How to Manage Stakeholder Approvals for Press Releases
Navigating the complex world of stakeholder approvals for press releases can be a daunting task for many organizations. This article delves into innovative strategies that streamline the approval process, drawing insights from industry experts. From progressive alignment techniques to asynchronous sprint processes, discover how these approaches can revolutionize your press release workflow and expedite stakeholder reviews.
- Progressive Alignment Streamlines Approval Process
- Unified Approach Mirrors Child Care Coordination
- Barcode System Expedites Stakeholder Review
- Prioritize Content Before Visual Elements
- Asynchronous Sprint Process Accelerates Approvals
Progressive Alignment Streamlines Approval Process
In my experience, when multiple stakeholders or departments need to approve a press release, the process can either feel like organized alignment or complete gridlock — and the difference comes down to preparation.
At Zapiy, the best practice we've relied on is what I call "progressive alignment." It starts before a single word of the press release is written. We bring all the key stakeholders together upfront — marketing, legal, product, leadership — for a short alignment session. The goal isn't to get word-for-word approval at that stage, but to establish the key messages, non-negotiables, and sensitivities early on.
Once we have that foundation, the draft process becomes smoother. By the time the actual release is circulated for approval, stakeholders aren't seeing surprises — they're seeing execution of what they already agreed on. It cuts down on version chaos, last-minute rewrites, and endless email threads.
We also centralize feedback using a shared document or platform with clear deadlines. That avoids the "feedback in ten different Slack threads" scenario that derails timelines. And, importantly, we're upfront about the final approver — not every stakeholder gets equal say at every stage, and setting that expectation prevents bottlenecks.
In conclusion, the press release approval process works best when you solve alignment before you start writing. It saves time, builds trust, and ensures the final message reflects the priorities of the business, without becoming a never-ending revision cycle.
Unified Approach Mirrors Child Care Coordination
When multiple voices need to sign off on a press release, I treat the draft like a child's care plan: clear roles, predictable routines, and full transparency. First, I circulate a one-page executive summary that highlights the release's goal, key messages, and any sensitive data. Each stakeholder marks concerns in the margin rather than rewriting prose—this keeps feedback focused and prevents the document from becoming a foster child passed from home to home. Next, I schedule a 15-minute stand-up call (never longer) where department leads confirm changes in real time; that synchronous moment mirrors the interdisciplinary huddles we run at Sunny Glen Children's Home to coordinate therapists, caseworkers, and foster parents. I log all agreed edits in a shared sheet with due dates, so no voice feels unheard and last-minute surprises vanish. By release day, the approval chain is already embedded in the process—much like our Allen House Independent Living program, which we've refined since 1936 to give former foster youth housing, utilities, and wraparound services without bureaucratic back-and-forth. The result: speed, accountability, and a message that reaches the public as cohesively as the unified support we promise every child in our care.
Barcode System Expedites Stakeholder Review
Stakeholder bottlenecks disappear when you treat a press release like we treat medication in point-of-care dispensing: barcode every step and surface ownership in a single, time-stamped dashboard. I load the draft into a shared document with color-coded blocks—clinical claims, regulatory language, brand tone—so the compliance lead, medical director, and marketing chief can jump straight to their lane. Once one reviewer signs off, an automatic Slack ping cues the next person, trimming dead space the way our onsite cabinets bypass PBM hand-offs and put therapy directly in the provider's hands. All edits live in version control, so we never face a last-minute "which file is final?" crisis that torpedoes launch day. Point-of-care dispensing streamlines healthcare by delivering medications directly to patients, improving convenience, adherence, and safety; importing that just-in-time discipline to PR approvals lets releases ship faster, cleaner, and with every stakeholder confident their piece is locked.
Prioritize Content Before Visual Elements
Focus on the content of the message first before polishing any visuals that accompany the message. The content, which is the textual messaging, needs to be reviewed and approved by the delegated executive or point of contact before proceeding with other stakeholders offering secondary and tertiary approvals. Create a firm deadline so all members in the approval process can vet the press release, granting them an opportunity to dispense feedback for potential updates to be made. Leave room for deliberation, as different eyes and minds will translate the messaging in the context of their role. Then proceed with the next steps. Do your best to leave a healthy buffer of time prior to distributing the press release. Delays can occur due to last-minute changes in organizational and market events that can impact how the message is packaged for audience members.
Asynchronous Sprint Process Accelerates Approvals
Having led many digital transformation projects throughout my experience across the fintech and enterprise ecosystem, I have found that the process for managing multi-stakeholder press release approvals comes down to developing a stakeholder press release approval process. This process must be designed for product launch: asynchronous, trackable, and frictionless.
To this end, at Weidemann.tech we developed a "press release sprint" process and presented it to our stakeholders using Notion and Loom. I record a quick, 2-minute explainer video that shows stakeholders the draft, the purpose of the press release, and the positioning. This replaces long and vulnerable email threads between us and vastly reduces misunderstandings in stakeholder responses.
Once we made this change, we implemented an approval matrix, organized by a basic RACI model:
Responsible: Communications/Marketing is responsible for the draft
Accountable: The Brand or Executive Lead
Consulted: Some combination of Legal, Product, or Regional leads
Informed: Sales or external partners (optional)
As a result, our system allows stakeholders to comment asynchronously, with timelines integrated into Notion. Since each press release has different timelines based on urgency, we generally assign every press release a 24-hour deadline for urgent timelines and 72 hours for regular timelines. Additionally, we also color-tag risks (highlighting regulatory mentions in red) so that we can make the legal review process 3x faster.
This entire process not only helps us close the gaps in increasing the speed of a stakeholder approval process, but it also helps to create clarity and accountability without the need for meetings. Since implementing this process, we have been able to reduce our average stakeholder approval timeline from 4 days to less than 36 hours.
