Workflow stages

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Workflow stages

    Workflow stages in ServiceNow enable you to visually indicate the progress of a workflow by updating a designated stage field on the associated record. This stage field can be a choice list reflecting different progress states, and when configured as a workflow field, it displays icons to clearly show the current workflow stage.

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    The stage field used depends on the table the workflow operates on. For example, the Incident table uses the Incident state field, while the Service Catalog uses the Stage field. For workflows based on the Requested Item [screqitem] table, the Stage field is fixed and automatically managed by the system.

    Key Features

    • Stage Fields and Values: The workflow updates a chosen stage field to reflect progress. Available stages are derived from choice lists on the stage field, default stages defined for the table, workflow-specific stages, or values inherited from existing records.
    • Activity Assignment: You can assign specific stages to workflow activities. When an activity is active, its assigned stage is set on the record, updating the progress display accordingly.
    • Stage States: The stage field dynamically reflects the state of workflow activities—In progress, Pending, Completed, or Request Cancelled if an activity is cancelled. The reserved "Cancelled" label in the wfstage table does not appear in the stage field.
    • Stage Visibility: When the stage field is named "Stage," its values and states appear in list views, providing at-a-glance workflow progress.
    • Workflow Stage Sets: You can create named groups of workflow stages, called stage sets, that can be reused and assigned as defaults across multiple tables. Stage sets support import/export of choice list values for streamlined management.
    • Translation and Modification: Stages can be added, edited, or translated to suit specific workflow needs.
    • Workflow Fields: Workflow-type fields display progress icons and can indicate when a required workflow record has been deleted.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    By configuring workflow stages, you gain clear visibility into workflow progress directly on records, enhancing tracking and user awareness. Assigning stages to activities allows precise progress updates aligned with actual workflow steps. Utilizing stage sets promotes consistency and efficiency when managing stages across workflows and tables.

    For workflows on the Requested Item table, the Stage field is managed automatically, simplifying setup while maintaining detailed progress states. For other tables, selecting and configuring an appropriate stage field is essential to leverage workflow stages effectively.

    Overall, this capability improves transparency, accelerates troubleshooting, and enhances communication around workflow execution status within your ServiceNow environment.

    Workflows can indicate workflow progress by updating any field designated as a stage field.

    For example, the Incident [incident] table has an Incident state field that indicates progress, but the service catalog uses the Stage field.

    To indicate the workflow's progress through the possible stage values, the interface updates the Stage field selected in the workflow properties. Available fields depend on the table used by the workflow. If the field provides a choice list, then the choices are available as stage values for the workflow. If the field is a workflow field, it displays an icon to indicate the workflow's progress, as with the Service Catalog's Stage field.

    Figure 1. Service Catalog Stage field with icons

    After stages are added to the workflow, they can be assigned to each workflow activity. If an activity with an assigned stage is encountered when the workflow runs, the workflow engine assigns the stage to the record associated with the workflow context.

    For workflows that use the Requested Item [sc_req_item] table, the stage field is automatically set to the Stage field of the table and cannot be changed. The stage state displayed for a workflow running on the Requested Item table is based on the state of the workflow activities.
    • If an activity is active, then the stage is shown with the state of In progress.
    • If an activity is in the Pending or Completed state, the stage reflects this state.
    • If an activity is canceled, Request Cancelled appears in the Stage field. The "Cancelled" label set in the wf_stage table is a reserved word, and does not display in the Stage field.

    How stage values are derived

    Stage values are derived from various sources in the interface.

    Note:
    An updated method for managing workflow stages as a set is also available. For information about grouping and reusing stages, see Workflow stage sets.
    Stage values are derived from the following sources:
    • Choices for Stage column: Choices defined for the column selected as the Stage column for the workflow.
    • Default stages for table: Stages defined in the Stage Default [wf_stage_default] table for the table selected.
    • Workflow-specific stages: Applied only to the workflow for which they were defined in the Workflow Stage [wf_stage] table.
    • Stage values in existing records: Values from the designated Stage column in the table assigned to the workflow are inherited from existing records.

    If the stage field for a workflow is the table column named Stage, then the progress of the workflow appears in any list view containing the Stage column.

    Figure 2. Stages in a list

    Stage values shown in the list views are accompanied by the state, based on the workflow activities being executed. If an activity has a stage specified for it, and the activity is currently active in the workflow, then the stage is shown with a state of In progress. Similarly, if the activity is in the Pending or Completed state, the stage reflects this state.

    Example

    If the workflow table is Request Item [sc_req_item], then the stage field is automatically set to the Stage column of that table and cannot be changed. The following stage values for the request item are displayed in a choice list from the Dictionary Entry [sys_dictionary] table:
    • Waiting for Approval
    • Fulfillment
    • Delivery
    In addition, the Request Item table has the following default stages:
    • Request Cancelled
    • Completed
    Note:
    If an activity is cancelled, Request Cancelled appears in the Stage field. The "Cancelled" label set in the wf_stage table is a reserved word, and does not display in the Stage field.
    When you edit available activity stages in the Workflow Editor, the list displays the following stage values:
    • Waiting for Approval
    • Fulfillment
    • Delivery
    • Request Cancelled
    • Completed
    The following diagram depicts the process used to gather stage values from the Request Item table to populate the Stages list in workflow activities.
    Gathering stage values for workflow activities
    Note:
    If you are creating a workflow with a table other than Request Item [sc_req_item], you must select a Stage field in the workflow properties for the workflow to have stages.