Make a single assessment document collaborative by organizing it into sections, so a team can complete different parts of one audit in parallel.

Overview

A collaborative document is divided into sections that can be assigned to different assessors, with all responses rolling up into one unified record. You create the document under a program that has the Enable Section Template toggle turned on, then organize questions into sections and configure the document's settings, fields, and approvers.

You do not have to configure collaborative behavior at the program level first — you can enable it directly on an individual document. Enabling it on the program gives every new document under that program the same section structure by default. See How to Enable Collaborative Assessments for a Program in EASE.

For a full explanation of how collaborative assessments work, see Collaborative Assessments Overview.

Important: collaborative is set at creation and is permanent. A document is either collaborative or non-collaborative, and that choice cannot be changed after the document is created. You cannot convert a standard document to collaborative, or the reverse. Only newly created documents can be made collaborative.

Before you begin:

• Collaborative Assessments is available for EASE PRO subscribers and must be enabled for your site.

• The program must have the Enable Section Template toggle turned on in Program Settings. Programs with the section template enabled show Collaborative as their Program Type.

• You need access to the Library module. The program cannot be changed after the document is created.

• If the document belongs to a program that already has a section template, its sections are inherited and read-only; you can still add your own local questions on top.

Required permissions: SiteAdmin or OrgAdmin

Steps

Create the document

1. Navigate to Library > Documents. The documents list displays all assessment documents, including a Collaborative Audit column that shows "Yes" or "No" for each document.

2. Click the + button at the bottom-right of the page and select Create Assessment Document.
   
   
    

3. In the Create Assessment Document form, open the Program dropdown. Each program shows its Program Type — select a program marked Collaborative.
   
   
    

4. Enter a Document Name (required, up to 255 characters).
    

5. The next step depends on whether the program is already set to collaborative:
    

   • If the program is already collaborative: The section template is automatically enabled. You see an informational message: "Section Template Enabled — You'll be able to assign specific sections and questions to different users to complete your assessment. It will be automatically enabled as it is applied for this Program." No action is needed.
     
     
      
   • If the program is not collaborative (Standard): The Enable Section Template toggle appears. Turn it on to make this specific document collaborative. The description reads: "Turn on the toggle to make this document collaborative. You'll be able to assign specific sections and questions to different users to complete your assessment."
     
     
      

6. Under Select location(s), check the sites where this document applies. You can expand the organization tree to select specific sites.
   
    

7. Click SUBMIT. The document is created and opens to the QUESTIONS tab.

Add sections and questions

8. The document opens with the sections inherited from the program template. To add a new section, click + Add Section, enter a Section Name (required, up to 250 characters), and click APPLY.
   
   

9. Add questions to a section using one of four methods:

   • Add question — create a new question from scratch
   • Add from library — reuse an existing question from the question library
   • Add random question — add a randomly selected question
   • Add group — add a group of questions
     
     
      

10. When adding or editing a question, fill in the required fields in the Edit Question dialog:
    

    • Section (required) — select which section this question belongs to from the dropdown, which lists all available sections
    • Question (required) — the question text, with rich text formatting (up to 7000 characters)
    • Title (required) — a short title for the question (up to 150 characters)
    • Reason for question — why this question is asked (up to 7000 characters)
    • Failure reaction plan — what to do if the question fails (up to 7000 characters)
    • Attachments — drag and drop or browse to attach files
    • References — add files, URLs, or items from the File Manager
    • Tags — categorize the question (for example, "OEM QA")
    • Location scope — restrict the question to specific locations
    • Response Type — Pass/Fail, with optional custom labels for Pass, Fail, and N/A
    • Comments — Optional or Required
    • Failure Category — Optional (applies only if failure categories are enabled in site settings)
    • Response Required — check to make the question mandatory
    • Allow N/A Response — check to allow a "not applicable" answer
    • Critical — check to flag the question as critical
    • Findings — Required on Fail or Optional
    • Alternate responsible party — Allow Selection or other options
    • Finding Closing Requires Attachment — check if a finding must include an attachment to be closed
       

11. Click APPLY to save the question. Repeat for each question in the document.

12. To manage a section (edit its name, add questions, or delete it), click the three-dot menu on the section header. Options include: Edit, Add question, Add from library, Add random question, and Delete.

Configure fields, settings, approvers, and qualifications

13. Switch to the FIELDS tab to add document-level fields. Click + Select Field(s) to choose from existing fields or + Create Field to define a new one. Each field can be marked as Required.

14. Switch to the SETTINGS tab to view and configure document details:

    • Details — shows the document ID, Status (Draft), Revision number, and last Modified date
    • Publish Document — toggle to publish the document so it can be used for scheduling
    • Name — edit the document name
    • Locations — manage which sites the document applies to
    • Organization Tiers — configure Site, Area, Workcenter, and Station
    • Responsible Party — turn on or off

15. Switch to the APPROVERS tab to manage who can approve assessments created from this document. Click Add Approver, search by name, select the approver(s), and click APPLY.

16. (Optional) Switch to the REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS tab to add qualifications that assessors must hold to be assigned to this document. Click + Add Qualification(s) to select from existing qualifications. When qualifications are set, only users who hold the required qualification appear in the assignable list during scheduling.

17. When the document is ready, click SUBMIT to save all changes.

The collaborative assessment document is now available in the Library.

Note: collaborative assessment auto-submits only when all required section are completed/audited. An assessment cannot be submitted with incomplete sections.

What happens next

Once the collaborative document is created and published, schedule it by navigating to Schedule and creating a new collaborative assessment. You assign each section to an assessor or leave sections unassigned for the team to claim during conduct. Assessors work their sections in parallel, and the assessment completes automatically when all required sections are submitted. See How to Schedule a Collaborative Assessment in EASE.

Note: Changes to sections and questions in the Library document apply only to new assessments. Assessments already scheduled from this document are not affected.

Related Articles

• Collaborative Assessments Overview
• How to Enable Collaborative Assessments for a Program in EASE
• How to Schedule a Collaborative Assessment in EASE