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Approvals

Some work needs a sign-off before it counts as finished. In Arketic, an approval is a checkpoint: the person doing the work finishes it, and someone with authority confirms it — or sends it back.

Approvals show up in three places:

WhereWhat it does
On a taskAn Approval done condition that a reviewer answers with Approve or Reject
On a requestA request type can require approval before the receiving team starts work
The Approvals tabWhere requests sent from one department to another are approved or rejected

1. Approval as a done condition​

Approval is one of the done-condition types you can add to a task. It works like a gate: everything else can be finished, but the approval still has to be given.

Setting it up​

An Approval condition can only be added while you create the task — there is no way to add one to a task that already exists.

  1. In the New Task window, go to the Done Conditions section.
  2. Click + Add Condition.
  3. Choose Approval as the type.
  4. Write a clear description — this is what the reviewer reads, so say exactly what is being approved (for example, "Finance approves the final budget").
  5. Decide whether to leave Required ticked (see the table below).

See Completion Conditions for the full list of condition types.

Required is…What it means for the task
Ticked (the default)Mark Done stays disabled until the approval is given. When the reviewer approves and no other required condition is open, the task is completed automatically.
UntickedThe assignee can click Mark Done when the work is finished. The task then waits in Pending Approval until a reviewer decides.
tip

Write the description as a question the reviewer can answer with yes or no. "Approve the vendor contract draft" is easier to act on than "Contract".

Answering it​

The reviewer opens the task, finds the condition in the Done Conditions list, and clicks one of two buttons:

ButtonResult
ApproveThe condition is met and turns green with a strikethrough. If every required condition on the task is now met, the task moves to Done straight away.
RejectThe answer is recorded as rejected and the condition stays unmet. If the task was waiting in Pending Approval, it goes back to In Progress and the creator and the assignees are notified.

Once answered, the condition shows who responded, so there is a record of the decision. After a rejection the buttons stay available, so the reviewer can approve later when the work has been corrected.

caution

A task with an unmet required condition cannot be marked Done. The footer of the task shows "{n} condition(s) pending" and the Mark Done button stays disabled until everything is resolved.

2. The Pending Approval status​

Pending Approval is a task status, alongside Backlog, To Do, In Progress, In Review, Done and Cancelled.

How a task gets there​

A task enters Pending Approval when all of these are true:

  • the task has an Approval condition,
  • no required condition is still open,
  • someone who is not allowed to resolve approvals (see section 3) clicks Mark Done — or drags the card to Done.

The task does not go to Done. Instead:

  • The status changes to Pending Approval.
  • A message appears: "Task pending approval".
  • The card on the board shows an amber Approval badge.
  • The manager of the task's department gets a notification that an approval is needed.

While it's pending​

  • The status is locked. In the task's edit view, the status field reads "Pending Approval (managed by approval workflow)" — you cannot pick a different status by hand.
  • Only the people who can resolve approvals can move the card. If anyone else drags it to another column, it goes back and a message explains why. The same happens if you try to change the status from the list view.

How it resolves​

What the reviewer doesWhat happens to the task
Clicks Approve on the Approval conditionThe task completes and moves to Done
Clicks Mark Done, or drags the card to DoneThe task completes and moves to Done
Clicks Reject on the Approval conditionThe task returns to In Progress so the work can be corrected and submitted again
info

Pending Approval cannot be selected manually. A task only enters it by being marked done while an approval is part of it, which means nothing slips through by someone picking the wrong status.

3. Who can resolve an approval​

Not everyone can clear a task out of Pending Approval. Completing it or moving it elsewhere is limited to:

WhoScope
AdminsAcross the organization
ExecutivesAcross the organization
Department managersTasks in a department they manage

The Approve and Reject buttons on an Approval condition can be used by the same people — and also by the people assigned to the task. That is what lets you assign a task to the person who should sign it off. Anyone else who clicks them gets an error; being the task's creator is not enough.

When an Admin, an Executive or the manager of the task's department clicks Mark Done themselves, the task goes straight to Done — it does not pass through Pending Approval.

Done conditions can't be removed after a task is created — see Completion Conditions — so an approval requirement can't be quietly deleted to get around it.

