Workflows that do not stall on one person
Sequential, parallel, or hybrid routing, with approve-only and CC roles, delegation, and conditional steps that activate based on what a signer entered. Most documents that sit unsigned for two weeks were not refused — they were badly routed.
The most common reason a document takes two weeks is that routing put one person in the critical path at a moment when they were unavailable, and nothing in the process noticed.
Hybrid routing is the answer more often than teams realise, and it is the option most never configure: recipients grouped into stages, parallel within a stage and sequential between them. Two stages instead of five sequential steps.
Step by step
- 1
Choose a routing pattern
Sequential sends to one recipient at a time. Parallel sends to everyone at once. Hybrid groups recipients into stages. Only sequence what genuinely depends on order — every unnecessary sequential step adds that person's full response time to the total.
- 2
Assign roles beyond signing
Approve-only recipients review and approve or reject without applying a signature — right for internal sign-off where the approver is not a party. CC recipients receive a copy at a point you choose and take no action.
- 3
Add conditions where the path branches
A second approver that activates only when contract value exceeds a threshold. A region-specific appendix that renders only for signers who selected that region. One template covers cases that used to need six.
- 4
Plan for absence
Delegation lets a recipient formally reassign, and it is recorded in the audit trail so attribution is preserved. Escalation notifies a backup when a step sits beyond a threshold. Both beat sharing an inbox.
What it supports
Where this matters most
Legal
Controlled execution order with locked fields, where getting the sequence wrong is a matter of enforceability rather than convenience.
See legal →Sales
Value-based approval thresholds, so small deals move without friction and large ones get the second signature they require.
See sales →Nonprofits
Board resolutions collected in the right order from members across many locations, without anyone travelling.
See nonprofits →Availability & limits
Pro and upSigning order and approve-only roles on Pro. Conditional routing and delegation are Business.
- Free plan sends to all recipients in parallel with no ordering
- Conditional routing requires Business
- Conditions do not nest arbitrarily — deeply branched logic usually means two workflows
- Conditions cannot read external data live at signing time, by design