project Manager


Here, the automation will notify the project manager only if the task is at risk and has a high priority.


Example for Match “Any” conditions:


Trigger: When assignee is updated; 

Condition: Where “At risk’ is true “Or” Where Priority is “high;” 

Action: Then notify Project Manager


Here, the automation will notify the project manager either if the task is at risk or has a high priority.


Here is the list of conditions, filters and advanced options


Types of Condition

What they mean

Projects

PhasesTasks and Forms

Start date change
Due date change

Date change conditions:
date is added 

date is removed 

date is postponed - by how many days (optional) 

date is expedited - by how many days (optional)





Status changed

From “x” to “y” status like “anything to completed”




Assignee is updated
Assignee can be:
Placeholders

Particular user(s) 

Customer

Partner
Placeholder resolved

Assignee is added (who was added) 

Assignee is removed (who was removed)

Assignee is made empty

assignee is

is exactly...

is not...

is one of...

is none of...

is empty...

is not empty...

added is

removed is




Project/task field is updated

All the default and custom fields including project status, task efforts, phase name




Csat is submitted

Csat value received is ><= ____




Task approval response received

yes/change was requested and by whom?






Using Automation actions

When it comes to automations, "actions" are the specific steps that are carried out in the automation rule. These actions are the end results of an automated workflow and can cover various activities, such as sending emails, updating assignees, notifying someone and so much more.


These actions can be performed on projects, phases, tasks and forms. Also an automation rule can perform more than one action.


For example: 


Trigger: When Assignee update


Action block 1:

Condition: If the assignee updated on a task is empty


Action 1: Update assignee as customer success

Action 2: Notify project owner



Rearrange and delete actions

  • You can re-arrange actions inside an action block using the sort icon
  • Click on the cross mark to delete any action



Action block 2: You can have more than one action block set up for an automation rule and use one rule to perform a set of actions if the predefined conditions are met. For example, if assignee is not empty, send a new message on task to initiate the task.



Note: 
1. It's important to note that the execution of action blocks is typically linear, meaning that each action block is processed one after the other.
2. If any action block encounters errors or exceptions, it might affect the subsequent blocks. 


Actions

Projects

Phases

Tasks

Import template



Update due date


Update start date


Update assignee



Update status


Shift task dates



Request approval



Update fields


Send project update



Send message


Delete 

Archive 



Notify someone

Notify via slack

Turn all allocations

Send an email

Create subtask

Create task









Was this article helpful?

That’s Great!

Thank you for your feedback

Sorry! We couldn't be helpful

Thank you for your feedback

Let us know how can we improve this article!

Select at least one of the reasons
CAPTCHA verification is required.

Feedback sent

We appreciate your effort and will try to fix the article

Contact our support team

Have more questions? Paid users can log in and email or chat with us.

Start your free trial