4. For reviewers​

There are three reliable ways to find approvals that need your attention:

Where to lookWhat you'll see
NotificationsThe manager of the task's department gets an "Approval needed" notification when a task is sent to Pending Approval
The boardCards carrying the amber Approval badge
DashboardAdmins, Executives and department managers can see how many tasks sit in each status on the Tasks → Dashboard tab

See Notifications for how alerts reach you.

Reviewing well​

  1. Open the task and read the Description and the Done Conditions — the other conditions show what was actually delivered.
  2. Check the Comments tab for the assignee's notes and the Files tab for anything they attached.
  3. Approve, or reject with a comment explaining what needs to change.
tip

When you reject, always leave a comment first. Reject on its own sends the task back but doesn't tell the assignee why — a comment saves a round trip.

5. Service request approvals​

Requests sent to another department can also require a sign-off before the receiving team starts working. This is set on the request type, not on each individual request.

Making a request type require approval​

The request type editor has a checkbox:

Requires manager approval before work starts

Tick it, and every request submitted under that type arrives in the Pending Approval status instead of going straight into the team's queue. By default request types are managed by Admins, Executives and department managers.

Approving or rejecting a request​

Open the request from the Requests tab under Tasks. If it is waiting on approval and you have authority over the target department, two buttons appear:

ButtonResult
ApproveThe request becomes Open, so it can be assigned and worked on
RejectA Reject request box opens where you can type a reason; confirming it cancels the request

The reason is optional but recommended: it is shown on the request, so the requester understands the decision rather than just seeing a cancelled request.

info

Approval authority on a request follows the target department — the team the request was sent to. Admins can act on any request; a department manager acts on requests sent to a department they manage; an Executive acts on requests sent to their own department.

See Managing Requests for the full request workflow, and Creating Requests for how to submit one.

6. Cross-Department Approvals (the Approvals Tab)​

This is a different thing from the two approval types above: it's for when a task needs something from a department other than the one that owns it — for example, Marketing needs IT to provision an account before their task can move forward.

Sending a request to another department​

From inside a task, on the Details tab, use Request another department:

  1. Click Request another department.
  2. Pick the department you need help from under Select a department…. Only departments that have a manager are offered.
  3. Add a short reason in Reason (optional) — it helps the receiving manager act quickly.
  4. Click Send request.

You'll see "Request sent to the department manager", and that manager is notified. If no other department has a manager who could receive it, the form tells you so — ask an admin to assign one.

By default Request another department is shown to Admins, Executives and department managers. Your organization can also give it to other people through a custom role — see Roles & Permissions.

Reviewing requests on the Approvals tab​

Incoming cross-department requests wait on the Approvals tab, under Tasks. Admins and Executives see every pending request; a department manager sees the requests sent to them. Each request shows who sent it (From {name}), the reason if one was given, and when it was sent.

ActionResult
ApproveThe request is approved at once and leaves the list. You'll see "Request approved"
RejectA confirmation asks "Reject this cross-department request?". Confirm it and the request is rejected and leaves the list — "Request rejected". No reason is asked for

Things to know:

  • Approve and Reject are allowed separately. Depending on your role you may see both buttons, or only one of them.
  • Approving or rejecting records your decision. It does not move or reassign the task by itself, and the sender is not notified automatically — let them know, for example with a comment on the task.
  • When there's nothing waiting, the tab reads "No pending cross-department requests."

By default the Approvals tab is open to Admins, Executives and department managers. Your organization can also give approving, rejecting or both to other people through a custom role.

Tips​

  • Reviewers: review promptly. A task sitting in Pending Approval is still counting against its time target, so delays show up in your team's numbers.
  • Assignees: before you click Mark Done, add a comment summarising what you did and attach the supporting files. Reviewers approve faster when they don't have to ask.
  • Be specific in the condition description. "Approve" tells the reviewer nothing; "Legal approves the final NDA wording" tells them exactly what to check.
  • Use one approval condition per decision. If two different people need to sign off on two different things, add two conditions rather than one vague one.
  • Add the approval when you create the task. It can't be added afterwards.
  • Check your notifications regularly — approvals block someone else's work until they're resolved.