Responding to assessments

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Responding to Assessments

    The Smart Assessment Engine application enables assessors to efficiently complete survey requests, track their progress, and automatically save their work. Administrators and template managers oversee the assessment process, while users with the Assessment actor role can submit responses to assigned assessments.

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    Key Features

    • Progress Tracking: A progress indicator shows the completion status, and questions are paginated for easier navigation.
    • Automatic Saving: The system automatically saves your responses, reducing the risk of data loss.
    • Reassignment and Cancellation: Users with the appropriate roles can reassign in-progress assessments or cancel those that are no longer needed.
    • Reference Information: Additional context provided by template managers is accessible in the details section during the assessment.
    • Filter Options: Users can filter assessments to show only unanswered questions, streamlining the completion process.
    • Attachment and Commenting: Users can attach documents and add comments at any point in the assessment process.
    • Copying Responses: Users with specific privileges can reuse responses from previous assessments through the Copy smart assessment responses action.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing the Smart Assessment Engine, ServiceNow customers can enhance their assessment process efficiency, ensuring that all mandatory questions are answered before submission. The automatic saving and progress tracking features minimize the risk of data loss and improve overall workflow. Users can also leverage the ability to copy responses from past assessments to save time and maintain consistency.

    Use the Smart Assessment Engine application to help assessors complete survey requests. Track your progress and let the system automatically save your information. Administrators and template managers manage the assessment process.

    If you have the Assessment actor [sn_smart_asmt.actor] role, you can submit responses to an assigned assessment. Here are some more key functionalities:
    • A progress indicator displays how much of the assessment you have completed.
    • Questions are paginated, making it easier to navigate through the assessment.
    • Your work is automatically saved, eliminating the risk of potential data loss.
    • An assessment administrator [sn_smart_asmt.assessment_admin] can cancel assessments that are no longer needed.

    If you have the assessment reassign [sn_smart_asmt.reassign] role you can reassign in-progress assessments to another user. If your template manager or administrator added reference information, such as additional information that is related to the scope, you can view them in the details section of your assessment. If relevant to the state of the assessment, the scope, requester, assignee, the requested and due dates are listed in the Details section by default. For more information, see Using the template designer and Add reference information to an assessment template.

    The following example shows how your progress, save status, assessment status, reference information, actions, and more are indicated in the assessment view.

    Figure 1. Example of an in-progress assessment
    In-progress assessment that shows the previously described features and their indicators.

    Assessment response features

    Navigating assessments
    Assessment actors [sn_smart_asmt.actor] can navigate through an assessment by selecting the section of questions they’re ready to answer.
    Saving assessments
    Your assessment progress is automatically saved and your save status is indicated by the saved badge Saved badge..
    Progress tracking in assessments
    The progress bar indicates how many questions remain in the assessment including required and optional questions.

    The following example shows how the progress bar and state badges are updated when you complete an assessment and submit it or cancel it.

    Figure 2. Example of progress bar and state badges
    Progress bar and state badges.
    Submitting, reassigning, and canceling assessments
    Assessments can only be updated when their status is Open. After they’re submitted or canceled, they’re read only and can’t be modified. The user with the assessment reassign [sn_smart_asmt.reassign] role and the template category role that is associated with the assessment template can reassign the assessment to anyone. You must have the assessment actor role to complete and submit the assessment. The submit button becomes enabled once all mandatory questions are answered. When you hover over the lock button, it shows how many questions are left to complete.

    The following example shows the possible assessment actions and how you must complete all required questions before being able to submit an assessment.

    Figure 3. Assessment actions
    Submit, reassign, and cancel selection options for assessments.
    Filter unanswered questions
    To make it faster to complete assessments, you can filter the assessments to show only unanswered questions. This feature allows you to efficiently identify unanswered questions at a glance, eliminating the need to review them individually.

    To see only unanswered questions, change the View filter to Unanswered Questions. To see all questions, change the filter back to All Questions.

    Figure 4. View Filter
    Filtering assessment to only show unanswered questions.
    Adding attachments and commenting on assessments
    If you have the assessment actor [sn_smart_asmt.actor] role, you can attach documents to assessments in the Open state by selecting the attachment icon Attachment icon..You can add comments to an assessment at any time regardless of the assessment state.

    The following example shows how you can add comments by selecting the comment icon Comment icon..

    Figure 5. Comments section
    Comments section.

    Copying responses from previous assessments

    If you have the flow designer [flow_designer] or system admin privileges, you can add the Copy smart assessment responses Workflow Studio action to your flows and subflows. This flow action enables you to reuse responses from a previous assessment.

    The following table shows the Copy smart assessment responses action form.

    Table 1. Copy smart assessment responses action form
    Field Description
    Source Assessment [Smart assessment instance] Assessment that you’re copying responses from for reuse. You must use the assessment instance record reference for this selection.
    Target assessment [Smart assessment instance] Assessment that you’re copying responses into. You must use the assessment instance record reference for this selection.
    Both the source assessment that you’re copying from and the target assessment for reusing responses must be based on the same template. The target assessment must be in Open state. After this flow action is implemented, the answers from the source assessment are automatically available as answers for the assessor's responses.

    For more information on adding actions to flows in Workflow Studio, see Create a flow.