Despite of what we said earlier this week, wait can be a very powerful instrument.

My fellow tipster Joel suggested in his last tip some fine tuning when it comes to wait:

Combine waits and check condition. So you have a process that emails a customer service representative three days after the case is open. No need to email them if the case has been closed, right? After the wait, have the workflow check conditions to verify that the condition that triggered the workflow is still true.

Another way to accomplish the challenge above is to wait instead of check. Unlike human beings, Dynamics CRM workflow can indeed multitask and parallel wait is one of the most powerful and most underused features of the workflow.

The visual representation does not do justice to what’s going to happen. System is going to wait for either case to be closed or for 3 days, whichever happens earlier.

The key to this sorcery is the step called Parallel Wait Branch which becomes available if you select any wait condition in the workflow