Overview
When setting up approval policies, you need to decide who should review and approve content at each stage. CalmCompliance gives you flexibility in how you assign approvers—you can choose specific individuals, entire groups, or a combination of both.
Types of Approvers
Individual (Direct) Approvers
Individual approvers are specific people you name for a stage.
When to use:
You need a specific person's expertise or authority
The role requires a named individual (e.g., Health & Safety Officer)
You have a small team with clear responsibilities
Example: The Facilities Manager must personally approve all maintenance procedures.
Pros:
Clear accountability—you know exactly who's responsible
Appropriate for roles with specific authority or expertise
Cons:
Can create bottlenecks if that person is unavailable
Requires policy updates when people change roles
No coverage during holidays or absences
Group Approvers
Group approvers are teams or groups of users. Any member of the group can approve on behalf of the group.
When to use:
Any qualified team member can approve
You need coverage when people are unavailable
Responsibilities are shared across a team
You want approvals to continue when team membership changes
Example: Any member of the "Health & Safety Team" can approve safety documentation.
Pros:
Faster approvals—whoever's available can review
Automatic coverage during absences
Updates automatically when group membership changes
No policy changes needed when team members change
Cons:
Less specific accountability (though you can still see who actually approved)
May need to set expectations about who should review what
Combining Both Types
You can use individual and group approvers together in the same stage.
Example: "The Facilities Manager AND anyone from the Maintenance Team"
Individual approver: Facilities Manager
Group approver: Maintenance Team group
Required approvals: 2
This means you need both the Facilities Manager's approval plus sign-off from at least one member of the Maintenance Team.
Required Approvals Count
The required approvals setting determines how many people must approve before a stage completes.
Setting Required Approvals
When you have multiple approvers (individual or group), you choose how many approvals are needed:
1 required approval (most common):
Any single approver can complete the stage
Fastest option for moving workflows forward
Good for groups where any qualified person can verify
Example: You add 5 people from the Safety Team as approvers with 1 required approval. The first person to approve completes the stage.
2 required approvals (consensus):
Any two approvers must approve
Provides redundancy and multiple perspectives
Good for critical content or high-risk decisions
Example: Risk assessments need 2 out of 3 engineers to approve before proceeding.
All required approvals (unanimous):
Every approver must approve
Strictest option but slowest
Use sparingly—creates bottlenecks
Example: Major organizational policies need approval from all 3 department heads.
How It Works
If you have 6 possible approvers and set required approvals to 2:
The workflow waits for 2 people to approve
Once 2 approvers have approved, the stage completes
It doesn't matter which 2—first-come, first-served
The other 4 approvers don't need to take action
This makes approvals faster while still ensuring oversight.
Best Practices
Use Groups for Most Approvals
Groups provide flexibility and resilience:
✅ Coverage when people are on holiday
✅ Automatic updates when team changes
✅ Faster approvals (anyone available can review)
✅ No policy edits needed for personnel changes
Reserve individual approvers for roles that truly require a specific person's authority.
Set Realistic Required Counts
Set required approvals to 1 when:
Any qualified team member can verify the content
You need speed but want oversight
You're using groups for availability
Set required approvals to 2 when:
You want a second opinion or consensus
The content is complex or high-risk
You want to catch errors through redundancy
Avoid requiring all approvals unless:
Regulatory requirements demand it
The content is extremely critical
You have a very small group (2-3 people)
Requiring everyone to approve creates delays and bottlenecks.
Plan for Availability
Consider:
Holidays and absences: Use groups or multiple approvers
Shift work: Ensure approvers across all shifts
Time zones: For multi-site organizations, add approvers from each location
Workload: Distribute approval responsibilities to avoid overwhelming individuals
Structure Stages by Expertise
Organize stages to match the review focus:
Example: Document Approval
Stage 1: "Technical Review" → Subject matter experts group
Stage 2: "Compliance Check" → Compliance officer
Stage 3: "Executive Sign-Off" → Managing director
Each stage has the right people reviewing the relevant aspects.
