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Hi, everyone.

I need some help on designing an approval workflow.

I have to create an infopath form in which everyone in the organization can fill out. It depends on which department the user is from then an approval workflow should start and send email to the right department approvers. For example, if someone from Finance Dept. submits the form then it should go to the Finance Dept. Manager for approval. If someone from Purchasing Dept. submits the form then it should go to the Purchasing Dept. Manager for approval, etc.

My original thought of doing this is as followed:

Each Dept. should have their own site. The infopath form would be a template in a Form Library in each site. All the submitted forms (xml files) are in the Form Library too. An OOTB approval workflow should be started when an item is created in Form Library; so email is sent to the right department approvers. But this method will become very difficult if we have more than 50 departments.

Does anyone know a better solution to this?

Thanks a million.

Sounds like you've got a potential mess on your hands!

Create a central library at the top of the site collection. Call it 'Forms Library'. Let everyone know where they can go and get all the forms for the organization. One of the fields in each form is the department. Use SharePoint Designer to create a conditional workflow that uses the department name to determine who does what.

This will give you a robust solution that can grow as you create more departments and gives you a central place for maintenance.

That's my 2 minute solution. Hope it helps.
Mark