Event approval turnaround agreement
Suppliers are waiting on sign-off, and your approvers are waiting for the next committee meeting.
The short answer
An approval turnaround agreement is a short written promise between the event team and its approvers: for each type of approval, the maximum working days to respond, who covers absence, and what happens if the time runs out.
The usual outcome at the limit is escalation, not automatic approval. Silence should never be treated as a yes unless your own rules say so.
Group approvals by type
Do not set one deadline for everything. Group approvals by how much thought they need and who must give them.
Typical groups are routine content (web copy, email wording), design proofs, supplier quotes and contracts, payments, programme changes and public statements.
Work backwards from supplier deadlines
Take the dates your suppliers need approvals by, such as artwork to the printer or final numbers to the caterer, and subtract the days your approvers need. The result is the date by which a request must be sent.
If the committee only meets monthly, check whether a smaller group may approve between meetings under your decision-rights matrix.
Cover absences
- Name a deputy for each approver, with the same limits.
- State how an approver gives notice of leave, such as one working day before.
- Allow approval by email or messaging group if your rules permit it, and record the reply in the decision log.
Decide what happens at the limit
- First reminder to the approver on the due date.
- Escalate to the next level on the day after, following your escalation ladder.
- If still unresolved, the Decider named for the matter makes the call or asks the committee to meet.
- Record the delay and its cause so the next turnaround target is realistic.
Ask the approvers first
The agreement only works if approvers accept it. Bring the draft to them with two questions: which times can you actually meet, and who can cover you?
Write down the answers they give, even if they are longer than you hoped, and plan around them.
Worked example · Fictional example
Turnaround targets for a fictional seminar series
Fictional organisation. Days are illustrative, not recommended targets.
A fictional engineers' institute runs a quarterly seminar series. The printer needs final artwork ten working days before the date.
The secretariat asked the three approvers for the days they could commit to and set the table below. The chair's deputy covers any absence, and approval by email is minuted at the next meeting.
| Approval type | Approver | Working days to respond | At the limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web and email copy | Secretariat head | 1 | Escalate to chair's deputy |
| Artwork proof | Programme lead | 2 | Escalate to chair |
| Supplier quote under agreed limit | Treasurer | 3 | Escalate to chair |
| Programme change | Chair | 3 | Committee special meeting |
Use this yourself
Approval turnaround agreement template
Copy this and send it to your approvers for comment before adopting it.
- Event and date:
- Approval types covered:
- For each type: approver, deputy, working days to respond:
- How a request is sent and how receipt is confirmed:
- Latest date requests must be sent for the next supplier deadline:
- What happens at the limit (reminder, escalation to, final Decider):
- Whether approval by email or messaging is acceptable, and where it is recorded:
- Notice needed before planned absence:
- Review date:
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- You have two or three approvers who reply within a day or two.
- Supplier deadlines are known and few.
- The committee already approves between meetings by email.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Approvals regularly sit for weeks and suppliers have started to charge for delay or lose availability.
- Several organisations must each sign off the same item.
- Nobody owns chasing, so reminders depend on goodwill.
Tired of chasing approvals?
A conference project lead can draft the turnaround agreement with your approvers, work out the dates requests must be sent from your supplier deadlines, and chase and log approvals so that delays reach the right person early. The approvals themselves stay with the people authorised to give them.
Questions organisers ask
Can silence count as approval?
Only if your constitution, policy or contract says so. Safer practice is to escalate on silence, not assume yes.
What is a realistic turnaround?
It depends on your approvers. Ask them what they can meet, because a target nobody accepted will not be used.
Does this replace committee meetings?
No. It covers routine approvals between meetings. Larger decisions still follow your decision-rights matrix.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.