It is now possible for an occurrence to be assigned to a user group and remain with the status “Waiting for group” until one of the group members assumes responsibility, before any treatment activities begin.
This feature is ideal for organizations in which the individual occurrence owner is defined only after the occurrence has been approved. In this scenario, you can configure a user group to be temporarily responsible and wait for one of its members to take ownership of the occurrence treatment.
Accessing the module
Configuring the option to take ownership of occurrences
During the occurrence approval process, through the Inbox, you will find the option to temporarily assign responsibility to a user group.
Simply select “Occurrence directed to a user group as temporary responsible” when approving the occurrence.
This ensures flexibility in defining responsibility while maintaining governance, traceability, and alignment
Occurrence behavior with the feature enabled
When accessing the Occurrences tab, the Responsible field is replaced by the selection of a user group, causing the occurrence to assume the status “Waiting for group”.
From this point on, only involved users or members of the assigned group are able to view and interact with the occurrence. The group remains responsible until one of its members formally takes ownership of the treatment.
Until an individual responsible party is defined, the group will be displayed as the responsible entity for both the occurrence and the current stage.
How to take ownership of an occurrence
The action of taking ownership of an occurrence can be performed in two ways: through the occurrence list or directly within the occurrence record.
To take ownership via the occurrence list, locate the occurrence with the status “Waiting for group”. Then, right‑click on the occurrence or access the context menu.
If you are a member of the responsible group, the option “To assume occurrence” will be available. Selecting this option assigns the occurrence to you as the individual responsible.
To take ownership directly within the occurrence record, open the occurrence and you will be taken straight to the General tab. In this case, the “Save and advance” button will be replaced by “To assume and save” on all tabs.
All fields will remain in read-only mode until a member of the assigned group takes ownership of the occurrence.
If the group is removed
If the user group is deleted before any member takes ownership of the occurrence, it will automatically return to the Inbox, with its status changed from “Waiting for group” to “Waiting for evaluation”.
This change is logged in the history, including the following details:
- Status change: Waiting for group → Waiting for evaluation
- Justification: Temporary responsible group removed
- Action performed by: User name
Important information
- If a group member is removed or has their access deactivated, they immediately lose the right to take ownership of occurrences.
- If the group has only one active member and that member is removed, the occurrence will become blocked until another member is added to the group.
- The group is also automatically populated in the stage owner fields, when applicable, ensuring consistency, proper authorization, and alignment with permissions throughout the Quality Management System workflow.