Requests getting stuck because the approver is on a business trip is the most common complaint about the requests module. This article shows three ways to prevent it, ranked by how sustainable they are.
Method 1 — multiple approvers in the same step
This is the most sustainable method and should be the default for every flow.
- Open the Approver step in the flow.
- Add two or more people to the Approver field.
- Choose the method Only 1 approver needs to approve or reject.
Whoever is free first handles it. Nobody has to remember to turn on an out-of-office mode, and there is never a day when the flow is broken.
For large financial requests that require all signatures, don't use this method at the final step. Instead, use method 1 for the early steps and keep All approvers must approve for the deciding step.
Method 2 — assign approvers by role
In the approval step configuration table, click + Add option and select:
- Line manager — the system automatically finds the submitter's manager. When the manager changes, the flow changes accordingly with no edits needed.
- Job title — everyone holding that job title can approve. A person newly assigned the job title automatically gets the permission.
Assigning by role also solves the problem of staff changes. If you assign by name, every time someone leaves, somebody has to remember to go in and edit each flow — and usually nobody remembers.
Method 3 — temporarily edit the flow
When an approver will be away for a long time and the two methods above can't be applied:
- Open the flow and add a substitute to that step.
- Set the method to Only 1 approver needs to approve or reject.
- Add a calendar reminder for the date to remove the substitute when the primary approver returns.
With method 3 it's easy to forget to remove the substitute. After a few times, the company's approval flows are full of approvers who are no longer relevant. If you have to use it, set the reminder right when you make the edit.
Periodic tasks
- Every quarter, review the list of approvers for the main request types and remove people who have left.
- When someone leaves, use the Export file button in the approval workflow dialog to quickly check which flows still contain their name.
- When opening a new branch, check whether the Initiation block of the flows includes that branch.
How to handle requests that are already stuck
| Situation | How to handle it |
|---|---|
| The approver is on a business trip for a few days | Add a second approver to that step and change the method to only 1 person needed |
| The approver has left the company | Edit the flow and replace them with their successor or with Line manager |
| An urgent request that can't wait | The administrator handles it directly on the web, then edits the flow so it doesn't happen again |
