Reduce Pesky Delays: Document approval workflows help you eliminate missed deadlines and miscommunication, and keep team collaboration organized and efficient.
Control Approval Cycles: Efficient workflows keep the timing of approval cycles consistent, which also helps to reduce errors, delays, and compliance issues that can harm productivity and growth.
Software is the Answer: Workflow software is the best way to set up and manage your document approval workflows. It removes manual work and can help identify areas of improvement for you.
Inefficient document approval processes can lead to missed deadlines, miscommunication, and disorganized team collaboration.
With a streamlined document approval workflow, you can avoid the pain of inconsistent review cycles, errors, delays, and compliance issues, all of which ultimately impact your team's productivity and growth.
What Is A Document Approval Workflow?
Document approval workflows are the business processes and procedures for creating, reviewing, approving, storing, and distributing organizational documents.
Implementing a document approval workflow is not just about avoiding chaos; it's about enhancing productivity, reducing errors, and fostering better collaboration. It's about gaining better control over document-related processes so every step is efficient and compliant.

With the right approval workflow automation tools and technologies, you can improve workflow execution, minimize manual tasks, and optimize document management efficiency.

Why Do You Need A Document Approval Workflow?
Document review workflows prevent chaos in the following ways:
- Consistency: Consistency is vital for upholding quality standards throughout the organization. It guarantees that your documents contain all the required information before being sent out.
- Transparency: Document approval workflows provide a transparent audit trail of document revisions and approvals, so you and your stakeholders can track changes, identify responsibilities, and stay abreast of updates and deadlines. This promotes accountability, trust, and responsibility amongst your team members.
- Collaboration: Project teams collaborate more effectively when there are transparent project workflows in place for document creation, review, and approval. Workflow processes also help with communication among team members by allowing them to provide feedback, track changes and versions, and make decisions efficiently.

