SOP Workflows

Every SOP in SOPHIE moves through a defined workflow from creation to publication. The workflow ensures that procedures are reviewed and approved before being shared with the team.

Workflow states

Draft --> Under Review --> Approved --> Published
                |                        |
                v                        v
            Rejected                  Expired
                                        |
                                        v
                                     Archived

State	Description
Draft	SOP is being authored. Only visible to the creator and admins.
Under Review	SOP has been submitted for approval. Assigned reviewers can approve or reject.
Approved	SOP has passed review. Ready to be published to the team.
Published	SOP is live and visible to assigned roles. Team members can acknowledge it.
Rejected	SOP was rejected during review. The author can revise and resubmit.
Expired	A published SOP that has passed its review date. Needs to be updated and re-approved.
Archived	SOP has been retired and is no longer active.

Submitting for approval

When you submit a SOP for approval:

1. The SOP status changes from Draft to Under Review.
2. SOPHIE's routing service determines the appropriate reviewer(s) based on:
   • Department lead assignments
   • Role hierarchy (managers review their team's SOPs)
   • Approval priority settings on roles
3. Reviewers receive a notification in their Inbox and via email.

Reviewing and approving

Reviewers can:

• Approve -- The SOP moves to Approved and can be published.
• Reject -- The SOP moves to Rejected with feedback. The author is notified to make revisions.
• Comment -- Add feedback or questions without changing the status.

Auto-approval routing

SOPHIE supports automatic routing of approvals based on your organizational hierarchy:

• SOPs are routed to the department lead or the author's manager.
• If the primary reviewer is unavailable (out of office), the approval escalates up the management chain.
• Roles with canApprove enabled and higher approvalPriority take precedence.

Publishing

Once approved, an authorized user can publish the SOP to make it visible to all assigned roles and departments. Published SOPs:

• Appear in team members' SOP lists
• Trigger acknowledgement requests
• Are included in compliance tracking and analytics

Expiration

Published SOPs can expire based on their schedule. When a SOP expires:

• Its status changes to Expired
• The SOP owner is notified to review and update the content
• The SOP must go through the approval workflow again before being republished

Archiving

SOPs that are no longer needed can be archived. Archived SOPs:

• Are hidden from the main SOP list
• Remain accessible for historical reference
• Can be restored if needed

Soft delete

When a SOP is deleted, SOPHIE performs a soft delete with a 30-day retention window. The SOP is marked as deleted and automatically purged after the retention period.