Problem guide
Email has become the approval system
Email becomes the approval system when there is no other shared place to ask, approve and record a decision, so requests pile up in inboxes and approvals get buried in threads. Name the approvals that matter, give each one a single place and owner, and keep a visible list of what is waiting.
What it usually looks like
A project manager emails the operations manager for approval on a rental lift. The email lands between a vendor newsletter and a customer complaint. Two days later the foreman texts asking if the lift is coming. The project manager replies all to the original email with a reminder. The operations manager, traveling, answers yes from her phone. The rental is ordered, but nobody attaches the approval to the job. When the bill arrives a month later, accounts payable asks who approved it, and the search begins.
Signs you have this problem
- Requests sit unanswered because they are buried in the approver's inbox
- People reply all to ask whether something was approved yet
- Finding an old approval means searching several inboxes
- Work starts on a verbal yes and the email arrives later, or never
- When an approver is out, requests wait until they come back
What usually causes it
- Waiting requests are scattered across inboxes, so nobody can see how many are open or how old they areThe invisible queue
- Each approval waits on one person with no backup or deadlineApproval drag
- The approved email has to be copied into the job, order or accounting record by handThe re-entry trap
What to try this week
- List the approvals that run through emailFor two weeks, note every approval request sent by email: what kind, who asked, who approved and how long it waited.
- Group them by typeMost companies find a few types, such as purchases, change orders, time off and credits, make up most of the traffic. Focus on those.
- Write down who approves whatFor each type, name the approver, the backup and a reasonable time to answer. Share it with everyone who asks for approvals.
- Keep one list of waiting approvalsUntil something better exists, keep a shared list of open requests with the date asked. Review it at a set time each day.
- Use a standard subject lineAgree on a short subject line format for each approval type so requests are easier to spot and find later.
Where do-it-yourself stops
These steps show what is waiting and who owns it. They do not take approvals out of inboxes, and the approved decision still has to be copied into the job, order or accounting record by hand. A lasting fix is a tool built around your own approval types and systems, where asking, approving and recording happen in one place. That is what a Workflow Spec designs.
Questions people ask
Why do approvals end up in email?
Because email is the one tool everyone already has, and nothing else gives people a shared place to ask and answer.
What is wrong with approving by email?
Requests get buried, nobody can see what is waiting, and the approval record is scattered across inboxes instead of attached to the job or purchase.
Which approvals should we fix first?
The ones that hold up field work or money, usually purchases and change orders. Measure how long they wait today.
What if the approver is out?
Name a backup for every approval type and make sure the field knows who it is.
Would a shared inbox fix it?
It helps with visibility, but approvals still live in email threads and still have to be copied into your other systems.
Next step
How we fix this
This guide is how to find it and work around it. If it keeps coming back, the fix is usually a tool built around how your crew already works.
Fox & Santiago, Genesee, Idaho. Home territory: the Inland Northwest, where we respond fastest. We fly anywhere in the United States for paid engagements.