Overview
Once you've created an approval policy and applied it to content, CalmCompliance automatically handles the entire approval workflow—notifying approvers, tracking responses, advancing through stages, and updating content status. Understanding how this routing works helps you predict timelines and troubleshoot delays.
The Approval Lifecycle
1. Triggering an Approval Workflow
An approval workflow starts when someone submits content for approval:
For documents:
Author creates or edits a document
Assigns an approval policy
Clicks Submit for Approval
For risk assessments:
Author creates a risk assessment
The assessment's policy includes an approval template
Submitting the assessment triggers the workflow
For form submissions:
User completes a form
The form template includes an approval requirement
Submitting the form starts the approval workflow
Once triggered, the workflow runs automatically.
2. Stage Activation
Approval workflows process stages sequentially—one stage at a time, in order.
When a workflow starts:
Stage 1 becomes active
All other stages remain pending
Only Stage 1 approvers are notified
Stage statuses:
Pending: Waiting for earlier stages to complete
Active: Currently accepting approvals
Approved: Successfully completed
Rejected: Someone rejected at this stage
You can't skip stages. Each stage must complete before the next one begins.
3. Approver Notification
When a stage activates, CalmCompliance automatically:
Creates approval tasks:
Generates an approval action for each approver
Resolves group memberships to individual users
Removes duplicates (if someone is both a direct and group approver)
Sends notifications:
Email notification to each approver
Creates an inbox item in CalmCompliance
Includes a link to the content and approval page
Notification content includes:
What needs approval (document name, risk assessment, etc.)
Who submitted it
Which stage is active
Direct link to review and approve
Tip: Approvers don't need to remember to check—they're automatically notified when it's their turn.
4. Approver Actions
Each approver has three options:
Approve:
Indicates they've reviewed and approve the content
Can add optional comments explaining their decision
Counts toward the required approvals for the stage
Reject:
Indicates they don't approve the content
Should add comments explaining why
Immediately stops the workflow (see "Rejection" below)
No action:
Approver hasn't responded yet
Workflow waits for required number of approvals
If required approvals = 1 and someone else approves first, no action needed
5. Stage Completion
A stage completes when the required number of approvals is met.
Example 1: Simple approval
Stage has 1 approver
Required approvals: 1
As soon as that person approves, the stage completes
Example 2: Group approval
Stage has 5 approvers (from a group)
Required approvals: 1
First person to approve completes the stage
Other 4 approvers' actions are no longer needed
Example 3: Consensus
Stage has 4 approvers
Required approvals: 2
First 2 people to approve complete the stage
Other 2 approvers' actions are no longer needed
Example 4: Unanimous
Stage has 3 approvers
Required approvals: 3 (all)
All 3 must approve for the stage to complete
Slowest option—creates bottlenecks
When a stage completes:
Stage status changes to approved
Next stage becomes active (if there is one)
Next stage's approvers are notified
Previous stage's approvers get a confirmation notification
6. Workflow Progression
The workflow advances through all stages in sequence:
Stage 1 → Stage 2 → Stage 3 → Approved
Timeline example:
Day 1, 9am: Content submitted, Stage 1 activates
Day 1, 2pm: First Stage 1 approver approves (required: 1)
Day 1, 2pm: Stage 1 completes, Stage 2 activates, Stage 2 approvers notified
Day 2, 10am: Stage 2 approver approves
Day 2, 10am: Stage 2 completes, Stage 3 activates
Day 2, 4pm: Stage 3 approver approves
Day 2, 4pm: All stages complete, workflow approved, content published
Each stage waits for the previous stage to finish.
7. Final Approval
When the last stage completes:
Workflow status changes to approved
Content author is notified
Content status updates (e.g., document becomes published)
Approval is recorded in the audit log
The complete approval history is preserved, showing:
Who approved at each stage
When they approved
Any comments they added
Rejection Handling
If any approver rejects at any stage, the entire workflow stops immediately.
What Happens on Rejection
Immediate effects:
The active stage status changes to rejected
The entire workflow status changes to rejected
All pending stages are cancelled
No further approvals are collected
Notifications:
Content author is notified of the rejection
The rejection comment explains why (if the approver provided one)
Other approvers receive a notification that the workflow was rejected
Content status:
Content returns to draft status
It's not published or finalized
Author can view the rejection and make changes
Resubmitting After Rejection
After a rejection, the content author can:
Review the rejection comments: Understand what needs to change
Edit the content: Make the requested changes
Resubmit for approval: Starts a completely new workflow
Important: Resubmitting creates a new workflow—it doesn't resume the old one. All stages start from Stage 1 again, even if you were rejected at Stage 3.
Why start over? The content has changed, so all approvers should review the updated version.
Approval Routing Scenarios
Scenario 1: Fast-Track Approval
Setup:
Single stage: "Manager Approval"
3 approvers (group: Department Managers)
Required approvals: 1
Timeline:
9:00am: Content submitted, all 3 managers notified
9:15am: First manager to review approves
9:15am: Workflow completes, content published
Why it's fast: Only one approval needed, whoever's available can approve.
