Building your first approval workflow

Workflows are how policy becomes something the system executes consistently, instead of something people chase by email. This article covers the pieces of an approval workflow conceptually, so you can think through your first one.

Approvers

Every workflow has named approvers — the people whose sign-off a request requires. Naming them turns “someone should approve this” into a defined, accountable step.

Conditions

Workflows can branch on conditions, so the path fits the request. A change above a certain threshold might require an extra approver; a routine one might take the short path. Conditions let a single workflow handle the range of real cases.

SLAs and escalation

Each step can carry an SLA — an expected time to act. When a step stalls past its SLA, the workflow can escalate it, so approvals don’t disappear into an inbox. The process keeps moving without someone manually nudging it.

A full audit history

Every workflow keeps a complete history: who approved what, when, and under which conditions. That record is there whenever you need to show how a decision was made.