Approval policies (also called approval templates) define who needs to review and approve content before it's published. Once you create a policy, you can apply it to documents, risk assessments, or form submissions to ensure they go through proper review.

Required permissions: You need the Manager or Admin role for your site to create approval policies.

If you don't see the governance settings, contact your site administrator to request the appropriate access.

What you'll need:

You'll see a list of existing approval policies (if any).

Click the New Approval Policy or Create Policy button.

Give your policy a clear, descriptive name that explains what it's for.

Good examples:

Tip: Use names that describe the content type and review purpose, so it's obvious which policy to use when submitting content.

Add a brief description explaining when to use this policy and what it's for.

Example: "Use this policy for all health and safety documentation. Requires department manager approval followed by health and safety officer sign-off."

This helps content authors choose the right policy when submitting for approval.

Every approval policy needs at least one stage. Click Add Stage to create your first review step.

For each stage, you'll set:

Stage name: Give it a clear name

Stage description (optional): Explain what reviewers should check

Approvers: Add people who can approve at this stage

You have two options:

Option 1: Add Individual Approvers

Option 2: Add Group Approvers

Tip: You can use both individual and group approvers in the same stage.

Required approvals: Set how many approvals this stage needs

Example: If you add 5 approvers but set required approvals to 2, the first 2 people to approve will complete the stage.

For multi-stage approval workflows, click Add Stage again.

Stages process in order from top to bottom:

Example: Two-Stage Policy

Tip: You can reorder stages by dragging them up or down before saving.

If your site has child sites, you'll see a Share with child sites option.

When enabled:

Example: Your head office creates a "Policy Approval" template and shares it with all regional sites to ensure consistent review.

Click Save or Create Policy.

Your new approval policy is now ready to use and will appear in the policies list.

Go to Settings > Governance > Approval Policies to see all policies for your site.

You'll see:

Inherited policies are read-only—you can use them but can't edit or delete them.

Note: Changes to a policy don't affect workflows that are already in progress. They'll continue using the original policy settings. New submissions will use the updated policy.

Important: You can't delete a policy if it's currently assigned to active content or has in-progress approval workflows. Reassign or complete those workflows first.

Name: "Procedure Approval"

Use case: Quick approval for standard procedures and work instructions.

Name: "Policy Review"

Use case: Health and safety policies need department input before final safety officer approval.

Name: "Risk Assessment Approval"

Use case: Risk assessments need consensus from technical experts before management sign-off.

Name: "Major Policy Approval"

Use case: Major organizational policies need departmental, compliance, and executive approval.

Start with simple one-stage approvals and add complexity only when needed. Every stage adds time to the approval process.

Instead of naming individuals, use groups when possible. This way:

Use 1 required approval when:

Use 2+ required approvals when:

Use all required approvals sparingly—it's slow and creates bottlenecks.

Use descriptive stage names that explain what's being reviewed:

If approvers are frequently unavailable (travel, shifts, holidays), either:

How many approval policies should I create?

Create as many as you need for different types of content and review requirements. Most organizations start with 2-4 policies (e.g., simple procedure approval, standard policy review, and critical document approval) and add more as needed.

Can the same person be in multiple stages?

Yes, but consider if this makes sense. If someone needs to approve at every stage, you might want to restructure your policy to avoid redundant reviews.

Can I test a policy before using it?

Yes—create a test document and assign the policy to it, then submit for approval. You can see how the workflow progresses and who gets notified.

What happens if I remove someone from a group that's an approver?

They'll no longer receive approval notifications for new workflows. However, in-progress workflows where they're already assigned will continue to include them.

Can I copy an existing policy?

Not directly in the UI, but you can create a new policy and manually configure it with the same stages and approvers.

Now that you've created an approval policy:

Want to set up recurring reviews instead? Check out Creating Review Policies.