Approval Workflow Bottleneck Audit
Find where requests wait.
The Open buttons send the prompt text as currently shown below to that site only when you click. Fill in the placeholders first.
[VERIFY] is an editorial flag, not a blank to fill. Wherever the prompt shows [VERIFY], check that item against a reliable source before you use it.
Audit an approval workflow. Steps, approvers and timestamps for ten recent requests: [WORKFLOW_DATA]. Rules for urgent cases: [URGENT_RULES]. Complaints about delays: [COMPLAINTS]. Calculate the time each request spent at each step, find steps with repeated waits, approvals that add no value, missing delegates for absences and rework loops. Distinguish waiting time from working time. Return a table with Step, Median wait, Longest wait and Cause, a redesigned flow, and a measure of cycle time to track. Also suggest service level promises for each approver, automatic reminders, delegation rules for absence, and a way to show requesters where their request is. Include a measure for the share of requests approved without changes. Then simulate the redesigned workflow on the ten requests. For each request, show how long it would have taken under the new rules, which steps would disappear, and which risks the removed approvals protected against. Identify requests where the old process caught a real problem, and make sure the new design keeps that protection. Provide a simple risk-based tiering: low-value, routine requests approved by the line manager; medium requests by a second approver; high-risk requests by a committee. Write the rules in plain language and a one-page flow diagram in text. Add an exceptions process for urgent items with a record afterwards. Propose three measures for the first quarter and the review meeting at which the team decides whether to keep the changes. Finance and legal controls must be confirmed with the relevant owners [VERIFY]. Add a closing line about how the new workflow will be explained to the people who used to approve, so that the change is not seen as a loss of trust. Conclude with a risk-ranked list of what happens if nothing is changed over the next six months, in plain words and without exaggeration.
Fill in before use
Optional: type your details and the prompt above updates. Nothing is saved or sent.
Replace each bracketed placeholder with your own details, then paste into Any AI or another assistant.