Enterprise Workflow Approval Lab

Portfolio-safe enterprise delivery showcase: a synthetic workflow request moves through conditional approvals, change handling, SLA visibility, implementation readiness and handover closure.

This repository is intentionally small, but it is no longer just a linear state-machine sample. It demonstrates how delivery governance can become executable: request class determines route, each gate requires the right role, decisions carry rationale and conditions, overdue stages can escalate, and implementation cannot be marked complete until readiness evidence exists.

60-Second Review Path

1. Open artifacts/workflow-walkthrough.html for the screenshot-ready walkthrough with visible status transitions, approval conditions, SLA escalation state, readiness gates and handover evidence.
2. Use the drill-down links into artifacts/request-brief.md, artifacts/decision-log.md, artifacts/readiness-checklist.md and artifacts/handover-record.md.
3. Inspect enterprise_workflow_lab/engine.py and enterprise_workflow_lab/policies.py for the executable rules.
4. Run python -m unittest discover -s tests to verify conditional paths and safeguards.

Live Demo Readiness

The repository now includes a root index.html that redirects to the generated walkthrough, so GitHub Pages can serve the portfolio artifact without a build step. Pages is not enabled from this local pass. The minimal one-time repository action is: Settings → Pages → Deploy from branch → main / root. Expected URL after enabling: https://mypoorbrain.github.io/enterprise-workflow-approval-lab/.

Business Problem

Enterprise workflow requests often get approved in email, chat or meetings without a clear answer to:

• who is allowed to approve this stage;
• whether the request needs finance, IT or transformation review;
• what changed after review feedback;
• whether a stage is aging past SLA;
• whether implementation is actually ready;
• what evidence exists for closure.

This lab turns that governance problem into a small, testable model.

Showcase Scenario

EWF-2026-001 is a synthetic procurement-to-payment reporting improvement touching workflow, reporting and finance. Because it is high value, moderate risk and system-impacting, it routes through:

flowchart LR
    Draft --> Submitted
    Submitted --> Department[Department review]
    Department --> Changes[Changes requested]
    Changes --> Submitted
    Department --> Finance[Finance review]
    Finance --> IT[IT review]
    IT --> Transformation[Transformation review]
    Transformation --> Approved
    Approved --> Ready[Implementation ready]
    Ready --> Implemented
    Implemented --> Closed
    Department --> Rejected
    Finance --> Rejected
    IT --> Rejected
    Transformation --> Rejected

Loading

The generated scenario closes on business day 19, after 12 audit events, 5 approval decisions, 1 resubmission and 4 readiness checks.

Delivery Artifacts

Artifact	Purpose
artifacts/workflow-walkthrough.html	Screenshot-worthy visual timeline with route, state transitions, SLA status, decisions, readiness gates and handover evidence.
artifacts/request-brief.md	Requirements-style summary for the same synthetic request.
artifacts/raid-log.md	Risk, assumption, issue and dependency view tied to the scenario.
artifacts/decision-log.md	Approval rationale, outcomes and conditions.
artifacts/readiness-checklist.md	UAT, rollback, handover and support readiness evidence.
artifacts/handover-record.md	Closure record after implementation.

What This Proves

Capability	Evidence
Enterprise workflow design	Conditional route policies based on request class, value, risk and impacted systems.
Technical programme delivery	Request brief, RAID view, decision log, readiness checklist and handover record.
Governance and auditability	Every transition records actor, role, action, rationale and business day.
Exception handling	Change request and resubmission path, plus terminal rejection safeguards.
SLA and escalation thinking	Stage age, SLA days, overdue/watch/escalate status and negative tests.
Engineering hygiene	Python package, CLI, generated artifacts, tests, CI, .gitignore and MIT license.

Quick Start

python -m enterprise_workflow_lab demo
python -m enterprise_workflow_lab build
python -m enterprise_workflow_lab validate examples/workflow_request.json
python -m unittest discover -s tests

Expected demo result:

Request EWF-2026-001 closed after 12 audit events.

Repository Map

Path	Purpose
enterprise_workflow_lab/	Models, policy rules, workflow engine, scenario and artifact builder.
artifacts/	Generated visual walkthrough and delivery/governance artifacts.
examples/	Synthetic request payload and runnable scenario script.
tests/	Unit tests for routes, roles, change handling, readiness, SLA and terminal states.
docs/	Architecture, preview image, backlog and portfolio context.

Privacy Boundary

This repository contains no employer data, client records, personal contact data, credentials, private planning records or production workflow exports. The scenario is synthetic and employer-neutral.

Intentional Limits

This is a portfolio proof, not a production workflow platform. It does not include authentication, persistence, API endpoints, background jobs or notifications. Those would be natural production extensions, but they are intentionally excluded so the governance model remains easy to review.

License

MIT. The sample data and generated artifacts are synthetic and may be reused as reference patterns.