SharePoint Content Approval Rules: Best Practices for Quality Assurance

SharePoint Content Approval Rules are an essential feature that ensures the quality and accuracy of content published on your organization’s intranet or extranet. By setting up approval rules, you can control who can publish what kind of content, ensuring that only approved and high-quality content is visible to users. Here are some best practices for implementing SharePoint Content Approval Rules, along with a rundown of the features to use within SharePoint.

Define Your Goals

Before setting up your approval rules, define what you want to achieve. Are you looking to improve content quality, reduce errors, or ensure compliance with organizational policies? Knowing your goals will help you design an effective approval process that meets your needs.

Choose the Right Approval Type

SharePoint offers two types of approvals: Draft-Item Approval and Content Approval. Draft-Item Approval is used for items like documents, lists, and libraries, while Content Approval is used for content like wiki pages, blogs, and news articles. Choose the right approval type based on your content type and publishing workflow.

Set Up Your Approval Workflow

Create a workflow that outlines the steps involved in approving content. This might include:

1. Submission: The person creating the content submits it for review.
2. Review: One or more reviewers examine the content to ensure it meets quality standards.
3. Approval: The reviewer(s) approve or reject the content, and the submitter is notified of the outcome.
4. Publication: Once approved, the content is published to the target audience.

Use SharePoint Features

To implement your approval workflow, use the following SharePoint features:

1. Content Approval: Enable Content Approval for the specific library or list where you want to apply your approval rules.
2. Approval Workflow: Create a new approval workflow using SharePoint’s built-in workflow engine.
3. Task Management: Use Task Management to assign tasks to reviewers and track progress.
4. Columns and Views: Set up custom columns and views to organize and filter content based on its approval status.

Best Practices

To ensure your approval process runs smoothly, follow these best practices:

1. Define clear roles: Establish clear roles for submitters, reviewers, and approvers to avoid confusion.
2. Set realistic deadlines: Ensure that reviewers have a reasonable amount of time to review content without compromising the overall workflow.
3. Use clear language: Use simple, clear language in your approval requests and notifications to avoid confusion.
4. Monitor and adjust: Regularly monitor your approval process and make adjustments as needed to optimize its efficiency.

Common Scenarios

Here are some common scenarios where SharePoint Content Approval Rules can help:

1. Compliance and Governance: Ensure that sensitive or regulated content is reviewed and approved before publication, reducing the risk of non-compliance.
2. Content Quality Control: Implement a quality control process for content to ensure it meets your organization’s standards for accuracy, grammar, and style.
3. Collaboration and Feedback: Use approval rules to facilitate collaboration between reviewers and submitters, improving feedback loops and content improvement.

By following these best practices and using SharePoint features, you can create an effective Content Approval process that ensures the quality and accuracy of your organization’s content.