Document Review and Approval: automate the process in your company

R2 Docuo automates your company’s document review and approval flows: assign reviewers, control versions and collect signatures in a single environment. Used by SMEs and large companies alike.

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Carrying out proper document review and approval can make the difference between the success or failure of a project. Your company probably has to handle this regularly, manually and in different contexts: drafting legal documents, creating procedure manuals, preparing contracts and agreements, and so on. All of it with delivery dates and deadlines.

Normally, and although it depends on how complex the process is, there are usually a number of people involved, both internal and external: the author of the document, the reviewers and the final approver are some of them, and all of them have to be constantly informed of what is happening with the document if its review and approval is to succeed.

The problems of manual review and approval

All of this is usually handled manually, with the help of Excel, Outlook and shared folders, which gives rise to numerous problems.

To begin with, the lack of review criteria for each type of document makes the process complicated and leads to disagreements among the people involved, delaying approval or even preventing it altogether. On top of that, if the whole process is not properly recorded, keeping track of it is practically impossible.

Then there is the fact that, in this type of process, communication is fundamental.

When the volume of documents to review is high, handling reviews and approvals by email can cause delays and the loss of key information.

Combine that with the lack of control and security over who made each change to the document, and with the existence of duplicates, and you get serious organisational problems.

Using a document management system for review and approval flows

To avoid this situation, document review and approval software such as Docuo is the answer.

For each type of document that needs reviewing, you will be able to create an approval flow with all the options and steps you want (for example, one specifically for contracts, another for case files and procedures, and so on). You will also be able to attach documents to each of these flows in a single click, so that they start moving automatically.

When it comes to communication, you will not have to worry about notifying the reviewers when their turn comes: they will automatically receive a link by email, SMS or Teams, from which they can approve, reject and even sign the document in a single click and from their phone.

You will have full control at all times of what is happening with documents during their review: who approves or rejects them, when the changes were made and where. Thanks to this, you will be able to collect change requests in an organised way and send them to the reviewers for their consideration.

If something is not going the way it should, that is not a problem, because you will be able to manage Non-Conformities effortlessly, from their creation right through to the Corrective Actions you can implement with ease.

Three tips to speed up the document review and approval process

A document management system will make your work considerably easier, but to get the most out of it you can follow these recommendations:

Build a technology ecosystem

Yes, a Document Management System works very well on its own, but can you imagine what it can do combined with other tools? In Docuo’s case, it integrates with Microsoft 365, which will make your communications far quicker and let you create documents automatically, from smart templates, in seconds.

Establish roles and responsibilities

Define who is in charge of reviewing and approving each document to avoid confusion and delays. With Docuo you can set permissions so that each person only has access to the documents they have to approve or review.

The order of review matters

When the document review process starts, you need to think about the order in which the stakeholders will review the project documentation. That order usually runs from the bottom up in terms of company hierarchy, but the personal preferences of those involved should be taken into account. Nor can you overlook what makes sense for each project. Is there a stakeholder without whose approval you cannot move forward?

Knowing all this, in Docuo you can set up automatic alerts so that each party knows when their turn has come to review or approve the document, which means they will not need to be checking all the time.

Final conclusion

To avoid these problems and ensure an efficient review and approval process, it is important to establish good communication and coordination between everyone involved, to know clearly what criteria will be followed, and to make sure there is enough time to complete the process properly — three things a Document Management System can help you achieve.

Ready for the change? Get in touch!