Types of Document Approvals
Here are the types of documents that might require a document approval workflow.
- Contracts: These could be between the company and clients, vendors, or employees. They are legal documents that require review and approval by multiple parties. A document approval workflow helps makes sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed in a timely way.
- Proposals or scope of work: The information in a proposal or scope of work (SOW) is vital to a project's success and provides a fall-back in case a client wants more than what's contained in the document. Did anyone say scope creep?
- Project deliverables: Project deliverables such as design documents, specifications, and prototypes require review and approval by project teams, clients, and stakeholders. Document approval workflows help you make sure all deliverables meet project requirements and expectations.
Who’s Involved?
- Author/creator: The individual responsible for crafting the original version of the document, inputting content, arranging formatting, and organizing information to align with the document's objectives and specifications.
- Document manager: This person oversees the document workflow process. They allocate reviews, monitor progress, track deadlines, and makes sure everyone adheres to workflow protocols.
- Reviewers: Individuals or teams tasked with assessing the document to make sure it's accurate, complete, and aligned with standards, regulations, or organizational policies. Reviewers may offer feedback, propose amendments, or approve the document for subsequent processing stages.
- Approver(s): These are the designated individuals or authorities responsible for approving the document before it can be finalized or distributed. Approvers verify that the document aligns with organizational standards and obtains the requisite authorization for dissemination.
As the project manager, you might have multiple roles in a document workflow. For example, you might be a reviewer in the SOW/proposal process. This gives you the opportunity to assess the feasibility of a project before the project deliverables, time estimates, and cost are greenlit.
Typical Steps A Document Will Flow Through
Here's a breakdown of the critical components of document workflows using a project charter as an example.
1. Document Creation
The document creation workflow may involve starting with a template or completing it from scratch. It consists of inputting content, formatting, and organizing information according to the document's purpose and intended audience.
- Who: It’s the project manager’s responsibility to create the charter (this is a lot easier if you use a project charter template).
- What: This involves drafting a document that outlines the project's scope, objectives, and key stakeholders, and sets the direction for the entire project.
- When: Typically undertaken at the beginning stages of the project.
- Where: The creation process usually uses document creation software.
- How: The project manager may opt to use a predefined template provided by the organization or create the document from scratch, depending on the project's specific requirements.
2. Define Reviewers
During this step, reviewers check the document to make sure it's accurate and complete, and that it aligns with the project goals and objectives. You'll select suitable individuals or teams to review documents and guarantee their quality and effectiveness.
- Who: The project manager identifies suitable individuals or teams to review the project charter.
- What: Reviewers assess the document's accuracy, completeness, and alignment with project goals.
- When: The review process typically occurs after the document creation phase.
- Where: Reviewers are typically selected from the project management team or relevant stakeholders.
- How: Reviewers may be chosen based on their expertise, role in the project, or stakeholder involvement.
3. Set Up In Document Workflow Software & Approval Criteria
This step in the process makes sure the document management workflow runs smoothly and follows efficient approval procedures.
- Who: The project manager is usually responsible for setting up the project charter in the document workflow software.
- What: This involves configuring the document within the software platform and establishing approval criteria.
- When: This comes after the document creation and reviewer identification stages.
- Where: The document is managed within the designated workflow software or platform (open source workflow software is available as well).
- How: Approval criteria are defined based on organizational policies, project requirements, or compliance standards.
4. Monitor Document Progress
This step keeps documents flowing smoothly through the approval workflow. You'll provide oversight, track the document's status, and address any issues that may arise during the approval process.
- Who: The project manager typically monitors the progress of the project charter through the approval workflow.
- What: This involves tracking the document's status and making sure it moves efficiently through the approval process.
- When: Monitoring occurs continuously throughout the approval process.
- Where: Progress is tracked within the document workflow software or project management system.
- How: Regular checks on status, notifications, and potential project bottlenecks.
5. Review Feedback & Update
In this step, you'll make sure documents are compliant and get valuable feedback on documents from stakeholders.
- Who: The project manager is responsible for reviewing feedback received from the document reviewers.
- What: Feedback is evaluated to identify areas for improvement or clarification within the project charter.
- When: This step occurs after feedback has been provided. If any edits are suggested, make them before sending the document to any external source where they may have a financial impact.
- Where: Revisions are made within the document.
- How: Based on the feedback received, necessary updates are made to the document to keep it aligned with project objectives and stakeholder expectations.
6. Resend for Final Approval
Once documents are reviewed and feedback has been incorporated, they may require approval from designated individuals or departments before being finalized or distributed.
- Who: The project manager is tasked with resubmitting the revised project charter for final approval.
- What: The updated document is sent for final document review and approval following any necessary revisions.
- When: This takes place after incorporating feedback and revising the document.
- Where: Resubmissions occur within the document workflow software or project management software.
- How: The revised document is submitted through the approval workflow for final authorization.
7. Store Documents & Apply Permissions
Documents must be securely stored for future reference, retrieval, and compliance purposes. You might use anything from physical filing systems to electronic document management systems (DMS) or cloud-based storage platforms (Dropbox, Google Drive).
Establish policies for document storage and archiving so that you can manage the life cycle of documents effectively. Determine how long documents should be retained, when they should be archived, and when they can be securely disposed of.
- Who: The project manager is responsible for storing the approved project charter and managing document permissions.
- What: This involves organizing and securing access to the document within a designated repository.
- When: This occurs following the final approval of the project charter.
- Where: The document is stored within a document repository or management system.
- How: Access permissions are applied based on roles, which makes sure the document secure and that relevant stakeholders can access if it needed.
Review our in-depth look into workflow mapping and digital workflows to learn more about how to implement an efficient document approval workflow.
Tools For Document Approval Workflow Processes
You can use several different types of technologies to facilitate document workflows, ranging from basic workflow management software solutions to more advanced enterprise-level systems.
Here are some examples:
- DMS: DMS platforms, approval software, and document control software provide centralized repositories for storing, organizing, and managing documents. They often include functionality for version control, access controls, metadata tagging, and search capabilities.
- Workflow automation software: Workflow automation software allows you to design and automate document workflows and streamline your workflows. You can create custom workflows with predefined steps, rules, and triggers for document routing and approval.
- Electronic signature solutions: This type of document approval system allows for digital signatures, removing the need to print, scan, and mail physical documents. Integrate these systems with document workflows to speed up electronic signing and digital management system approval processes.
Learn about BPM vs workflows here.
6 Smart Document Workflow Hacks
Here are my sneaky little tricks for document approval workflows.
- Automate notifications: By setting up automatic notifications, you can make sure everyone is informed when documents are ready for review, when deadlines are approaching, or if there have been any changes. This way, no one is left in the dark, and everyone can contribute on time.
- Set up a conditional document routing workflow: Make the route of your documents (i.e. which ones go to which people) depend on what they're about or who needs to give them the thumbs-up. So, if it's a big-budget thing, it automatically gets sent to the high-level reviewers for approval.
- Parallel reviews: Forget waiting for one person to finish before the next can start. With parallel review, different team members can tackle different parts simultaneously. This reduces review cycle times and accelerates document approval processes.
- Document templates: Standardized templates are your best friend. Stick to them for consistency across the board, and watch how much easier it is for everyone to whip up documents. (PS: you can find templates for important project documents in our library for DPM members here.)
- Version control: Integrate your workflows with version control to automatically keep track of who did what and when. No more guessing games or wondering if you're working with the latest version.
- Backup approval: Allow approvers to delegate their approval authority to designated backups when unavailable. This prevents delays in the approval process and ensures continuity in your document workflows.
3 Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Insufficient security: Neglecting proper permissions or granting access to unauthorized parties can lead to serious breaches and potentially compromise sensitive company information. Make sure to map dependencies and reviewers before initiating the workflow. A DMS will allow you to do this quickly; otherwise, have it documented and closely monitor it.
- Underestimating workflow monitoring: Failure to assess, refine, and document the workflow can result in errors and confusion among stakeholders, team members, and clients. Regular monitoring and improvement allows you to maintain workflow efficiency and clarity.
- Improper storage: This helps you and your team easily locate final approved documents. Establishing and communicating a structured document storage and archival procedure company-wide makes sure that everyone has easy access and reduces search time.
What’s Next?
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