Lido is a great tool for capturing data, but it’s not so good for building complex workflow automation. Google forms can autopopulate submissions to a spreadsheet, but if you want to do more complicated things like automate approval workflows, you’ll need to get into advanced scripting with Google Apps Script.
Empower Your Team: Building an Efficient Approval System Using Google Forms
Google Apps Script is an excellent tool for creating automated workflows, but it’s not easy to use for the average person. Using Google Script, you need to store your workflow data in a spreadsheet and then send instructions from one tool to another. This scatters your work across multiple tools and apps, and it can leave lots of room for errors should any part of the workflow chain break down.
To solve this, we’ve created a free add-on for Google Forms called Form Publisher. The add-on connects form submissions with Google Sheets, so you can create documents that are automatically processed by your approval workflow and sent to approvers via email notifications. The generated document can include the approver’s name, approval status, and an e-signature.
Let’s say you need to process a request for time off from one of your employees. You can set up a simple approval workflow that routes the request to the employee’s line manager for approval and then notify the manager when the request is approved or rejected. Start by creating a new Google Form and adding questions that capture the necessary information, then install the Form Approvals add-on. Once you’ve added the approvers, each time a form is submitted they will receive an email notification with a PDF document awaiting their approval.