Scenario 2: Sequential Review
Setup:
Stage 1: "Technical Review" (Engineering group, 1 required)
Stage 2: "Safety Review" (Safety Officer, 1 required)
Stage 3: "Executive Approval" (Managing Director, 1 required)
Timeline:
Monday 10am: Submitted, engineers notified
Monday 2pm: Engineer approves → safety officer notified
Tuesday 10am: Safety officer approves → MD notified
Tuesday 3pm: MD approves → workflow complete
Why it takes longer: Each stage waits for the previous one, and each stage needs a specific person's approval.
Scenario 3: Consensus Approval
Setup:
Single stage: "Risk Committee Review"
5 approvers (individual risk committee members)
Required approvals: 3
Timeline:
Monday 9am: Submitted, all 5 committee members notified
Monday 11am: First member approves (1 of 3)
Monday 3pm: Second member approves (2 of 3)
Tuesday 9am: Third member approves (3 of 3)
Tuesday 9am: Workflow completes
Why it takes longer: Needs 3 approvals, must wait for multiple people.
Scenario 4: Rejection and Resubmission
Setup:
Stage 1: "Department Review"
Stage 2: "Compliance Review"
Stage 3: "Final Sign-Off"
Timeline:
Monday: Submitted → Stage 1 approves → Stage 2 activates
Tuesday: Stage 2 approves → Stage 3 activates
Wednesday: Stage 3 rejects (finds a compliance issue)
Wednesday: Author receives rejection, makes edits
Thursday: Author resubmits → new workflow starts at Stage 1
Thursday-Friday: Stages 1, 2, 3 all review again
Friday: Stage 3 approves, workflow complete
Why start over: Content changed, so all stages need to review the updated version.
Tracking Approval Progress
For Content Authors
Check workflow status:
Open your content (document, risk assessment, etc.)
Look for the Approval section or tab
You'll see:
Current workflow status (pending, approved, rejected)
Which stage is active
Who has approved so far
Who still needs to approve
What you can see:
✅ Completed stages (who approved, when, comments)
🔄 Active stage (who's assigned, who has approved)
⏳ Pending stages (not yet started)
What you can't do:
Skip stages
Approve your own content (if you're an approver)
Cancel the workflow (unless you have admin rights)
For Approvers
Find items waiting for approval:
Check your inbox or notification center
You'll see approval requests when it's your turn
Click through to review and approve
View approval history:
See who approved at previous stages
Read comments from earlier reviewers
Understand the review trail
For Administrators
Monitor all approvals:
View all active workflows across your site
See bottlenecks or delayed approvals
Check approval history for audit trails
Common Questions
Can I skip a stage if it's not relevant?
No. All stages must complete in order. If a stage isn't always needed, consider creating separate approval policies for different scenarios rather than skipping stages.
What if an approver is on holiday?
The workflow waits. This is why using groups or multiple approvers with required approvals less than the total is recommended. If it's urgent, an administrator might need to reassign or adjust the workflow.
Can I cancel an in-progress approval workflow?
Administrators can cancel workflows if needed. Authors typically can't cancel once submitted. Check with your site administrator if a workflow needs to be stopped.
Do all approvers in a stage get notified at once?
Yes. When a stage activates, everyone assigned to that stage receives a notification simultaneously.
If I'm in Stage 2, can I see who approved in Stage 1?
Yes. Approvers can view the complete history of previous stages, including who approved and any comments they left.
What if the approval policy changes while a workflow is in progress?
The workflow continues using the original policy settings it started with. Changes to policies only affect new workflows.
Can I see how long each stage took?
Yes, timestamps are recorded for when each stage started and completed. This helps identify bottlenecks in your approval process.
What happens if someone approves and then changes their mind?
Once an approval is recorded, it can't be undone by the approver. If there's an issue, they should contact the content author or an administrator. If the stage has already completed, the approver would need to raise it with the next stage or after publication.
Tips for Smooth Approvals
Design Realistic Approval Processes
Fewer stages = faster approvals
Use groups for availability and flexibility
Set required approvals low enough to avoid bottlenecks
Only involve approvers who add genuine value to the review
Set Expectations
Let approvers know:
Expected turnaround time for approvals
What they should check when reviewing
How to reject and provide useful feedback
That they'll be notified when it's their turn
Use Comments
When approving or rejecting, add comments explaining:
What you checked
Why you approved (especially for critical reviews)
Specific issues if rejecting
Suggestions for improvement
This creates a valuable audit trail and helps authors understand the review.
Monitor for Bottlenecks
If approvals consistently delay:
Check if specific approvers are overwhelmed
Consider adding more approvers or using groups
Reduce required approvals counts
Simplify multi-stage processes
Keep Policies Updated
Review your approval policies quarterly:
Are the right people assigned?
Are groups up to date?
Are stages still necessary?
Can you streamline the process?
Next Steps
Now that you understand approval routing:
Test your workflows: Submit test content to see how approvals flow
Train your approvers: Ensure they know how to respond to approval requests
Monitor progress: Track your first few workflows to identify any issues
Set up review policies: Add recurring reviews with Review Policies for ongoing content maintenance
For more on creating approval policies, see Creating Approval Policies.