Sharepoint 2010 List Workflow Approval Process based on column

Question

I am new to SharePoint Lists and trying to create a workflow for only 1 of 3 lists on my site. I want this workflow to kick out an email when a new item is added to the list or a current item is updated to the list. The kicker is, I would like the approval email to go to a specific person based on one of the columns.

For example: The 5th column has multiple choice answers. If Column5= A, then an email goes to Joe; If Column5= B, then an email goes to Mary, If Column5= C, then an email goes to Mike, etc...

I have the list setup with permissions to show pending when changes are made or items are added, but trying to get a workflow so managers know when an item in their area is added and pending without being alerted on every item. I have watched about a hundred YouTube videos and have read multiple blogs, and they are either too basic, or too detailed. Can someone help?!

Answer 1

Two possible approaches:

Option 1

Use nested IF statements to check the value of Column 5 and depending on the value, set a variable, for example "vEmailTo" to a specific name. It will look something like

If Column5 = "A" then
    vEmailTo = "[email protected]"
Else if column5 = "B" then
    vEmailTo = "[email protected]"
Else if column5 = "C" then
    vEmailTo = "[email protected]"
end if
Send Email to vEmailTo

With this approach, you will need to edit the workflow and change the names when responsibilities change, people leave, new people come in.

Option 2

Use a lookup list and look up the person

Create a new custom list with two columns, Column5 and Person. Let's call this the lookup list. Enter A, B and C as items into the list and select the respective person.

Now, in the workflow you can populate the vEmailTo variable by selecting the person from the Lookup list where Column5 of the Lookup list equals the value of the Current Item's column 5.

With this approach, if responsibilities change, all you need to do is select a different person in the lookup list.