Prepare or approve values through Sustainability Program metric tasks

To help collect data for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) or sustainability reporting, Sustainability Program Owners and Editors can assign workspace members as:

Assignees, to collect and prepare values for Program metrics
Approvers, to verify the accuracy and completeness of the data collected

Tip: To help ease data collection, metric tasks can include detailed instructions in addition to guidance or requirements of the metric's reference attachments or related content from Sustainability Explorer.

When values are ready for preparation or approval, the assignee or approver — respectively — receives their task:

From Home, under Tasks
As a notification in their email inbox

Prepare metric values as an Assignee

If you're a value's Assignee, you receive a task in your email inbox and under Tasks in Home when the Program Owner or Editor sends the metric's tasks. Depending on the value's configuration, you can then complete your task from a connected source file or the streamlined Workiva Tasks.

Note: If multiple Assignees are assigned the same task, the task requires only one — not all — of them to prepare the values.

From source file
From Workiva Tasks

If the value has a connected source file, the task opens in that file, where you can prepare the value and complete your task from the Tasks or Sustainbility panel.

To quickly open the source file to the value's connected section, open its task from Home or your email inbox.
From the Tasks or Sustainability panel, select the metric value to prepare.

Tip: If you select a connected cell in a source Spreadsheet, the Sustainability panel opens directly to its value's task.
For guidance on how to prepare the value, review the metric's details, such as its description, reference attachments, or related content from Sustainability Explorer.
In the connected cell or content, enter the prepared value.
Tip: Cells and content connected to Program metrics have a blue border. From the Tasks or Sustainability panel, you can view the coordinates of a value's connected Spreadsheet cell in Location.
Provide any notes or supporting attachments to supplement the value, and complete the task.
Note: Depending on the metric's configuration, a value may require that you provide notes or supporting attachments to complete your task.
Click Submit or Send for approval.

To learn more, view Connect source Workiva files to Program metric values.

If the value has no connected source file, the task opens in Workiva Tasks, where you view only the fields necessary to prepare the value.

Note: Assignees can prepare values in Workiva Tasks without any permissions to the Program. However, to view a task assigned to another member, you need at least Viewer permission to its Program.

Tip: Owners and Editors of the metric's Program can also prepare the value directly from Sustainability Program.

To quickly open the value in Workiva Tasks, open its task from Home or your email inbox.
In Request details, view your due date and any instructions on how to prepare the value.
For additional guidance on how to prepare the value, review any reference attachments or Explorer content, or select another year or collection period to refer to its value.
Tip: To review relevant framework or questionnaire content in the Sustainability Explorerpublic panel, click its reference in Related Explorer content.
Enter the prepared value and any supplemental notes or supporting attachments.
Tip: To apply the same note or attachment to multiple values within the same task, select the values in the grid, then click Edit values.

Note: Depending on the metric's configuration, the value may require that you provide supporting notes or attachments to complete your task.
Click Complete task or Send for approval.

To learn more, view Complete tasks in Workiva Tasks.

Verify metric values as an Approver

To verify the data prepared by the Assignee, metric values may be assigned to multiple Approvers or require a series of approval steps. If you're a value's Approver, you receive a task in your email inbox or under Tasks in Home when the Assignee or an Approver in an earlier approval step completes their task.

Note: If multiple Approvers are assigned the same approval step, approval by any of them will complete the step.

Depending on the value's configuration, you can complete your task from a connected source file or the streamlined Workiva Tasks.

From source file
From Workiva Tasks

If the value has a connected source file, the task opens in that file, where you can approve or return the value from the Tasks or Sustainability panel.

To quickly open the source file to the value's connected section, open its task from Home or your email inbox.
From the Tasks or Sustainability panel, select the metric value to review.

Note: If enabled for your workspace, you can click Review tasks from a file's Tasks panel to approve multiple tasks at once. To learn more, view Approve or return a task.

Tip: If you select a connected cell in a source Spreadsheet, the Sustainability panel opens directly to its value's task.
For guidance on how to verify the value, review any reference attachments or content for the metric.
In the connected cell or content, review the prepared value.
Tip: Cells and content connected to Program metrics have a blue border. From the Tasks or Sustainability panel, you can view the coordinates of a value's connected Spreadsheet cell in Location.
From the Tasks or Sustainability panel, verify any supporting notes or attachments provided, and choose whether to approve the value and its supplemental details:
- If the value and details are correct, click Approve, enter any notes about its approval, and click Approve.
- If the value or details need rework, click Return, enter a note to explain what to fix, and click Return.

If the value has no connected source file, the task opens in Workiva Tasks, where you view only the fields necessary to approve or return the value.

Note: Approvers can verify values in Workiva Tasks without any permissions to the Program. However, to view a task assigned to another member, you need at least Viewer permission to its Program.

Tip: Owners and Editors of the metric's Program can also approve or return the value directly from Sustainability Program.

To quickly open the value in Workiva Tasks, open its task from Home or your email inbox.
In Request details, view your due date and any instructions on how to prepare the value.
Tip: From the Task stepschecklist panel, you can view where a value is in its task workflow, such as with the assignee or another approver.
For additional guidance on the expected value:
- Review any reference attachments or content provided.
  Tip: To review relevant framework or questionnaire content in the Sustainability Explorerpublic panel, click its reference in Related Explorer content.
- To refer to value's previous data collection, select the Program year or collection period to review.
  Tip: To return to the Program year or collection period of your task, select (Task year).
Verify the prepared value and any supporting notes or attachments.
- If the value and its supplemental details are correct, click Approve, enter any notes about its approval, and click Approve.
- If the value or its supplemental details need rework, click Return, enter a note to explain what to fix, and click Return.
  
  Note: If you return a task that includes multiple values, specify which of its values the assignee should address.

To learn more, view Complete tasks in Workiva Tasks.

To learn more, view Manage approvals of Sustainability Program metrics.

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