Assigning one or more users to a status lets you designate who is responsible for its related tasks.
This helps prevent users from overlooking their tasks and keeps your workflow running smoothly.
However, there may be cases where someone other than the assignee needs to perform an action—for example, if the assignee is absent for an extended period, or if the person who submitted a request needs to take it back to correct a mistake.
To allow for such cases in your workflow, you can configure the Actions usable by non-assignees setting.

You may want to set actions usable by non-assignees in situations like the ones below.

• When you want to allow proxy approval
  Example: You want the assistant director to be able to approve requests instead of the director when the director is on extended leave.
  Workflow with proxy approval
• When you want to allow requests to be corrected before they're sent back
  Example: You want users to be able to take back incomplete requests and make corrections to them before a manager sends them back.
  Workflow that allows taking requests back to be corrected
• When you want to allow the approval step in a workflow to be skipped
  Example: You want the director to be able to skip the assistant director's approval step and finish requests in urgent situations.
  Workflow that allows approval to be skipped

The following steps show how to set an action usable by non-assignees. As an example, we'll make it so an assistant director can advance a process instead of the director when the director is absent.

1. Open the Process management screen in the app where you want to configure the process.

2. Click Create action usable by non-assignees in the process of a status where an assignee is set.
   In this example, we'll set an action usable by non-assignees for the "Pending director approval" status.
   

3. Enter a button name for the action.
   In this example, we'll enter "Approve as proxy".
   

4. From the drop-down, select the status to change to after the action is performed.
   In this example, we'll select "Approved".
   

5. Click the Options icon and select Action user settings.
   

6. On the Action user settings dialog, specify who can use the action and click Save.
   You can select either of the following options to specify who can use the action.

   • All users
     If you select this option, any user who has permission to view the record will be able to perform the action.
   • Specific users, groups, or departments

   In this example, we'll select Specific users, groups, or departments, click Add a field of the form, and specify the field "Proxy approver (Assistant director)".

   This completes setting up an action usable by non-assignees for the "Pending director approval" status.