Sharepoint Designer Workflow Replace Permissions on Custom

Question

I have a custom list with permissions set to "Read and edit items that were created by user" so that when my users go to the list they can only see their own items. I also have a workflow that initiates on each new item to Replace item permissions to read-only for the creator and to read and edit for the "approving manager"

When the workflow runs it looks like it works - it says completed and when I check the Shared with it is only the createdBy and the Approving mgr. But the approving manager never actually sees the item, even though it says they have access in the "Shared with".

It seems like the workflow is unable to override the list's advanced permission settings. Is this the case? Or am I missing something? Any ideas on a workaround?

EDIT: I changed the list permissions in the advanced section so that it is normal "read and edit all" then tried my workflow to replace permissions and it worked fine. So obviously it's just not possible to override those permissions with a workflow. Anyone have workaround suggestions?

Answer 1

Ok I think I found an answer. I created a view called MyItems - it shows only items where CreatedBy = [Me] or Approving_mgr = [Me] Then I edited the permissions of the AllItems view according to this extremely helpful link: http://www.sharepointdiary.com/2013/01/set-permissions-and-restrict-access-to-views.html So now I will just use my workflow to ensure the CreatedBy cannot edit the item after it is submitted. And the Administrators have access to the AllItems view. That's it!