Document Approval
Definition:
Document Approval is something that is requested and given to a document. It is a way of expressing formal acceptance and giving permission from an accountability perspective for any document related activities to go ahead.
Project Manager Usage Context
As a project manager, you would usually request document approval once all the relevant project team members and stakeholders have provided their endorsement to the document.
Document approval is usually requested from a key project stakeholder who has appropriate levels of delegated accountability, such as your project owner or project sponsor.
E.g. "We will need to get the Chief Financial Officer to provide final approval of our Project Implementation Plan before we can progress with the finance system upgrade project - however we will never get this without obtaining full document endorsements all the key finance team stakeholders"
Comments / Tips
You would usually first obtain all the required document endorsements before you request and present for document approval.
Rather than email a lengthy document for approval, it much more effective to schedule a document approval session to run through key items / and what exactly they would actually approving.
It's also a good idea to have key members of your project team present and on hand to provide any backing information.
Example of usage in project documentation:
Document Approval:
As a document approver, you confirm that:
You approve of the document and any appendix items within the context of having overall accountability and providing formal permission.
The output of the document aligns with the business strategy and overall business case for the project.
Risks specified (with associated ownership) as stated are accepted
You are satisfied that due process has been followed in relation to the production of this document covering business analysis, appropriate stakeholder involvement and engagement, risk analysis and quality assurance.
Document approvers understand that:
Document approval is provided from an executive / senior management high-level standpoint rather than from a detailed technical or functional level.
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