In everyday workflows, there are moments when someone needs to review and authorize a decision before the process can move forward. These are called approval steps. They're used to ensure oversight, catch mistakes, and keep operations in check.
But in many real-world scenarios, the person responsible for approving something—like a manager or director—can’t make a decision until other people have completed prerequisite tasks. That’s where our enhanced Approval Step comes in.
Navgar’s Flow Builder now supports a new type of Approval Step that is triggered only after specific tasks are completed. These tasks might involve checks, confirmations, or form submissions—whatever context the approver needs to make an informed decision.
This model ensures that the right people do the right work first, and that approvals aren’t requested prematurely.
Example: Time-Off Request Approval
Let’s use a simple example that we’ll refer to throughout this article:
Scenario:
An employee submits a time-off request. Before the HR Manager can approve or reject it:
The Team Lead must confirm that there’s coverage for the dates requested.
The Project Manager must check whether the time-off conflicts with any key deliverables.
Only after those tasks are completed will the HR Manager receive the approval task.
✅ If approved: The employee is notified and the time-off is scheduled.
❌ If rejected: The Team Lead and Project Manager’s tasks are reopened with all their inputs saved as editable drafts, and the HR Manager can provide a rejection comment for context.
How It Works in the Navgar Flow Builder
When adding an Approval Step to your flow:
You define the pre-approval tasks as a separate subflow ahead of adding the approval step to your flow
Add the approval step to a new or existing flow that will leverage approving the step(s) you defined in your subflow by selecting 'Approval' as type of task
You will then need to clarify the Approval step name and select the subflow to be approved.
Once this is complete, the flow can be launched. In this instance, as it is a time off request, the person requesting the time off is the flow launcher. The subflow tasks to be approved must be completed in total before it reaches the designated approver. When it does, it will appear in their own task list with a distinctive appearance (shown below).
When a rejection happens:
The system triggers a "Restart Approval Subflow" operation.
This automatically:
Reopens the sub-tasks
Preserves previously collected input
Resets task statuses from “Done” to “Rejected”
This allows for a smooth loop of revision → resubmission → re-approval.
FAQs
Q: Can I assign multiple final approvers?
A: Not currently. Each Approval Step supports one designated approver. Use separate steps if multiple approvals are required.
Q: What happens to the forms/data if a task is rejected?
A: The task is reopened with all data saved. Users can edit their original responses instead of starting over.
Q: Can the approver add a comment when rejecting?
A: Yes. The rejection modal includes a comment field, and the message appears in the task chat for transparency.
Q: Is this just like a decision step?
A: It’s similar, but more powerful. Decision steps are immediate. Approval Steps wait until prerequisite tasks are completed before surfacing a decision.
✅ Summary
With the new Approval Step, you can design workflows where:
Reviews and validations happen before decisions.
Approvers get the context they need.
Rejected work doesn’t disappear—it comes back ready to improve.
This makes approvals smarter, smoother, and far more actionable.