Approval Fatigue: Causes, Signals, and How to Fix It

Approval fatigue occurs when approvers and requesters are overwhelmed by volume, poor UI, or unnecessary complexity in decision workflows. Left unchecked, it increases errors, creates delays, and damages team morale.

What approval fatigue looks like

• Longer response times from approvers
• Rushed or inconsistent approvals
• Increased follow-ups and ad-hoc meetings
• Higher rejection and rework rates

Root causes

Several factors typically create approval fatigue:

• Volume overload: approvers receive too many low-value requests.
• Poor UX: approval interfaces that present too much noise or too little context.
• Ambiguous authority: unclear rules on who should approve what.
• Lack of automation: repetitive checks that could be automated.
• Misaligned incentives: approvers are penalized for doing work quickly or rewarded only for risk aversion.

Measuring the problem

Data helps make the problem visible. Useful metrics:

• Average decision time per approver
• Approval volume per approver per week
• Rejection and rework rates
• Number of exceptions or overrides requested
• Approver satisfaction surveys

Fixes that work

1. Segmentation and delegation

Move routine decisions to delegated roles. Use spend thresholds and rule-based delegation so frontline managers can clear low-risk requests quickly.

2. Reduce cognitive load

Design approval interfaces that show a concise summary and key risk indicators: recommended action, estimated impact, and relevant attachments. Avoid dumping raw PDFs and logs on approvers.

3. Smart defaults and automation

Auto-approve clearly compliant requests, pre-populate fields, and validate inputs to reduce repeated back-and-forth.

4. Rate-limit and schedule

Protect approvers' focus time by limiting notifications and batching non-urgent approvals into digest emails or scheduled reviews.

5. Clear escalation paths

Define who to escalate to and when. Make escalation lightweight to resolve edge cases without blocking the whole process.

Organizational levers

Approach fatigue as a cross-functional problem. Product teams should improve UX. Ops teams can reduce noise via automation. Leadership must revisit authority matrices periodically to match organizational change.

Case example

A fintech firm observed that senior approvers were spending three hours a week on low-value approvals. After introducing a $2,000 auto-approve threshold and a quick mobile approval UI for common patterns, average approver time dropped to 30 minutes and satisfaction increased materially.

Monitoring and continuous improvement

Use dashboards to monitor approver load and decision latency. Conduct quarterly reviews and use small experiments (like threshold changes) to observe impact. Solicit approver feedback before making large automation changes to avoid unintended consequences.

Conclusion

Approval fatigue is solvable with a combination of design, automation, and governance. By delegating low-risk decisions, simplifying interfaces, and protecting approvers' focus, organizations can restore flow and reduce the hidden costs of slow approvals.