How to prioritise workflows

[kevinelite]

Hi all

We have a workflow that we want to run immediately in order to stop all other workflows being activated for a new contact.

We check for a new contact NOT being created by a form and then use the Remove from all other workflows option in Unenrollment and suppression

However, other workflows are triggered prior to this.

Is there a way to get workflows to run in a specific order? Or do I have to add the condition to every workflow

If it is possible to run this workflow first, will Remove from all other workflows option 

do what I want in that other workflows will not be triggered?

TIA

[Patrick_Saab]

It would be very helpful to have a way to prioritize workflows.

Yes, I use delays to prioritize but that's a workaround, I would rather have a way to have a clear sequence of Workflows. Especially when you have tens of Workflows working together 🙂

Thank you,

Patrick

[MFrankJohnson · Accepted solution]

Controlling the prioritization of workflows is one of the many reasons nearly all workflows should begin with a delay action immediately following the enrollment criteria -- as a best practice. That is, if, as a standard in your portal, every workflow included a 5 minute delay action immediately following the enrollment criteria, you could easily implement your solution as originally intended by building a 'special' workflow that used a signitifantly faster delay (e.g., 1 minute). This would allow the exception actions in your special workflow to fire before other workflows in your portal. Not ideal, but the best solution currently available.

Explore The HubSpot Workflow Butterfly Effect and some of the many other reasons delays are not really an optional 'option'. 🙂

- see Workflows | Frequently Asked Questions

- see Harnessing the Power of a Workflow Delay [HubSpot Support Series]

[kevinelite]

Excellent, thanks, Frank

So if we apply your suggested 5 min or similar delay to the relevant workflows and then our initial workflow has a 1 min delay and has the steps 
1. check for a new contact NOT being created by a form

2. Remove from all other workflows optionin Unenrollment and suppression

Will step 2 stop subsequent 5 min delay workflows being triggered for those contacts not created by the form?

Thanks again

Kevin

[MFrankJohnson]

>>Will step 2 stop subsequent 5 min delay workflows being triggered for those contacts not created by the form?

HubSpot Terminator Workflows aka: WMDs (Workflows of Mass Destruction)Sorta. Your 'step 2' will not STOP other workflows from being triggered. Your 'step 2' will cause the contacts to be removed from all other workflows before they have a chance to execute anything other than their original delay actions. (a subtle, but important distinction)

Note: This will have a very messy effect on the workflow history for each contact affected.

Again. Not ideal, but the best solution currently available for your use case as described today.

Finally, worth mentioning, your special workflow, while appearing relatively harmless on its surface and suitable for your use case today, is really a 'terminator workflow' (underneath) with far-reaching implications for all future workflow functionality in your portal. That is, this WMD (workflow of mass destruction) will supercede workflows that we generally setup for things like ...
-- handling lead rotation
-- manual lead scoring
-- syncing properties between entities (e.g., contact properties with company properties)
-- internal notifications about revisitor behavior (or anything else for that matter)
-- list hygiene

Just to name a few ...

Recommendation? Find a better solution.

[kevinelite]

Thanks again, Frank

1. >>This will have a very messy effect on the workflow history for each contact affected.

Do you mean that the workflow will still appear in the contact Timeline but will just show started & completed?

2.>>Terminator Workflows Appear Harmless

Can the contacts be re-enrolled at a later stage in appropriate workflows with subsequently updated properties or is the remove option once and for all?

[MFrankJohnson]

>>> @kevinelite 

1. >>This will have a very messy effect on the workflow history for each contact affected.

Do you mean that the workflow will still appear in the contact Timeline but will just show started & completed?

Yes. Precisely, but more than that. The contact workflow membership HISTORY will also show all of the workflow activity as if it actually completed. But (we know) it never did because of our terminator workflow. UGG

- see image

HubSpot Contact Workflow Membership History

2.>>Terminator Workflows Appear Harmless

Can the contacts be re-enrolled at a later stage in appropriate workflows with subsequently updated properties or is the remove option once and for all?

"at a later stage [within a specific workflow]"? NO.

"... at a later stage [meaning a later date]"? Totally depends on the original enrollment criteria, and thus, the re-enrollment settings -- a rabbit hole (or red-pill vs blue-pill ... you be the judge).

- see Add re-enrollment triggers to a workflow

[kevinelite]

Thanks so much for your input @MFrankJohnson - I have set the your first response as the solution but obviously all responses are appreciated!

[kevinelite]

@MFrankJohnson 

FYI - Hubspot support also replied with the following

I have got two preliminary ideas for this. From what it sounds like, all workflows are triggered simultaneously. Is that correct?

If the workflows are not triggered simultaneously, we would be able to set this up with a suppression list. When contacts are enrolled in ADMIN001 KL Test - Non-Lead Logger Check as the first action they should be added to a static list. You will then use this list as a suppression list in the other workflows.

It does sound like the workflows are all triggered at the same time though, so this option would not work. Are the other workflows based off of the same triggers as ADMIN001 KL Test - Non-Lead Logger Check?

If you workflows are triggered at the same time, we should explore the option with the delay. This would be somewhat extensive but should work well when set up. You wouldn't need to adjust the ADMIN001 KL Test - Non-Lead Logger Check workflow but add a delay and an if/then branch to the other workflows. You would insert a short delay before an if/then branch that "asks" if contacts are enrolled in ADMIN001 KL Test - Non-Lead Logger Check. If they are enrolled, contacts will go down the YES side of the branch and no further action is taken. If contacts go down the NO side of the branch, they will continue in the workflow as they should.

[ElyshaShave]

Hi,

I don't think you can prioritise workflows, however, a work around would be to revist your workflow enrollment criterias. I just have a few questions before I can help further:

> Do you upload data into HubSpot?
If so, what properties do you include?

> When a contact fills in a form, are any of the properties within the form trigger a workflow?

> What are your workflows goals?

Thanks,
Elysha Shave

[kevinelite]

Thanks, Elysha

If by uploading you mean importing, then no, we are not uploading data.

> When a contact fills in a form, are any of the properties within the form trigger a workflow?

I have a feeling that I am going to have to revisit all the workflows (I've just taken over admin)

> What are your workflows goals?

AFAIK at the moment, there are no workflow goals but perhaps these could help but will need further investigation

Obviously if anyone else can confirm whether prioritisation is possible, that may help both of us!

Best

Kevin

[ElyshaShave]

Hi, 

Within your workflows, does your enrollment criteria contain and form properties? This is only because the enrollment of your workflows can be changed to ensure the contacts that should enroll into your workflows, does. 

Thanks,
Elysha Shave

[kevinelite]

If we can't prioritise workflows, then I think we will have to add criteria to each impacted Workflow and use relevant properties gathered from the form and/or the Form submission criteria > Contact has not filled out a form

Thanks for your input