What are the steps of the approval process?

Steps involved in an approval process
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The general steps of an approval process workflow typically include:
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• Submission: This is the initial step where a task, idea or document is formally introduced for review.
• Review: Stakeholders scrutinize the submission to make sure it’s up to par in terms of quality and accuracy.
• Feedback: Reviewers provide constructive feedback to amend or enhance the submission, fostering a collaborative effort toward revisions.
• Revisions: Teams make updates or edits based on the feedback received and prepare the submission for re-evaluation.
• Approval: Relevant stakeholders give their final signoff when the work is ready to go.
• Implementation: Teams execute the approved submission, whether that’s publishing a graphic or sending documents to a client.
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Each step aims to identify and resolve potential issues early on. By engaging in such a methodical approach, marketing teams can maintain the quality of their deliverables, optimize their resources and ensure strategic alignment with their business goals.

What is the sequence of approval?

The sequence of approvals, or the “who approves when,” can vary depending on your industry. However, you can expect a preliminary review by team members or direct supervisors, followed by departmental heads or managers, and finally an executive-level or client-based final approval.
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Visual representations, like approval process flowcharts, can help illustrate the sequence of approvals. These flowcharts provide a clear roadmap of who needs to endorse a project next, what the dependencies are and how to navigate different contingencies. With this visual guide, teams can follow the process systematically, cutting down on mistakes and any unexpected bottlenecks.
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Maintaining order in the approval sequence is everything. Each layer of scrutiny and decision-making needs to happen at just the right stage and align with project goals. This alignment helps eliminate redundancies, reduce the risk of errors and encourage a smooth transition from one phase of the project to the next.
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Agencies and marketing teams can benefit from using solutions like StreamWork to automate and streamline these processes. StreamWork’s platform allows teams to set and adjust sequences to meet approval criteria while increasing efficiency and reducing the time spent on each step of the workflow.

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What are the three key components of an approval process?

The approval process is crucial for ensuring quality control and consistency across projects. At the core of an effective approval process are three key components: identifying stakeholders, setting clear guidelines and utilizing approval software.
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Identifying stakeholders ensures that all relevant parties are included in the approval process. Stakeholders include anyone who has a vested interest in a project or who will be signing off on it, such as team leads, managers and clients. Identifying stakeholders and mapping out everyone’s responsibilities early on helps in managing expectations and ensures that all necessary voices are heard, thereby avoiding potential bottlenecks later in the process.
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Secondly, setting clear guidelines is key to a smooth approval process. Guidelines clearly lay out what’s required for a project to move on to the next stage. That could mean setting specific criteria or performance metrics that need to be met, as well as timelines for each stage. Without clear guidelines, the process can become subjective, leading to inconsistencies and delays.
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Finally, leveraging approval software helps to streamline the approval process, minimizing errors and speeding up communication. Advanced platforms like StreamWork offer integrated solutions that manage creative approvals efficiently. They provide tools for structuring feedback, managing timelines and ensuring compliance with guidelines.
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Implementing these three components effectively will streamline your approval processes, making them more efficient and less prone to delays. Designed specifically for marketing teams, agencies and executives, Streamwork will help you transform your approval processes into streamlined workflows while boosting collaboration and productivity. Sign up for a free trial with StreamWork.

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