An approval workflow is the defined route a request takes from the person who asks to the people who decide. It settles three things in advance: what information the request must include, who approves it and in which order, and what happens after a yes, a no or a "needs changes". Every decision is recorded with a name and a time.
Most companies already have approval workflows. They just live in email threads, chat messages and someone's memory. Writing the workflow down, and running it in a tool that follows it, is what turns "ask Mike" into a rule.
Why it matters
- Requests stop stalling in inboxes, because every step has a clear owner.
- The right person approves, based on rules such as amount, department or request type, not on who the requester happens to know.
- When an auditor, a manager or the requester asks "who approved this?", the answer is a record, not a search through old emails.
Example
A purchase request at a 60-person company (illustrative): the requester fills in the item, supplier and amount, their manager approves, anything above $5,000 also goes to the CFO, and purchasing then places the order. A rejected request goes back to the requester with the reason attached.
Common pitfalls
- Adding approvers "just in case", which slows every request and blurs who is actually accountable.
- No rule for absence, so requests wait while the approver is on vacation.
- Approvals given outside the workflow (a hallway yes), leaving gaps in the record.
- Letting people approve their own requests.