Parallel Approval

Parallel Approval

Parallel approval enables multiple approvers to review requests simultaneously, with configurable strategies for reaching consensus. This pattern is essential for committee-based decisions, peer reviews, and scenarios requiring input from multiple stakeholders.

📋 Overview

Parallel approval steps (parallel_approval) send approval requests to multiple people at the same time, then continue the workflow based on a defined approval strategy. This significantly reduces approval time compared to sequential approval chains.

✅ Any One Approval Strategy

The fastest parallel strategy: workflow continues when any single approver approves the request.

Implementation

purchasing_approval:
  name: "purchasing_approval"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "Purchasing Team Review"
  approvers:
    - role: "purchasing_officer_1"
    - role: "purchasing_officer_2"
    - role: "purchasing_officer_3"
  approval_strategy: "any_one"
  on_approve:
    continue_to: "procurement_processing"
  on_reject:
    notify_requestor: "Purchase request denied by purchasing team"
    end_workflow: true

👥 All Must Approve Strategy

The most stringent strategy: all approvers must approve before workflow continues.

High-Security Implementation

security_approval:
  name: "security_approval"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "Security Committee Review"
  approvers:
    - role: "security_officer"
    - role: "compliance_manager"
    - role: "legal_counsel"
    - role: "it_director"
  approval_strategy: "all"
  timeout: "72_hours"
  on_approve:
    continue_to: "implementation"
  on_reject:
    notify_requestor: "Security review failed - all approvers must approve"
    end_workflow: true

🗳️ Majority Approval Strategy

Democratic approach: workflow continues when more than half of the approvers approve.

Board Approval Implementation

board_approval:
  name: "board_approval"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "Board of Directors Review"
  approvers:
    - role: "board_chair"
    - role: "board_member_finance"
    - role: "board_member_operations"
    - role: "board_member_technology"
    - role: "independent_director"
  approval_strategy: "majority"
  required_count: 3  # At least 3 must approve
  timeout: "7_days"
  on_approve:
    continue_to: "executive_implementation"
  on_reject:
    continue_to: "revision_required"

Future Features

The following strategies are currently in development and not yet available in the workflow engine:

• Weighted Approval Strategy: Assigning different weights to approvers.
• Quorum-Based Approval: Dynamic quorum requirements based on session state.
• Hierarchical Parallel Approval: Nested parallel approval structures.
• Custom Logic: Ability to inject arbitrary JavaScript/Python logic via custom_logic.

📊 Future Features (Unimplemented)

The following strategies are planned for future releases.

Weighted Approval Strategy

Future Feature

Advanced strategy where different approvers have different voting weights.

weighted_approval:
  name: "weighted_approval"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "Weighted Committee Decision"
  approvers:
    - role: "ceo"
      weight: 3
    - role: "cfo"
      weight: 2
    - role: "cto"
      weight: 2
    - role: "department_head"
      weight: 1
  approval_strategy: "weighted"
  required_weight: 5  # Need at least 5 points to approve
  on_approve:
    continue_to: "execution"
  on_reject:
    continue_to: "reconsideration"

Quorum-Based Approval

Future Feature

Committee-based approval with quorum requirements.

quorum_approval:
  name: "quorum_approval"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "Committee with Quorum Requirement"
  approvers:
    - role: "committee_chair"
    - role: "committee_member_1"
    - role: "committee_member_2"
    - role: "committee_member_3"
    - role: "committee_member_4"
  approval_strategy: "quorum"
  quorum_size: 3        # At least 3 must participate
  approval_threshold: 2  # Of those participating, 2 must approve
  timeout: "5_days"
  on_approve:
    continue_to: "implementation"
  on_reject:
    continue_to: "revision_cycle"

Hierarchical Parallel Approval

Future Feature

Hierarchical team review structures.

hierarchical_approval:
  name: "hierarchical_approval"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "Hierarchical Team Review"
  approvers:
    - role: "senior_manager"
      required: true     # Must approve
    - role: "team_lead_1"
    - role: "team_lead_2"
    - role: "team_lead_3"
  approval_strategy: "hierarchical"
  required_approvers: ["senior_manager"]  # Must have these
  additional_required: 1  # Plus at least 1 team lead
  on_approve:
    continue_to: "project_kickoff"
  on_reject:
    continue_to: "rejection_process"

🎯 Real-World Scenarios

IT Change Management

Future Feature

This scenario is planned for future release.

change_approval_board:
  name: "change_approval_board"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "IT Change Approval Board"
  approvers:
    - role: "it_operations_manager"
    - role: "security_specialist"
    - role: "application_owner"
    - role: "business_stakeholder"
  approval_strategy: "majority"

  # Risk-based timeout
  timeout: |
    {% if risk_level == 'high' %}
      24_hours
    {% elif risk_level == 'medium' %}
      48_hours
    {% else %}
      72_hours
    {% endif %}

  on_approve:
    continue_to: "change_implementation"
  on_reject:
    continue_to: "change_revision"

