Spreadsheet approvals are cheap to start with and expensive to keep. The real cost is not in the spreadsheet itself but in the coordination behaviour it forces: approvals run on reminders instead of process, teams maintain parallel status records, managers chase updates instead of removing blockers, reporting becomes a manual reconstruction exercise, and trust in the process drops before the process visibly breaks.
Frequently asked questions
Why do spreadsheet approvals depend on reminders?
When approvals live in a spreadsheet, work moves only when someone manually nudges the next person. The workflow effectively runs on memory and persistence rather than process structure.
Why do teams maintain parallel status records?
When the spreadsheet is not trusted as the source of truth, people keep their own notes. Soon there are multiple versions of reality and no shared reference.
What happens to reporting when approvals live in spreadsheets?
Reporting becomes a manual reconstruction exercise. Every cycle requires copying, cleaning, and reformatting, so the output is delayed, inconsistent, and easy to dispute.