By Kevin McAleer

10 July 2014   Project Management Approval Tips

The Seven Deadly Sins of Approval

Projects require approval at various points along the way to ensure people agree and commit to decisions. Its therefore really important that approval is defined and agreed before it is asked for.

Approval must be by active agreement.

Approval cannot be:

• by proxy
• by default
• by time out
• by silence or lack of reply
• in absentia
• By word of mouth only
• Without evidence of agreement
• By proxy – because the delegated person may not hold the same view as the actual approver
• By default – because this may be a straight forward mistake
• By time out – the approver may be on leave, sick or otherwise unavailable – they may still have a valid view on the thing being approved.
• By silence or lack of reply – similar to number 3
• In absentia – they may not have been able to make the approval meeting, but have a very good reason to object to the approval that you do not know about
• By word of mouth only – people often forget what they agreed to.
• Without evidence of agreement – you got that in writing, right?

Approval is by positive, present agreement between the parties involved. It is also recorded and stored in a location where people can find it and refer to it.

Download the accompanying Slide Deck from slideshare.com:

http://www.slideshare.net/kevinmcaleer/the-seven-deadly-sins-of-approval