How to Build a Workflow Process Before Lunch
A step-by-step log of how Paul Stone, FlowForma's Chief Customer Officer, built and tested a complex tender process, complete with approvals, weighted voting and a proposal award, in one morning. With no code.
Get the Process Playbook
- The full build log, from 9am to lunch
- Weighted scoring and cost score set-up
- Screenshots of every configuration step
The challenge: a tender process in one morning
FlowForma Process Automation lets you prototype, test and launch business processes in hours, with no coding required. To prove it, Paul set himself a tough challenge: build a complex process with decision-making functionality, all before lunch.
He chose the process that is a nightmare for most organizations: the tender process.
- Capture the project details
- Approve the tender
- Score each proposal in a sub-process
- Award the winning proposal
I set myself a pretty tough challenge: to build out a rather complex process with decision-making functionality, all in one morning.
The build log: 9am to lunch
Every step of the morning, and how long each one took.
- 9.00am30 mins
Kickstart the tender process
Three steps: Details, Approval and Proposal review. Steps and questions first, business rules later.
- 9.30amJust under 1 hour
Create the proposal process
Three more steps with the basic questions on each, kept at a high level to keep momentum.
- 10.30am30 mins
Add voting and weighted scoring
Each proposal is marked by a panel. Reviewers score each section from 1 to 100 and the back end does the weighting.
- 11.00am30 mins
Connect the processes with parent-child
A Tender ID in both processes links each proposal to its tender, and new proposals pull the tender code in automatically.
- 11.30am1 hour
Calculate the results
A repeating table scores every proposal at once, auto-populated by a rule that looks up the child forms filtered by tender code.
- 12.30pm15 mins
Configuration done, time to test
Run a tender end to end: create, approve, add proposals, score and award.
- 12.45pm
Lunch!
A complex, decision-making process built and tested in one morning, with no code.
Weighted scoring, handled by the back end
Each proposal is marked by a panel against the tender's weighted award criteria. Reviewers score every section from 1 to 100, and FlowForma does the weighting.
Award criteria
- Project methodology125
- Understanding of requirements250
- Implementation plan175
- Additional skills and competencies100
Total cost is scored separately, out of 500, once all proposals are in.
Calculating the cost score
- A
- Lowest proposal cost
- B
- Cost of the proposal being marked
Cost scoring is kept separate from the marking process, because the lowest-cost proposal can only be identified once every proposal has been received.
The finished process, step by step
From a new tender to an awarded proposal, all in one connected process.
- 1
Create a new tender
Fill in the details, upload any relevant documents and submit.
- 2
Send the tender for approval
The tender routes to the approver automatically.
- 3
Add a proposal
On approval, a child proposal form is triggered.
- 4
Enter the company details
Capture the details of the company submitting the proposal.
- 5
Validate and score the proposal
Check minimum requirements, enter the proposal cost and vote on each section.
- 6
View the scoring results
Reviewers rate each proposal and see the results as graphs.
- 7
Award the proposal
Open the tender to see every proposal scored in a repeating table, with the cost score calculated from the lowest submission.
Steps 5 and 6 repeat for each proposal submitted.
The FlowForma features behind the build
Everything Paul used is configured in FlowForma's no code designer, available as a Microsoft 365 app on SharePoint.
Visual Flow Designer
Map the high-level steps of a process and see the whole flow at a glance.
Calculations and business rules
Weighted scores and cost scores calculated automatically, with no formulas to maintain by hand.
Parent-child processes
Relate proposals to tenders so data flows between them automatically.
Repeating tables with lookups
Pull every related proposal into one table when the step loads.
Voting and decision-making
Panels score each section and the process turns their votes into a decision.
Built-in graphs
Show scoring results as charts so the winner is clear to everyone.
Building workflow processes fast: common questions
Can you really build a workflow process in one morning?
Yes. Paul Stone built and tested a tender process with approvals, a proposal scoring sub-process, weighted voting and an award step between 9am and lunchtime, using FlowForma Process Automation and no code.
What process does the playbook build?
A tender process: capturing the details of a project, approving the tender, scoring each proposal in a sub-process, and awarding the winning proposal.
How does weighted scoring work in FlowForma?
Reviewers score each section from 1 to 100 and the back end applies the weighting. The cost score is calculated as 500 × A / B, where A is the lowest proposal cost and B is the cost of the proposal being marked.
What is parent-child functionality?
It links two processes so records relate to each other. In the playbook, Tender is the parent process and Proposal is the child, connected by a Tender ID that new proposals pull in automatically.
Do I need coding skills to follow the playbook?
No. Every step is configured in FlowForma's no code designer, which is how teams achieve 5x–10x faster process delivery.
Set your own process challenge
Get the Process Playbook, or start your free 30-day trial and build your first process before lunch.