Building a Simple Approval Workflow

Start from your real process, not a template

Before choosing statuses, write down what actually happens to a document from first draft to sign off in your business. Most workflows have four to six genuine stages; anything longer is usually duplicating a stage under a different name.

Use a small, fixed set of statuses

Draft, Ready for Review, Under Review, Changes Requested, Revised, Awaiting Approval, Approved and Archived cover almost every situation a small team or freelancer will meet. Resist the urge to add a status for every exception.

Assign clear ownership at each stage

Every status should have an obvious answer to whose desk is this on. If nobody is clearly responsible for a document sitting in Under Review, it will sit there far longer than it should.

Decide what moves a document forward

Define, in writing, what has to happen before a document can move from one status to the next. This removes ambiguity about whether something is genuinely ready to progress.

Keep the workflow visible

A workflow only works if everyone involved can see where a document currently sits. Make status visible to reviewers and clients rather than keeping it in your head.

Test the workflow on a real document

Run one real document through the full workflow before rolling it out across all your work. This usually surfaces one or two stages that need adjusting.

Revisit the workflow occasionally

A workflow that suited three clients may not suit thirty. Review it every few months and simplify anything that has become unnecessary friction.

In summary

A clear review process becomes easier to sustain once there is a structure around it: defined approval stages, organised reviewer feedback, tracked versions and useful revision notes. ApproveTrail organises that information; the review and approval decisions themselves always remain with you and your reviewers.

This article is general information about document-review practice. It is not legal advice and does not constitute document or signature certification.