Reminder Policies Should Include Escalation Rules for Stalled Approvals

A single reminder is often insufficient to resolve an approval that has stalled in a workflow. The article argues that an effective reminder policy should specify the waiting period, the intended recipient, the number of reminder attempts, and a clear escalation path. It recommends making the delay threshold configurable instead of hardcoding it into the flow logic. The author also suggests recording in the history when each reminder was sent and when responsibility shifted to a substitute or a higher-level approver. Without escalation, the piece contends, a process relies on someone noticing the notifications, which limits its reliability.