How to Document Conditional Approval in a Decision Process
Document conditional approval with condition, evidence, owner, deadline, authority, failure path and status.
Published:
A conditional approval is not a vague yes. It authorises a bounded next step only if named evidence satisfies a test by a deadline, with a clear owner and failure path.
Fields of a usable condition
If delivery cannot tell whether the condition is satisfied, the approval is incomplete.
- 01
Decision boundary
State what is approved and which actions remain prohibited.
- 02
Condition and test
Write observable acceptance, evidence and validator.
- 03
Owner and deadline
Assign evidence delivery and expiry or return time.
- 04
Failure and escalation
Define stop, alternative and exception authority.
Migration approval with a gate
‘Approve one-region pilot after security validates encrypted rollback by 15 October. No production expansion before validation. Failure returns to architecture review.’
What this method cannot guarantee
- Evidence and operating conditions can change; revisit the record when a material input changes.
- This method structures evidence and judgement; accountable people still make and own the final decision.