ValytechPlanning template
Human Approval Boundary Worksheet for Automated Workflows
Use this worksheet to decide what a workflow may prepare and which actions must wait for a person. For each decision, record the reviewer, the evidence they need and what happens if they cannot approve it. Start with one process your team handles today.
Start with the decision
Write the proposed action in plain language. Preparing a request for review and approving it are separate steps; give each its own row if both are in scope. Ask the people doing the work what would happen if an incorrect action continued. Use that consequence to decide where a human check belongs. Check spending, supplier changes and policy questions against the rules your team actually uses. If no one can explain a rule, record the question and name the person who can confirm it.
Name the reviewer and the condition
Use the role responsible for the decision, then record who fills that role and who covers an absence. “Manager approval” leaves too much open if several managers could act. Write the condition beside the reviewer so another person can tell when the check is required. A missing document, changed detail or disputed finding may call for different reviewers. Treat an unknown condition as an open question; do not invent a threshold to complete the sheet.
Give the reviewer enough to decide
List the information the reviewer needs to check the item, where it can be found and who supplies it. Keep the original request beside any extracted or summarised information. For an illustrative purchase request, the reviewer might need the requested item, its cost and the relevant internal policy. Confirm the actual requirements with the person accountable for that decision. If a field cannot be traced to a source, flag it for clarification before the item moves on.
Define the fallback
Decide what should happen while evidence is missing, contradictory or still under review. Name the role that requests clarification and the condition that allows work to continue. “Escalate” needs a destination and a next action. An illustrative fallback is to hold a request in finance review while its owner asks for the missing invoice. Replace that example with your agreed route, including who follows up when the reviewer is unavailable.
Keep the decision with its reason
Agree what the reviewer records after approving, returning or holding an item. Include the decision, the reviewer, the evidence checked and any reason someone will need later. Decide where that note belongs so the next person can find it without searching several tools. Walk through a normal case and a case that must wait. If the team cannot identify who decides, what they check or how the item resumes, leave the boundary unresolved.
Bring the open questions to a workflow conversation
Complete the worksheet with the people who prepare, review and receive the work. Keep sensitive information out of examples shared outside your team. Valytech connects tools and automates the work between them. Bring the agreed approval points and unresolved questions to a conversation about your workflow.
Human Approval Boundary Worksheet
Illustrative planning template. Replace sample entries with your team's own details.
| Proposed automated action | Human reviewer | Review condition | Evidence needed | Fallback if evidence is missing or unclear | Audit note to keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illustrative: prepare invoice for finance review | Finance reviewer | Amount is above internal review limit or invoice details are incomplete | Original invoice, extracted amount, supplier name, internal review limit | Hold in finance review queue and request missing invoice detail | Reviewer role, decision, amount checked, reason for hold or approval |
| Illustrative: mark request ready for department approval | Department owner | Request affects budget, staffing, customer commitment or policy exception | Requester details, request summary, cost or operational impact, related policy note | Return to requester for clarification before approval step | Reviewer role, decision, evidence checked, clarification requested |
| Illustrative: prepare weekly exception report | Operations lead | Report includes unresolved exceptions or changed status since last review | Exception list, source records, previous status, current owner | Assign unresolved items to an owner before report is marked reviewed | Reviewer role, decision, exceptions reviewed, follow-up owner |
| Your workflow row | Name the role, not only a person | Define the condition that requires judgement | List the evidence the reviewer must see | Define the exact hold, return or reassignment step | State what must be recorded for later review |
Bring your workflow.
Discuss your workflowMore resources
Map One Workflow with a Practical Discovery Brief
Workflow Exception Register for Incomplete Requests and Delayed Approvals