Approval Workflow Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the concepts behind business approval processes. Explore how approval chains, routing, sequential and parallel approvals, conditional logic, and multi-level approvals work — and how these concepts fit together when you automate a real workflow.
Understand The Building Blocks Of Approval Workflows
Approval terminology can sound similar even when the concepts describe different parts of the process. An approval workflow is the complete process. The approval chain defines who needs to review the request. Approval routing determines where the request goes next, while sequential, parallel, conditional, and multi-level approvals describe how the decision path is structured.
Use this glossary to understand each concept, see common business examples, identify the operational hurdles involved, and learn where automation can remove manual routing, follow-up, and post-approval work.
Browse Glossary Entries
Approval Workflow
What approval workflows are, where they are used, manual vs. automated approvals, common hurdles, and how workflow software helps.
Read the Definition →Approval Chain
Understand how approval chains are structured, when multiple reviewers are needed, and where rigid approval chains can create bottlenecks.
Read the Definition →Approval Routing
Learn how static, dynamic, conditional, sequential, parallel, and escalation routing determine the correct approval path.
Read the Definition →Multi-Level Approval
See how multiple approval stages work, when additional reviewers are necessary, and how conditional loops and escalations can be automated.
Read the Definition →Sequential Approval
Understand when approval order matters, the benefits of sequential review, and how to prevent one delayed approver from blocking the process.
Read the Definition →Parallel Approval
Learn when parallel reviews can reduce approval time and how a workflow determines when enough responses have been received to continue.
Read the Definition →Conditional Approval
See how request value, department, role, risk, resource sensitivity, and other conditions can dynamically change the approval path.
Read the Definition →How Approval Workflow Concepts Fit Together
These terms describe different layers of the same business process. Start with the workflow itself, then define who needs to approve, how the request should be routed, and which decision pattern fits each stage.
Define the complete approval workflow
Identify what starts the process, what information is required, what decision is needed, and what must happen after approval.
Identify the approval chain
Determine which people, roles, owners, or departments have decision authority for the request.
Define approval routing rules
Decide how the workflow identifies the correct approver and what happens if ownership, request data, or risk changes.
Choose sequential or parallel approval
Use sequential approval when decisions depend on earlier reviews and parallel approval when stakeholders can review independently.
Add conditional and multi-level logic
Add or skip approval stages based on amount, department, risk, requester role, resource sensitivity, or other business rules.
Ready To Turn Approval Logic Into An Automated Workflow?
Zenphi connects request intake, approval routing, conditional logic, reminders, escalations, audit trails, and post-approval actions across Google Workspace and the rest of your business stack.