Approval queue

Definition

An approval queue is the list of items waiting for a named person to approve or reject them, such as a new ad, a budget change or a client report. Each item shows its owner, the date it was sent, its deadline and the decision once one is made.

How to use it

Work usually stalls at approval, not at production. An item that waits in an email thread has no owner and no clock, so nobody sees that it is three days late. A queue puts every waiting item in one place with a name next to it, so the approver sees what is pending and the account manager sees what is blocking a launch.

Set a response time for each type of item, and write down what happens when it passes, such as a reminder to the approver and a note to the client lead. Record the decision and the time it was made. Launch only what is approved in the queue, so that the record of what went live matches what was agreed.