How to design an approval workflow that people actually use

Decide what needs approval at all

Approval steps slow work down, so reserve them for decisions that need judgement or carry risk. Use rules to auto-approve routine cases within a clear limit.

Show the reviewer what they need

An approval request should contain the decision, the relevant fields and any recommendation, so the approver does not have to open another system.

• The amount or impact
• The requester and the reason
• Any AI recommendation, labelled as advice
• What happens on approve and on reject

Plan for waiting

Approvals introduce waiting time. Add reminders, an escalation path and an alert for approvals that exceed an agreed wait so work does not stall unnoticed.