Budget Approval Committee

budget_committee:
  name: "budget_committee"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "Annual Budget Review Committee"
  approvers:
    - role: "cfo"
      weight: 3
      required: true
    - role: "department_head_engineering"
      weight: 2
    - role: "department_head_sales"
      weight: 2
    - role: "department_head_operations"
      weight: 1
    - role: "hr_director"
      weight: 1

  approval_strategy: "weighted"
  required_weight: 6
  minimum_approvers: 3

  # Extended timeline for budget reviews
  timeout: "2_weeks"
  reminder_intervals: ["3_days", "1_day"]

  on_approve:
    continue_to: "budget_implementation"
  on_reject:
    continue_to: "budget_revision"

Vendor Approval Process

vendor_evaluation:
  name: "vendor_evaluation"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "New Vendor Evaluation"
  approvers:
    - role: "procurement_manager"
    - role: "legal_counsel"
    - role: "finance_controller"
    - role: "technical_lead"
    - role: "security_officer"

  approval_strategy: "custom"
  custom_logic: |
    # Procurement and Legal must approve
    required_roles = ["procurement_manager", "legal_counsel"]

    # Plus majority of remaining roles
    remaining_approvals = total_approvals - required_role_approvals
    required_remaining = ceil(remaining_roles.length / 2)

    return required_role_approvals == 2 and remaining_approvals >= required_remaining

  on_approve:
    continue_to: "vendor_onboarding"
  on_reject:
    continue_to: "vendor_reevaluation"

⚙️ Advanced Features

Future Feature

The following features are planned for future release.

Dynamic Approver Assignment

dynamic_committee:
  name: "dynamic_committee"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "Dynamic Committee Based on Request"

  # Dynamic approver selection
  approvers: |
    {% set committee = ["department_head"] %}

    {% if amount > 50000 %}
      {% set committee = committee + ["cfo"] %}
    {% endif %}

    {% if category == "technology" %}
      {% set committee = committee + ["cto"] %}
    {% endif %}

    {% if involves_external_parties %}
      {% set committee = committee + ["legal_counsel"] %}
    {% endif %}

    {{ committee }}

  approval_strategy: "all"
  on_approve:
    continue_to: "execution"

Conditional Approval Requirements

risk_based_approval:
  name: "risk_based_approval"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "Risk-Based Approval Requirements"

  approvers:
    - role: "risk_manager"
    - role: "compliance_officer"
    - role: "business_owner"
    - role: "technical_lead"

  # Strategy changes based on risk level
  approval_strategy: |
    {% if risk_level == "high" %}
      all
    {% elif risk_level == "medium" %}
      majority
    {% else %}
      any_one
    {% endif %}

  on_approve:
    continue_to: "risk_mitigation_planning"

Escalation Handling

escalated_approval:
  name: "escalated_approval"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "Approval with Escalation"

  approvers:
    - role: "primary_approver_1"
    - role: "primary_approver_2"
    - role: "primary_approver_3"

  approval_strategy: "majority"
  timeout: "48_hours"

  # Escalation if timeout
  on_timeout:
    escalate_to:
      approvers:
        - role: "senior_director"
        - role: "vp_operations"
      approval_strategy: "any_one"
      timeout: "24_hours"

  on_approve:
    continue_to: "implementation"

📊 Performance & Analytics

Approval Metrics

approval_with_metrics:
  name: "approval_with_metrics"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "Tracked Parallel Approval"

  approvers:
    - role: "approver_1"
    - role: "approver_2"
    - role: "approver_3"

  approval_strategy: "majority"

  # Track performance metrics
  metrics:
    track_response_time: true
    track_approval_patterns: true
    measure_bottlenecks: true

  # Performance targets
  sla:
    target_response_time: "24_hours"
    escalation_threshold: "48_hours"

  on_approve:
    continue_to: "next_step"

Workload Balancing

balanced_approval:
  name: "balanced_approval"
  type: "parallel_approval"
  description: "Workload-Balanced Approval"

  # Intelligent approver selection
  approver_selection: "balanced"
  approver_pool:
    - role: "senior_analyst_1"
    - role: "senior_analyst_2"
    - role: "senior_analyst_3"
    - role: "senior_analyst_4"

  # Select 2 with least current workload
  selected_approvers: 2
  selection_strategy: "least_busy"

  approval_strategy: "any_one"

  on_approve:
    continue_to: "processing"

📋 Best Practices

Design Principles

1. Clear Strategy: Choose the right approval strategy for your use case
2. Reasonable Timeouts: Set realistic deadlines for group decisions
3. Backup Plans: Define escalation paths for non-responsive approvers
4. Workload Management: Balance approval requests across team members

Performance Optimization

1. Minimize Approver Count: Only include necessary stakeholders
2. Smart Notifications: Avoid overwhelming approvers with notifications
3. Batch Processing: Group similar requests for efficient review
4. Clear Context: Provide sufficient information for quick decisions

User Experience

1. Mobile Accessibility: Ensure approvers can respond from any device
2. Consolidated Views: Show progress across all parallel approvers
3. Discussion Features: Enable communication between approvers
4. Delegation Support: Allow temporary delegation during absences

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Next Steps:

• Learn about Form Integration for system integrations
• Explore SLA Tracking for timeout handling
• See Real Examples of parallel approval in action