Better Options for Managing Emails for Agency Managers

One of the items I routinely get on feed back from agency managers, is they'd like to be able to have access to the system to approve hours, but don't always want all of the emails. For some, simply making a filter is an option but not for others. As an example, one of our campus partners has six sites on campus with six different people who manage each site. They all need to be managers to approve hours, but they'd really rather prefer to get notifications only for the things they do. 


I am not sure if it would make sense to change the hours pending trigger to be more like the (old) SLM trigger that is individual to each course (in this case it would be need), but would it be possible for the template to have what needs you had hours pending  for? 


4 people like this idea

Hi, Andrew,


Are you referring to the "Pending Hours Notification for Agency" message? This is the message that goes out to agency managers, telling them that they have volunteer hours awaiting review.


If so, I think you're asking for either of the following (let me know if I've misunderstood):



  • A way to indicate which agency manager should be notified of pending hours for a particular need--perhaps something they could enter on the need form. Once a specific agency manager has been indicated, only they will get the pending-hours notifications, and the other agency managers won't get anything.

  • A {{need_title}} template key to be added to the "Pending Hours Notification for Agency" template. This way, when an agency manager gets the message that hours are pending, they can at least see which need the hours are related to, and know whether or not they need to go in and approve the hours.


Also, you mention the old SLM, so would a {{course}} or {{volunteer_user_group}} template key be helpful as well?


We tend to submit our template key requests in bulk (basically, we wait until we have a handful before submitting them for consideration), so if there are other template keys you'd like to see for this notification, please let me know. I'll work to come up with a few of my own as well.


Thanks, as always, for your valuable feedback!


Nina

I have also had comments from organizations about this - and experience myself as an agency manager. It is really a deterrent to using the system as a manager if the only way to approve pending hours is through the email and the account inbox.


Can the pending hours just be logged in the Time Tracking tab?

Hey Nina --


I suppose either would be a good option -- though with the first one, I'd think you'd want to have it trigger as a digest email still, instead of an entry for each hour pending?


I think the {{need title}} would be extremely useful though as at least a shorter term fix. Also, the {{course}} and {{volunteer_user_group}} would be great for using the new SLM, since the old SLM has separate templates. 

I would love to see an update for this!

Hi, Amelea,


Thanks for voicing your support for this enhancement request! I'm including your feedback in our existing request.


All the best,

Caitlin



We would like to provide access to database info (name, contact info, schedule...) without email notifications being sent. Right now, I (site manager) can only add people as locations managers. We have some location managers that need to see notifications and others that don't. I'm not able to distinguish between the two.


1 person likes this

Hi Amy, 


Thank you for adding your voice! You are correct that all Location (Agency) Managers have the same access to your site. I will make sure to include your request to have different levels of access available for individual Location Managers on your site.


Thank you and have a great day!

Autum

Hi everyone,


We have great news! In our recent software update, we have expanded on how users (including agency managers) can manage their email notification preferences. Although they will still receive emails about all needs under their agency, we hope this helps meet your needs here partially.


This is something they can edit and get more granular on in their Profile Icon > Edit Profile area under the Data and Communication Settings section:

 

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Thanks for your input on this! We hope this improves your user's use of the site moving forward.


Shonie

CX Specialist

she/her



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