Shared Questionnaire

🎯 Objective

Learn how to use the Shared Questionnaire feature in netLex. Discover how to configure templates to allow people outside your organization to fill out specific parts of a questionnaire at any stage of the workflow, optimizing data collection and speeding up document creation and management.

This article contains the sections:

• What is this feature?
• How to configure sharing in a template?
• How to send the invitation to the counterparty?
• How does the counterparty answer the questionnaire?
• Tracking and completion
• Frequently asked questions

💡 What is this feature?

The Shared Questionnaire allows the internal user responsible for a workflow stage to invite an external counterparty to fill out structured information directly in netLex. This feature is available at any stage that has a configured Lex-In questionnaire — not just during drafting.

This solves the problem of missing data in intermediate stages of the flow, eliminating the need to move the document back to the drafting stage or to exchange sensitive information through external channels (email, WhatsApp, etc.).

Unlike a text review, the external party contributes with structured information through the questionnaire, ensuring that the document advances complete and correct.

Attention: While the questionnaire is with the counterparty (Awaiting counterparty), critical actions of the stage are blocked for the internal user: it is not possible to approve, reject, undo the claim of responsibility, or transfer it.

🛠️ How to configure sharing in a template?

The configuration must be done by a user with administrator permissions. The "Shared questionnaire" toggle can be enabled at any stage of the workflow that has questionnaire access enabled — not just in the Drafting stage.

Check out the step-by-step in a Workflow 2 (nextGen) template:

1. Access Settings > Templates and open the desired template.
2. In the settings of the desired stage, enable the "Shared questionnaire" toggle.
   
   
3. Click on Configure to define page permissions.
4. You will see two columns: Internal and Shared. Mark in the "Shared" column the pages that the external user must fill out.
   
   
    
5. Save and publish the new version of the workflow.

Check out the step-by-step in a Workflow 1 (classic) template:

1. Access Settings > Templates and open the desired template.
2. In the settings of the desired stage, enable the "Shared questionnaire" toggle.
   
   
3. Save changes.
4. In the "Permissions" tab, you will see two columns: Internal and Shared. Mark in the "Shared" column the pages that the external user must fill out.
   
   

Important rule: It is not possible to release a page solely for the external user. If you check a page for the external user, the system will automatically check it for the internal user as well.

🚀 How to send the invitation to the counterparty?

When accessing the questionnaire of a stage configured for sharing, follow these steps:

• The pages intended for the external user will appear disabled (read-only) for you, with an informative banner at the top.
  
  
• If you wish to fill out this information yourself, you can click on "Edit" in the banner and select "I will answer it myself".
  
  
   
• At the end of the questionnaire, click on Finish to open the sharing modal.
  
  
• Enter the contact's email, a custom message (optional), and click on Send invitation.
  
  

After sending, the questionnaire will be locked for internal editing until the counterparty answers or the invitation is canceled. In addition, critical stage actions (approve, reject, transfer responsibility) will be unavailable while sharing is active.

📧 How does the counterparty answer the questionnaire?

The external guest will receive an email with a unique and secure link, without needing to have a login or license in netLex.

1. The external user clicks on "Go to questionnaire" in the received email.
2. They will view and fill out only the pages that were released for them.
3. Upon finishing, they must click on Finish.

👁️ Tracking and completion

You can monitor the status directly in the document list through the tags:

• Awaiting counterparty: The invitation was sent but has not yet been answered.
• Counterparty answered: The external user completed the form and the questionnaire is ready for your review.

When resuming the questionnaire, fields filled out by the external user will have the tag "Wating for Counterparty". If you change any of these fields, the tag will disappear to reflect the final authorship.

❓ Frequently asked questions

1. In which stages can I use the Shared Questionnaire?
   In any stage of the workflow (Drafting, Review, Approval, etc.) that has access to the Lex-In questionnaire enabled and is configured with the "Shared questionnaire" toggle active.
    
2. Can I invite more than one external collaborator at a time in the Shared Questionnaire?
   At the moment, the system supports sharing with only one contact at a time.
    
3. What happens if I cancel an invitation sent in the Shared Questionnaire?
   The link sent to the counterparty will stop working, and the pages marked as shared will become enabled again so you can fill them out yourself. The stage actions (approve, reject, etc.) will also be unlocked.
    
4. Can I edit the answers provided by the counterparty in the Shared Questionnaire?
   Yes. After the external user completes it, the internal user regains full access to the questionnaire and can review or change any information before finalizing the stage.
    
5. Can I approve or reject the stage while sharing is active?
   No. While there is an active sharing ("Awaiting counterparty"), critical workflow actions are blocked: approving, rejecting, undoing responsibility claims, and transferring responsibility are unavailable until the counterparty responds or the invitation is canceled.