Merge Branches Logic: Workflow stalls using 'All' condition with conditional approvers

I have a conditional branch that routes to 8 approvers based on department, then a merge branches logic after the approvers.  Often only 2 or 3 of the approvers are activated.  I've used "All" for the merge branches logic, but the workflow isn't moving forward. FYI....See below for the research I conducted on my own.

If I use ANY for the logic, it moves forward after 1 person approves, erroneously leaving the others out of the workflow.

If I use ALL for the logic, it waits until all the other branches auto-approve, which I have set to 3 days. This means if the 3 activated approvers all respond within 1 day, the workflow stalls for the next 2 days when it should be moving forward.

Am I missing a feature that would make this scenario work?

If not, what is another way I could set up the workflow to accomplish the same thing?

Thanks!! Susan

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I asked ChatGPT about Jotform specifically, and it said that the "All" condition would be met and workflow would advance if all the activated approvers had completed their approval. However, my workflow was stalled so this doesn't seem correct.

See below for the response from Podo. It seems Podo isn't specific to Jotform even though it is within the platform.

Workflow Copilot said:

The process is stalling because the "All" setting in your merge branches logic waits for all 8 approver branches to complete before moving forward, even if only 2 or 3 were actually routed and activated. If the other branches are not triggered (because their departments were not selected), the merge waits forever for those branches to finish, causing the workflow to stall. To fix this, use a merge setting like "Any activated" or "Any completed" (wording may vary by platform), so the workflow continues once all active branches are done, regardless of how many were actually triggered. Let me know if you want specific instructions for your platform.

Hi Susan,

Thanks for reaching out to Jotform Support. I'm an AI assistant here to assist you.

Your understanding of the merge branches logic in Jotform workflows is correct. The Merge Branches element allows you to combine multiple flow paths, and it has two main options for merging:

• Wait for all branches to be completed: This option requires all branches to complete before moving forward. This is why your workflow stalls when using "All" because it waits for all 8 approver branches, even if only 2 or 3 are activated.
• Wait for any of the branches to be completed: This option moves the workflow forward as soon as any one branch completes, but it may skip other active branches, which is not what you want.

Currently, Jotform does not have a built-in merge option that waits for only the activated branches to complete before moving forward. The "All" option waits for all branches regardless of activation, and the "Any" option moves forward after the first completion.

To work around this limitation, you might consider restructuring your workflow:

• Use conditional branches to route to the appropriate approvers based on department.
• Instead of merging all branches at once, create separate merge points for groups of approvers that are always activated together.
• Use timeouts or auto-approval settings carefully to avoid unnecessary delays.
• Alternatively, consider adding logic elements or custom notifications to handle cases where some branches are not activated, so the workflow can move forward once all activated branches respond.

Here are some helpful resources on setting up conditional branches and merging branches in Jotform workflows:

How to Set Up a Conditional Branch in Jotform Workflows

Learn more

How to Merge Branches in Jotform Workflows

Learn more

If you want, I can provide more specific instructions or examples tailored to your workflow setup.

Give it a try and let us know how it goes.

I'd like you to forward this for a human to consider an alternative setup that would achieve my goal.

My feedback (in red) on your suggestions:

To work around this limitation, you might consider restructuring your workflow:

• Use conditional branches to route to the appropriate approvers based on department. Already done.
• Instead of merging all branches at once, create separate merge points for groups of approvers that are always activated together. There is no correlation to which ones are activated together.
• Use timeouts or auto-approval settings carefully to avoid unnecessary delays. Already done.
• Alternatively, consider adding logic elements or custom notifications to handle cases where some branches are not activated, so the workflow can move forward once all activated branches respond. I need to know more about how to achieve this.

Hi Susan,

One of our Support Team members will take it from here to follow up shortly.

Hi Susan,

Using the All Merge Option, this will wait for all the connected Workflow branches to be completed before proceeding. The use case to continue the Workflow process even if two out of three approvers take an action won't work using the Merge Branches element alone.

Can you share more details about how the form works? How will the Workflow identify if an approver needs to take action or not? We can either use a condition in the form itself or add a Conditional Branch element on the form. Also, I looked at the Workflows that were updated today on your Jotform account, but none of them show what you illustrated in your initial message.

Once we hear back from you, we can help you sort this out.

Hi Kris -

Thanks so much for your assistance with this. Please take a look at my workflow titled TESTING Clone of Workflow: Approval Form - Center Leadership Position. Disregard the title, as this is my finished form, other than trying to work out this particular issue.

A screenshot of the relevant portion is below. The form is an approval form to hire a full time position. The form asks what departments the position will supervise, and the resources/subject matter experts are the department approvers following the conditional branches, which are based on the departments selected in the form. It is not unusual at our company for supervisors to manage seemingly unrelated areas, so multiple resources may need to weigh in.

Let me know if you need more information or clarification to develop a work-around solution. Also, at this point, my deadline has me creating all the training tomorrow so if it's too much revision, I'll just have to live with the bottleneck. This is the second bottleneck in my workflow.....the first is the auto-complete for approvals not being allowed to disregard weekend days. I've submitted a feature enhancement for that one.

Many thanks!!

Susan

Hi Susan,

I checked the form and saw you're using the Multiple Choice element. This means the number of approvers will depend on the selections made on the said form element. I also noticed you've already used the Conditional Branch element that'll distribute the Workflow depending on the selected options. Then, there's a Merge Branches element that'll wait for all the approvers to take action.

This use case is complex and is currently unsupported even in the form. While the feature you're looking for isn't available at Jotform right now, we've gone ahead and escalated your request to our developers. Exactly when or if it's developed depends on their workload, how viable it is, and how many other users also request it. If there are any updates, we’ll circle back to this thread and let you know.

Thanks for your patience and understanding, we appreciate it.