The opportunities to overcomplicate processes, forms, and systems are many. Since all of these elements are required for many teams to be productive, it’s important that they are simple to use. An easy to use process will keep colleagues using the system, which will build trust and ultimately deliver team success. Here are a few tips for keeping approvals flowing.
Simplifying approvals starts with removing unnecessary approvals. Contact high volume approvers and ask them whether the approval is required or not. This simple task can eliminate waste and give teams back valuable time.
Once unnecessary approvals are removed, the next step is to simplify the remaining approvals. Start by making sure each item that requires approval indicates that approval is required. This way, requesters know they are requesting approval by placing their request. This simplifies the process by making sure requests for approval aren’t cancelled when they realize that approval is required.
Next, make sure the type of approval isn’t introducing a complication. Is an approval performing a group consensus approval of all the stakeholders? Poll the stakeholders and see if they can identify one delegate to do the approval. Or perhaps only one of the stakeholders in the group needs to respond, but it can be different each time. This would allow an ‘any’ group approval rather than a ‘consensus’ group approval. It is possible that the stakeholders need to be involved but not approve, so look for opportunities to inform stakeholders instead of requesting approval. For more information and suggestions about this challenge check out our “The 8 Most Common Types of Approval”.
The rest of the suggestions depend heavily on communication clarity and simplicity of action. This starts with the request for approval. How complicated is the notification? How complex is the interface? This can be measured quickly by making a simple list of the information that is required and isn’t required. One potential mistake is packing all the information into every email. Although it might be convenient to have a link to the approval policy and your standard corporate disclaimer on every approval, this can distance users from the experience and make them less likely to read the contents that do change. Tell approvers what they need to know and give them a clear action. Approve, reject and “more information” are some greatest actions an approval notification can include.
These are some of the best ways to improve and simplify an approval experience. If you want to read more about improving the experience, check out Approval Essentials an in-depth article with many more approval subtleties explored. If you’re a leader, process engineer, designer, or application developer you have no doubt dealt with approvals. We would love to hear your stories, tips, and challenges. Please ask Wally@KineticData.com a question. Finally, to read more about the technology we use to solve these challenges check out The Kinetic Platform.
Cassy Lueneburg