Struggling With Your Approval Processes? Here’s Why
Are you reviewing your approval processes? You really should. For both how approvals are submitted by requestors and received by you.
Approvals are critical to business success. Yet these numbers say getting approvals is a problem:
-
92% of missed deadlines are due to approval requests
-
43% of businesses struggle with document approval processes
Paper-Based Approvals are a Problem
Here’s why it’s so hard to get something so important for business success.
Somebody fills in a form and manually submits it for approval. Then, they wait – and chase – for a reply. If the request is approved, it moves to the next approver, restarting the waiting and chasing cycle.
If it’s rejected, you’re back to square one.
The main reasons cited were reviewing paper documents is slow and cumbersome and a lack of timely notifications to prompt reviews and approvals.
Manual approvals also lack a clear process. A form gets filled and then there’s confusion over things like:
-
Who’s next on the approval chain?
-
When is the approval required?
-
What are the follow-up procedures?
Look at your department or organization. There’s a strong chance the majority are struggling with paper-based approval processes. Also consider that the bigger it is, the greater the impact.
More Paper Problems
Besides speed (or lack thereof), there are other issues with paper-based approval processes:
-
Poor security: Lost or stolen documents create risk if confidential info is exposed.
-
Data unreliability: Handwritten info may be recorded, interpreted, or actioned incorrectly.
-
Document storage: Physically storing approvals requires dedicated space as they get approved.
There’s more to that last bullet. Besides being a hassle, physically storing documents is expensive and eats into the bottom line (all USD):
It costs:
|
Paper doesn’t cut it anymore. For something as important as approvals, you need something faster and more reliable than a paper form. That’s because approvals go beyond simply “yes” or “no.”
Efficient Approval Processes Boost Productivity
By approving requests, you’re doing more than simply saying “yes, proceed,” you’re also helping your business in other ways:
-
Ensuring compliance: Approvals ensure business activities comply with industry regulations.
-
Quality assurance: Approve inspections to maintain quality, accuracy and safety of work and equipment.
-
Defining accountability: Ensure the person submitting the request has done so properly and the person receiving the request is authorized to do so.
Approvals play an essential role in task management. Saying “yes” doesn’t just give the submitter permission to move forward. It ensures all dependencies associated with that process are followed.
Scanning Documents, Using Spreadsheets or Chat Apps is NOT Digitization
Some organizations “digitize” by scanning forms as PDFs. That wastes time.
Others may manually enter approval requests into a spreadsheet. Again, that wastes so much time. Others write a visual description of, say, damage to a forklift, but it may not be accurate or complete.
Information is only useful if it's correct and easily understood. There’s a risk the info won’t be transferred properly from a paper document onto the spreadsheet. This can result in incorrect assumptions and wrong decisions being made.
Meanwhile, some might use chat apps to request and receive approvals. There’s no guarantee the approver will act on the request in a timely manner. Plus, using a chat app is full of internal and external security risks.
In the case of one retail company, they used multiple “digitization” processes with poor results. Click the link below to learn how they tried to go digital and all the problems that they faced.
How Did One Retail Company Struggle with Digitization?
See What Happens When Going Digital Goes Wrong |
Providing approvals is an important part of your job, and important things should be easier to do. Why not make the submission and approval process simple and straightforward? Why not simplify how to track approval requests and statuses with near real-time visibility?
Streamline Approvals with SOTI Snap
SOTI Snap features Workflow. It automates approval processes by embedding them into apps on your business-critical mobile devices:
-
Submitters send requests from their devices and Workflow automatically routes it to the right person based on criteria such as dollar amount or even vacation status. If the primary approver is away, Workflow routes the request to a secondary approver.
-
Approvers receive requests and can action them immediately from the SOTI Snap mobile app, the SOTI Snap console or via any Internet-connected device’s web browser. This speeds up the approval process and eliminates bottlenecks as physical interactions with paper are replaced by digital requests that can be approved anywhere, anytime.
No paper. No chasing. No confusion. Just smooth, efficient, timely approvals.
See how easy approvals could be – and should be – with SOTI Snap.
