When doing an if/then statement within SharePoint Designer involving a people column, our only options are “equals” or “not equals.” If you want to be able to use “is empty,” “is not empty,” “contains,” etc. this article will show you how to get around this limitation without any scripting. We’ll basically be creating a workflow variable to use in place of the original column.
- Make your first step of the workflow (after any logging or setting of workflow status you may have) setting a new variable (Set Workflow Variable).
- Select “workflow variable” and we’ll name it “EmployeeName” in this example and use “string” for the type. OK.
- Now select “value” and the people column you want to use in your eventual if/then statement. I’ve used display name but you might find email address more appropriate depending on your if/then criteria.
- Now that we’ve created the workflow variable (by essentially setting it equal to the people column we’re working with) we’re ready to try our if/then statement again. Use the if/then action and select the first “value,” setting it as below to our new variable.
- Now when we select the “equals” before the second value, we have all the options for if/then statements at our disposal. Finish writing your workflow and you’re good to go!
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to post them in the comments.