The approval process goes Web

Growing businesses often catch the dreaded "bureaucrat" parasite that suck the fun, energy, and life blood from the company. Decision processes that once snapped and crackled now groan and sigh and stop. The more parasites, er, bureaucrats you have, the harder it is to get work done. Proposals go out, but approvals disappear into an alternative universe like stray socks from the dryer. If you have this problem, instead of an exterminator perhaps you should call Zapproved.

A new company in Portland, Zapproved advertises “better decisions made easy.” I spoke with CEO and Founder Monica Enand about this software-as-a-service (SaaS) program that hopes to end all the e-mail tag and decision hide-and-seek dominating the work process inside far too many companies.

“Ours is the first hosted application to manage decisions,” said Enand. “You put messages in the system, it sends out details to those named, and gathers the details back in the hosted application.”

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Growing businesses often catch the dreaded "bureaucrat" parasite that suck the fun, energy, and life blood from the company. Decision processes that once snapped and crackled now groan and sigh and stop. The more parasites, er, bureaucrats you have, the harder it is to get work done. Proposals go out, but approvals disappear into an alternative universe like stray socks from the dryer. If you have this problem, instead of an exterminator perhaps you should call Zapproved.

A new company in Portland, Zapproved advertises “better decisions made easy.” I spoke with CEO and Founder Monica Enand about this software-as-a-service (SaaS) program that hopes to end all the e-mail tag and decision hide-and-seek dominating the work process inside far too many companies.

“Ours is the first hosted application to manage decisions,” said Enand. “You put messages in the system, it sends out details to those named, and gathers the details back in the hosted application.”

Oops – e-mails? Isn't that what we're trying to avoid? Don't we have enough “corporate spam” mail from those trying to confuse, redirect, derail or just avoid doing their jobs on projects already?

Enand says Zapproved ends all the CC's and confusion. “The recipients get the e-mail formatted with a clear call to action, deadlines and other details needed to make the decision. At the bottom of the e-mail are three buttons: Approve, Deny or Comment.”

Following the Zapproved method, the parasite er bureaucrat can't derail the process by asking tangential questions, and they can't refuse to answer. Well, I guess they can refuse, but Zapproved tracks everyone as they receive their e-mails and when they respond. If you don't respond, Zapproved will point a giant red arrow in your direction.

When proposals aren't ready for the yea/nay vote, use the Comments option to ask questions or propose something different. Everyone in the group sees your comments, so you can't send snide putdowns privately. And those asking for a decision can see which bureaucratic bottleneck, er, manager, has opened but not answered their Zapproved mail request for action.

Enand said learning to write e-mails outlining the proposal clearly and asking for approval takes time. I bet it does. Being clear, concise and asking for acceptance or rejection is a skill set lacking in far too many bureaucracies. Having everyone see the results means that a poorly prepared proposal will get pounded.

Of course, this harkens back to the old days when decisions were quick and snappy before the parasites dug deeply into company culture. Relearning how to state your case, define your proposed action, and ask for approval should help you be a better manager.

“We designed this to be like Evite,” said Enand. “Easy to use, easy to send the messages, and the recipients don't have to be part of the system.” Zapproved pricing is based on the number of “initiators” with access to the system. Enand said most of the customers in the beta and new paying customers since the first of the year use the team version, so multiple initiators can use the application.