Approvals

Approvals place human judgment at sensitive points in colleague work. They are decisions, not routine notifications.

Find approval items

Open Needs You to see approvals and clarification requests. These are separated from completed results so pending decisions remain visible.

Inspect the proposed action

Before choosing an outcome, identify:

• what the colleague proposes to do;
• which data, file or connection is involved;
• the intended destination or effect;
• why the action is required for the goal;
• whether the proposal still matches the reviewed colleague rules.

If the context is insufficient, ask for clarification rather than guessing.

Approve, decline or redirect

Approve only when the action is appropriate and within your authority. Decline an unsafe or unnecessary action. When the goal is valid but the proposed path is not, give guidance that narrows or redirects the work.

Design better approval rules

An approval is most useful when the boundary is specific. “Ask before any action” creates noise; “ask before sharing a result outside the workspace” is easier to understand and review. Use organisation DLP and classification policy alongside colleague-specific rules.

Keep separation of duties

Where organisational policy requires it, the person who defines or runs work should not be the only person who approves a sensitive outcome. Configure roles and operational practice accordingly.

Audit context

Approval activity contributes to the record of how work moved through the system. Use that history to investigate decisions and improve colleague rules; do not treat the audit log as a substitute for good policy.