Document Approvals

The Document Approvals feature in Handbook is designed to streamline the approval process for important policies, procedures, and other documents within your organization. This feature is available exclusively to Enterprise users and ensures that the right stakeholders review and approve documents before they are finalized and distributed to employees.

With Document Approvals, you can track who has approved or rejected a document, leave comments, and maintain a complete history of the approval process. This is especially useful for large organizations that need to ensure compliance, gather feedback, and maintain transparency throughout the document approval workflow.

How to Use Document Approvals

Follow these simple steps to request approval for a document:

1. Navigate to the Document: Open the document you want to request approval for in Edit Handbook.

   Click 'Request Approval':

   • In the document's settings or details page, look for the Approvals section.

   • Click Request next to the Approvals section to initiate the approval process.

     Select Approvers:

   • A list of users within your organization who are authorized to approve documents will appear.

   • Select the people you want to review and approve the document. You can select multiple approvers if necessary.

     Write a Custom Message (Optional):

   • You can include a custom message to provide context or additional instructions to the approvers.

   • This is a great opportunity to communicate any specific points that require their attention or clarify any areas for feedback.

     Send the Approval Request:

   • Once you’ve selected the approvers and written your message (if desired), click the Email Request button to send the approval request to the recipients.

     Approvers Review the Document:

   • The selected approvers will receive an email with a request to approve or reject the document.

   • They can view the document, approve it, or reject it.

     Rejecting a Document:

   • If an approver rejects the document, they can leave comments explaining why they are rejecting it.

   • These comments are visible when you hover over the "I" (info) icon next to their name in the Approvalssection of the document.

     View Approval History:

   • To see the complete history of approvals and rejections for the document, click View Request History. This will show who approved or rejected the document, along with any comments they left.

Benefits of the Document Approvals Feature

The Document Approvals feature is particularly valuable for Enterprise customers, where document workflows often involve multiple stakeholders and strict compliance requirements. Here’s how it can be useful:

Example 1: Compliance and Legal Reviews

In large organizations, legal, HR, and compliance teams may need to review and approve policies before they are distributed to employees. Using the Document Approvals feature, you can ensure that:

• The Legal Department approves all documents related to contracts or legal matters.
• The Compliance Team reviews and approves documents to meet regulatory standards.
• The HR Team signs off on employee handbooks and benefit policies.

This ensures that the right departments have reviewed and approved critical content before it goes live.

Example 2: Cross-Department Collaboration

For enterprise businesses with complex workflows, documents often require input from multiple departments. For example:

• Product Management may need to approve technical documentation.
• Marketing might need to approve employee-facing materials that reference the company’s branding.
• Finance might review budget-related documents or expense policies.

With the ability to select multiple approvers, each department can easily review and approve the document, streamlining collaboration and ensuring nothing gets overlooked.

Example 3: Maintaining Version Control and Transparency

In large enterprises, it’s crucial to track changes to documents and ensure accountability in the approval process. The Document Approvals feature provides:

• A clear approval/rejection history to track who approved or rejected the document, when it happened, and why.
• The ability to review comments left by approvers when they reject a document, providing clear feedback to document owners.

This is especially useful for audits, compliance checks, or when new versions of documents need to be rolled out, ensuring transparency and reducing errors.

Example 4: Managing Multiple Stakeholders in Document Updates

When updating complex documents, such as safety procedures or internal policies, involving multiple stakeholders is essential. For instance:

• The Safety Manager and Operations Manager need to approve changes to safety protocols.
• The IT Department needs to review data security policies.
• The Executive Team needs to approve final policy changes before they are published.

Using the Document Approvals feature helps manage these workflows by ensuring each department is involved and that all required approvals are received before the document is finalized.

Conclusion

The Document Approvals feature is an invaluable tool for Enterprise customers who need to streamline document review and approval processes. Whether for compliance, collaboration, or version control, this feature ensures that documents go through the proper channels and are reviewed by the appropriate stakeholders.

By providing transparency, a clear approval history, and the ability to gather feedback through comments, Handbook helps you maintain organized and compliant document workflows across your entire organization.

If you need further assistance with the Document Approvals feature or have any other questions, feel free to contact our support team!