Add an approval step before anything goes out

Exit

Lesson 5 · 8 min

Add an approval step before anything goes out

By the end

An approval step designed for one of your automations: who approves, what they see, and what happens if nobody does.

  1. 1Learn
  2. 2Try it
  3. 3Human check
  4. 4Quick check

Learn · 3 min

Pause before the point of no return

Automations can read, sort and draft freely, because nothing has left the building. The pause goes just before the step you can’t take back: sending to a customer, posting in public, paying or refunding, deleting, or changing a record other people rely on. A rule of thumb: if a mistake would embarrass you or cost money, a person approves it.

So a cleaning company’s automation can draft every review reply, but a person posts them. Without code, there are three common ways to build the pause:

  • Drafts: the automation saves a draft, and a person clicks send.
  • A status column: it adds a row marked Waiting, and a second automation acts only on rows a person changes to Approved.
  • An approval message: some automation tools can pause and ask a person to approve or reject by email or team chat. Check whether yours does and on which plan, and make sure a request that times out never sends anything.

Show the approver everything

An approval is only as good as what the approver sees. Show the exact text that will go out, who it goes to, the original it came from, and anything marked [CHECK]. Offer three choices (approve, edit, reject), and make sure the edited version is what actually gets sent. If approving means opening three other tabs, it won’t happen.

Name one approver per item, plus a backup. A request sent to five people tends to be approved by none of them, or by whoever clicks first.

Watch for rubber-stamping. Someone approving fifty items in five minutes has stopped reading. Keep batches small, and send for approval only what needs judgment.

When nobody answers

Decide this before you switch on. The default is that nothing goes out. Then escalate: a reminder to the approver after a set time, then the backup, and a daily list of everything still waiting. Silence never counts as a yes.

For time-sensitive work, the one thing that can go out unapproved is a fixed message a person signed off once, like “Thanks, we’ve got your message and will reply within one business day.” And watch the approval step itself: if the daily waiting list stops arriving, the step is broken, not quiet.

Try it on your business

5 min

Design the pause for one automation you run or plan to run, on paper first, then let your assistant poke holes in it. Tool cost: none.

  1. 1

    Pick one automation and name the one step that can’t be undone.

  2. 2

    Fill in the prompt with your real approver, backup and time limit, and run it.

  3. 3

    Close every path where something could go out unapproved, and write down the reminder and backup rule.

  4. 4

    Show the design to the approver and ask whether they’d really read it at 4:45 on a Friday.

I'm adding an approval step to an automation for [BUSINESS].
What it does: [TRIGGER AND STEPS]
What goes out after approval, and to whom: [WHAT AND WHO]
Approver: [NAME OR ROLE]. Backup: [NAME OR ROLE].
How they approve: [DRAFTS FOLDER, STATUS COLUMN OR APPROVAL MESSAGE]
If nobody approves within [TIME]: [WHAT HAPPENS]

Check my design and list, briefly:
1. Anything the approver needs to see that I haven't included.
2. Any way something could go out without approval.
3. What happens on a weekend, a holiday or a sick day.
Open ChatGPTOpen ClaudeOpen Gemini

Human check: before you use it

Quick check · question 1 of 2No grades

A draft reply has waited 24 hours for approval. What should happen by default?

Ask the Distillery

Answers come from The Distillery’s own pages, with sources.

If the Distillery doesn’t know, it says so and points you to a person.