Write down the decision rules
Identify which factors change the approval route: request type, value, department, location or other agreed business rules. Give each rule an owner.
Handle missing information
Decide whether incomplete requests should be returned, held or escalated. Tell the requester what needs to change and preserve the context for the reviewer.
Plan for unavailable approvers
Define delegation, escalation and changes in responsibility. Avoid making a process depend on one person being continuously available.
Define the handoff between systems
Specify where each stage is recorded, which system owns approval status and how failures will be investigated. Validate these scenarios alongside the normal approval path.
