How Agencies Can Optimize Approval Workflows |

There’s nothing quite like the buzz of a new campaign coming together. Designers nail the visuals, copywriters hit the perfect tone, and the client is genuinely excited about what’s taking shape.

And then…everything screeches to a halt because someone still hasn’t approved the headline, or the design feedback is lost in a long email chain. 

For agencies, this cycle eats into deadlines, team energy, and client confidence. 

That’s why, in this blog, we’ll discuss how agencies can optimize approval workflows in a way that reviews become faster, feedback is clearer, and everyone knows what needs to happen next. 

You’ll also find out how , the everything app for work, helps make this process seamless. 🤩

Common Approval Workflow Challenges for Agencies

Your approval workflows are bleeding money, and it’s happening in ways you might not even notice. Here are some common challenges you may encounter. 🚧

Multiple stakeholders cause delays

Your client’s director gives the green light on the marketing campaign strategy, and then their legal team suddenly appears with concerns nobody has mentioned before. Now their CEO wants messaging that completely contradicts the approved brief.

But wait, there’s more coming:

• Week three brings procurement demanding vendor compliance forms 
• HR suddenly needs a ‘cultural sensitivity review’ 
• A regional manager decides they need a completely different message for their market
• IT kills your launch because the landing page has ‘unauthorized tracking pixels’

Each stakeholder thinks they’re helping, but since they never coordinate with each other, your team gets pulled in different directions.

Lack of visibility into pending approvals

Campaign assets vanish into client organizations, and you’re left guessing where they are in the approval chain.

You can’t tell if the delay is because someone’s on vacation, if internal reviews are taking longer than expected, or if your email got buried in someone’s inbox. This visibility gap makes it impossible to plan resources effectively.

Most of the time, you’re unsure whether to keep your team on standby for immediate revisions or move them to other projects.

Miscommunication and unclear responsibilities

Approval ownership can get messy. Your account lead assumes the client will coordinate their internal stakeholders, while the client expects your team to manage the entire approval process workflow.

Then new decision-makers show up mid-project without clear authority levels, and suddenly everyone’s waiting for someone else to take charge. These gaps burn through project budgets despite nothing moving forward.

Version control issues and inconsistent feedback

File chaos multiplies when feedback comes through multiple channels without coordination.

Your designer might be working on version 12 while stakeholders send comments based on version eight. Email feedback contradicts what was said in meetings, and nobody knows which input takes priority.

This version control issue has your team spending billable hours on figuring out what’s relevant instead of making changes.

Bottlenecks in urgent or high-priority projects

Rush campaigns expose every weakness in your supposedly effective approval workflow. Standard processes that work well for normal timelines often fall apart when clients require fast turnarounds.

Let’s look at the most common urgent project bottlenecks:

• Weekend approvals get delayed because nobody checks their work email until Monday
• International clients create timezone gaps where approvals sit idle for 12+ hours
• Backup approvers lack context and authority to make quick decisions
• Emergency changes trigger compliance reviews that take longer than the original timeline

These bottlenecks impact project management effectiveness. They create delays that affect other clients and damage your agency’s reputation for reliable delivery.

Step-by-Step Guide to Optimizing Approval Workflows

Agencies need approval workflows that cut friction and maintain quality. Use these steps and map them into ’s Creative Agency Project Management Software to stay aligned. 

Let’s see how the approval workflow software helps! 🧰

Step #1: Collect requests in one place

When multiple clients send requests via email, chat, or even WhatsApp, details can easily get lost. You need a way to channel every request into one reliable source.

For example, create a request form in your workflow software, asking for budget, target audience, key deliverables, and preferred timelines.

With Forms, those client inputs can automatically turn into Tasks. If a client fills out your website redesign form, a task is instantly created, assigned to the account manager, and linked with all uploaded assets, such as brand guidelines or logos.

Here’s what makes forms work best for agencies:

• Add mandatory fields for goals, marketing budgets, and deadlines
• Use dropdowns for project timelines to avoid vague expectations
• Include file uploads so clients can provide logos, fonts, or past creatives upfront

Step #2: Break projects into structured tasks

After collecting a clear request, the next step is to split it into actionable pieces.

A campaign like ‘Launch a new fashion ad’ needs smaller, owned steps like scriptwriting, casting, editing, and client approvals. 

for agencies makes this easy to manage.

Each deliverable becomes a task, assigned to the right team member, with subtasks for micro-steps. The video shoot task could have subtasks for: 

• Booking the studio
• Hiring a film crew
• Organizing props

Custom Task Statuses then show exactly where each task sits. Instead of generic statuses like ‘In Progress’, an agency can set up ‘Concepting’, ‘First Draft Ready’, and ‘Client Feedback Received’. Everyone sees how work is moving without sending update emails.

Here’s what Tyler Guthrie, Director of Revenue Operations, Home Care Pulse, had to say about using to manage approvals:

Step #3: Sequence approvals in the right order

Creative work often moves through layered reviews: internal creative lead, account manager, then client sign-off. If those steps run out of order, deadlines crumble.

Task Dependencies let you control this flow. For example, the editing task cannot start until the creative director approves the storyboard. Dependencies lock the sequence so no one jumps ahead.

Let’s say your agency is delivering a set of banner ads. The design task remains blocked until copywriting is finalized. Once the copy task is marked complete, the design task automatically opens.

