Approvals

Purpose

Project approvals are those signatures required to achieve authorization of phases, milestones, resource allocation, or virtually any aspect of the project that requires acceptance or authorization by another party. Projects may be subject to dozens of approval cycles throughout their lifetimes. The communications aspect of approvals is to ensure that they are shared, understood, and spread consistently within the organization. The basic purpose of approvals is to validate and provide acceptance of a project.

Application

Approvals are normally conducted in writing and represent a commitment on the part of stakeholders. To receive an approval, the basic premise for which approval is sought must be documented thoroughly and clearly. This may be done through an approvals template, checklist, or other means, but normally requires a signature. Approvals can take a host of different forms, but those that are most effective will include a succinct statement of what is being approved and a clear representation of the authority of the individual(s) approving it, such as a signature. For example, an approval may be a simple acknowledgment that a milestone has been achieved:

The current status of the project, as defined in the status report dated March 1, is acceptable, and performance to date has been up to expectations. X Megan DeBills, Customer

The approvals can then be archived, displayed, or channeled out to team members for their awareness.

Content

Approvals should always include a statement of what is being approved and the depth or range of the approval. Approvals represent closure of a sales experience, even when nothing is being sold or exchanged. The exchange of value with an approval is frequently one of basic progress and forward momentum on the project.

Approaches

While approvals may be given verbally, written approvals are perceived as inherently carrying more weight and value. Even if the approvals are for issues of a seemingly minor nature, requesting signatures serves the dual function of affirming that the other stakeholder is aware of what she is approving and that the approval has significance and meaning. Specific action or reaction (e.g., movement to the next phase, initiation of the next deliverable) should be tied to approvals.

In the virtual environment, paper signatures may not be possible. That should not preclude the effort to get positive affirmation in any approval process. The most effective means for getting true e-mail approvals is to ask the approving authority to use a specific type of language or verbiage as affirmation. Asking the approving authority to write in response that “This e-mail serves as my authorization and approval of [the approval in question]” serves as a tool to minimize the ambiguity sometimes associated with virtual approvals and authorizations.

Although verbal approvals are among the most commonplace in industry, they carry little long-term weight. To be effective, the manager should seriously consider following up with affirmative documentation (either on paper or via e-mail) as described earlier.

Considerations

Many organizations promote a culture that is accountability averse, but that does not make accountability, particularly in the project environment, any less desirable. The manager who can introduce accountability into the approvals process (where it has not existed in the past) can find their projects easier to promote, since they alone have the documentation to affirm support of the effort to date. Introducing that accountability early sets the stage for those who join the project later, because it will help them develop an understanding of the expectation for approvals and signatures.

Objectivity should also be a goal in achieving approvals, because approval of a subjective set of criteria may have very limited weight in that one person’s interpretation of the criteria may differ wildly from another’s.