Keep Groups Updated
If you use group approvers, maintain your groups:
Add new team members promptly
Remove people who leave or change roles
Review group membership quarterly
Groups only work if they're current. Outdated groups lead to notifications going to the wrong people.
Common Scenarios
Scenario 1: Simple Department Approval
Need: Department manager needs to approve all departmental documents.
Setup:
Stage 1: "Department Review"
Individual approver: Department Manager (Jane Smith)
Required approvals: 1
Why this works: Clear accountability, single point of approval.
Potential issue: Delays if Jane is unavailable.
Alternative: Create a "Department Managers" group and add Jane plus her deputy.
Scenario 2: Team Consensus
Need: Engineering team should review technical risk assessments, and at least 2 engineers should agree.
Setup:
Stage 1: "Engineering Review"
Group approver: Engineering Team (5 members)
Required approvals: 2
Why this works: Any 2 engineers can approve, providing consensus without requiring everyone. Fast and resilient.
Scenario 3: Multi-Stage with Specific Roles
Need: Health and safety policies need departmental input, then safety officer review, then executive approval.
Setup:
Stage 1: "Department Review"
Group approver: Department Heads group (4 people)
Required approvals: 1
Stage 2: "Safety Review"
Individual approver: Health & Safety Officer (Mark Wilson)
Required approvals: 1
Stage 3: "Executive Approval"
Individual approver: Managing Director (Sarah Thompson)
Required approvals: 1
Why this works: Flexible first stage (any department head), then specific expertise in stages 2 and 3.
Scenario 4: Distributed Teams
Need: Multi-site organization needs approvals from each region before head office sign-off.
Setup:
Stage 1: "Regional Review"
Group approvers: North Region Managers, South Region Managers
Required approvals: 2 (at least one from each region ideally)
Stage 2: "Head Office Approval"
Individual approver: National Operations Manager
Required approvals: 1
Why this works: Regional coverage with central oversight.
Scenario 5: Critical Documents
Need: Major safety policies must be reviewed by all senior managers.
Setup:
Stage 1: "Senior Management Review"
Individual approvers: Operations Manager, Safety Manager, HR Manager
Required approvals: 3 (all)
Why this works: Ensures everyone has reviewed and approved critical policies.
Trade-off: Slow—everyone must approve. Only use for truly critical content.
Managing Approvers in Existing Policies
Adding Approvers to a Stage
Edit the approval policy
Find the stage you want to modify
Click Add Users or Add Groups
Select additional approvers
Save the policy
Note: Changes only affect new approval workflows. In-progress workflows continue with the original approvers.
Removing Approvers from a Stage
Edit the approval policy
Find the approver in the stage
Click the Remove or X button next to their name
Save the policy
Warning: If you reduce the number of approvers below the required approvals count, you'll need to adjust the required approvals number too.
Changing Required Approvals Count
Edit the approval policy
Find the stage
Update the Required approvals number
Save the policy
Tip: If you increase the required count, make sure you have enough approvers to meet it.
Common Questions
What happens if someone is in both individual approvers and a group?
They'll only need to approve once. CalmCompliance automatically deduplicates, so each person only gets one notification and makes one decision.
Can I see who's assigned as an approver before creating the policy?
Yes—when you add group approvers, you can view the current group members. However, remember that group membership can change over time.
What if I remove someone from a group that's an approver?
New workflows won't include them. Existing in-progress workflows will continue to include them as originally assigned.
Can an approver delegate to someone else?
No, approvers must personally review and approve. If you need delegation, add both people to the group of approvers.
How many approvers is too many?
There's no hard limit, but practically:
1-3 approvers per stage is typical
4-8 approvers with required approvals of 1-2 works for groups
More than 10 approvers usually means you should reconsider your structure
Can I see who approved in previous stages?
Yes, approvers can view the complete approval history, including who approved at earlier stages and any comments they left.
Next Steps
Now that you understand approver assignment:
Plan your approval structure: Map out who should review what
Create your groups: Set up user groups for team-based approvals (see Creating Groups and Teams)
Build your policy: Use these approver strategies when Creating Approval Policies
Understand the flow: Learn how approvals progress in Approval Routing and Escalation