Step #4: Assign feedback where it belongs

Agency feedback often gets lost in long chat threads. A vague ‘Change this color’ message can leave teams guessing who should take action. Feedback needs ownership.

Assign Comments solves this directly. For instance, when a client notes that the CTA button on a landing page feels weak, the account manager adds an assigned comment tagging the designer. That comment stays open until the designer resolves it.

Or suppose your agency is running a photoshoot. The creative lead can leave an assigned comment on the ‘Finalize edits’ Task: @Jamie, replace image 3 with the alternate shot. Jamie gets notified immediately, and the update stays tied to the task.

Step #5: Automate repetitive approval steps

Even with a new workflow created, agencies spend hours setting reminders for client feedback, moving tasks into review stages, or notifying teams of changes. 

Automations take this repetition off your plate. They work on a simple ‘if this, then that’ rule, letting you set custom triggers and actions within the centralized platform. 

Say you’re delivering a rebrand package. As soon as the design team finishes logo concepts, Automations triggers an email to the client saying drafts are available in the creative project management software. The process keeps moving without someone remembering to send reminders.

Here’s how workflow automation supports approvals:

• Auto-assign tasks when a status changes
• Trigger client notifications once deliverables reach review stages
• Shift tasks into new lists once internal approval is complete

Step #6: Centralize conversations where work happens

Client approvals often get derailed when communication spreads across multiple channels. Teams need a single location where all conversations are connected to deliverables.

Chat lets agencies keep those discussions inside the project workspace.

For example, when a client has edits for a campaign video, the account manager can drop those notes directly into the channel linked to that campaign. Designers and editors see what’s going on without any context or Work Sprawl.

For live discussions, SyncUps in Chat add another layer. You can start an audio or video call in any channel or DM.

Suppose your creative director wants to resolve client edits in real time. The team starts a SyncUp in the dedicated project channel, reviews feedback together, and updates tasks during the call. While the call runs, you can work together to edit docs or adjust whiteboards.

Step #7: Use AI to simplify creative reviews

When campaigns hit the client review stage, teams often waste hours sifting through bulky briefs, messy email threads, or repeated client questions. Agencies can save that time by using AI to filter the noise and highlight what matters.

Brain acts as your creative team’s on-demand assistant during reviews.

For example, if a client sends a 15-page rebrand document, you can ask the AI Project Manager to generate a two-paragraph breakdown of the most important guidelines for tone, visuals, and audience. This way, the design team gets clarity without reading every line.

Brain’s AI Writer for Work can write alternative captions aligned with the client’s brand voice, giving copywriters a quick baseline to refine.

You can also:

• Summarize long client briefs into actionable highlights for designers and copywriters
• Generate first-pass content like ad copy or email subject lines for internal review
• Answer quick context questions, such as ‘What colors did the client approve for the spring campaign?’

Step #8: Scale approvals with advanced AI

Each client has unique requirements, and every campaign follows its own workflow model.

Brain MAX, a desktop AI companion, connects multiple AI models, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and DeepSeek, to your workspace. It also links across your apps, making it easier to pull context from Google Drive or Figma into your approval process.

For example, if three different clients all schedule video shoots in the same week, Brain MAX forecasts potential resource strain. It might suggest reassigning editors or extending one deadline to prevent missed deliveries.

Best Practices for Agency Approval Workflows

Here are some best practices to keep approval workflow management smooth, predictable, and stress-free for both your team and clients.

Create approval maps before projects start

Projects slow down when you don’t know who approves what.

At kickoff, list every decision-maker, include backup contacts, and define exactly what each person can sign off on.

For example, the creative operations lead can approve design drafts, the marketing manager can approve copy, and the legal team can check compliance. Also, add backup contacts to prevent delays when someone is unavailable.

Build approval deadlines into project timelines

When planning your project, block out specific windows for client reviews. If a design needs client approval by Friday, the team knows to finish the draft by Wednesday to allow buffer time.

Communicate these deadlines clearly, tie them to milestones, and identify bottlenecks using the Gantt View within your approval workflow software.

Use approval rounds instead of ongoing feedback

Receiving continuous feedback can feel like running in circles. Structure feedback into rounds with clear goals and deadlines.

For instance: 

• Round one covers strategy and messaging
• Round two explores visual execution
• Round three confirms final tweaks

Communicating feedback after a round closes will be considered for future project phases or may impact delivery dates. This method prevents endless revisions while still letting clients provide meaningful input.

Encourage approval accountability with dashboards and AI agents

Approval delays often remain invisible until it’s too late. Use Dashboards to visualize key performance indicators, including each pending approval and wait time.

You can see how many tasks are in each status, like ‘Pending Approval,’ ‘Approved,’ or ‘Needs Revision, ’ and quickly identify where approvals are piling up.

Cards can display the average turnaround time for approvals and even sort by team member or client. This makes it easy to track accountability and keep projects on schedule.

Additionally, lets you schedule reports from these dashboards. You can automatically send updates to clients or internal stakeholders daily, weekly, or monthly.

Green Light Creative Assets With

For agency project managers, every day feels like patching holes instead of moving work forward. With an effective approval process in place, your team can move projects forward without unnecessary delays.

is the Converged AI Workspace that helps you see everything in one place, without having to juggle a dozen tools. Schedule and manage every deliverable with Tasks, centralize all conversations with Chat, and let a custom Dashboard become your agency’s control center. Top it off with automation and acceleration through Brain and Brain MAX.

Sign up for for free today! ✅

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