For all business processes and workflows where approvals are required, ensuring timely approval can be extremely important in allowing the respective project to be finished on time. In contrast, approvals themselves are necessary for ensuring the quality of the deliverable meets the requirements.
Even a minor delay in the approval process can quickly escalate, especially in a sequential business process where the next step cannot be executed whilst the previous step hasn’t been approved. This can result in extended deadlines, risks for the product, not meeting compliance and other issues.
Online proofing can significantly streamline the whole approval process, improving efficiency for all workflows and benefiting everyone involved in the approval process with the benefits below:
1. Less Effort For Each Approval Step
With proofing software like Aproove, everyone involved in the approval process can leave a comment or feedback on the platform, directly on the deliverable file. The reviewer can use the available markup tools, for example, to highlight specific areas on the deliverable and explain their points.
This can significantly reduce the effort required in each approval step while at the same time can encourage more accurate and detailed reviewing processes.
2. Eliminate Redundancies
Since everyone involved in the approval process can easily see and check each other’s comments, everyone will be up-to-date with the entire progress and can use the available information for a more accurate review on their own.
For example, if there are five reviewers involved in the review process and spotted a mistake in a specific area, then the other four don’t need to check this area since they can read this reviewer’s comment.
As a result, a more collaborative approval process can be achieved without unnecessary redundancies.
3. Data Security
In an email-based review or a manual approval process, we lose control of the file immediately as soon as we send a physical document or email attachment. The recipient (deliberately or accidentally) might leak the file to an unauthorized third party, which can compromise, for example, your competitive advantage.
A malicious client, for example, may send your file to your competitor and ask them to make a similar one for a lower price, and so you’ll lose the business.
With online proofing software, we can easily check who has viewed and shared a specific file, and we can also configure policies on who can access and share a specific file.
So, everyone involved in the review process is now more accountable.
4. Easier Onboarding
With online proofing, it’s much easier to involve new contributors in the approval process: we can give them a guest account or a new account to log in to the platform and start tracking the project.
Compare this, for example, to a manual approval process where we’d need to print another document, find out the new reviewer’s address, and send the document before involving this person in the discussion.
If you plan to scale your projects and business, then online proofing can be a solution that can ‘follow’ you.
5. Batch Feedback Together
With the online proofing software acting as a central hub where all the files and collaterals are placed, users can easily batch feedback together before sending only the approved and/or relevant files to the creative team.
This can be useful in huge projects to eliminate the risks of overlooked feedback, which, will decrease the risks of compliance issues. The result for this is a higher quality product that meets your client’s and stakeholders’ requirements, ensuring everyone’s satisfaction.
6. Fewer Revisions
Online proofing software provides an easier way for reviewers to get their points across via markup tools, real-time communication features, and other tools. For example, a reviewer can easily highlight individual sections of the document, so the content creator can easily understand what needs to be revised. At the same time, content creators and designers can also use the same tool to explain their decisions.
This, alone, can significantly reduce the number of revisions in the project, allowing designers and creators to use their valuable time on content creation rather than dawdling in lengthy and frustrating revision cycles.
7. Saves Money
With every little detail recorded in the online proofing software, everyone working on the project is accountable for doing (or not doing) their assigned tasks. Reviewers are now also more accountable for reviewing the deliverable on time.
By improving the overall collaboration and increasing everyone’s effectiveness on the production, we can keep the project within the desired deadline and budget while also reducing costs associated with revisions.
8. Real-Time Notification and Reminders
We can allow users to set automatic notifications and reminders that can be personalized depending on their needs. For example, a designer can set reminders for the next deadline, while reviewers can also receive automatic notifications when a deliverable has been uploaded and/or approval is outstanding. This can be a very useful feature in complex and long projects.
Conclusion
Online proofing software can provide a more efficient and transparent feedback process that will allow all the stakeholders to provide a more accurate approval, resulting in a higher quality product with a reduced risk for compliance issues.
The less time the creative teams are stuck in the unnecessary administration process, the more time you have available to create a better product.
As a result, online proofing can allow projects to stay within deadlines while saving resources and money.
