Without an approval step, any employee can book a meeting room that you keep for client visits. You see the booking only after Workplace confirms it. When you require admin approval, each booking on that meeting room waits for an admin decision. The employee asks for the time slot. An admin then approves the booking or declines it.

Admin approval is a setting in a booking policy. A booking policy holds the booking rules for each resource that uses it. A booking that waits for approval has the status Tentative.

Approval works on resources, and it sends emails to admins. Check these items before you start:

A booking policy with Request Approval turned on changes the status of each new booking. Each new booking on a resource with that booking policy gets the status Tentative. The booking stays Tentative until an admin approves the booking or cancels the booking.

Approval follows the resource. Each resource uses 1 booking policy. 1 booking policy can apply to many resources. For this reason, approval applies to the bookings that employees make on each resource that uses the booking policy.

When an employee creates a tentative booking, Workplace sends the OfficeRnD - Employee Booking Request email to admins. The email goes to the notification email of the booking's location. If the location has no notification email, the email goes to the notification email of your organization. Each admin that you add to the booking policy also gets an email about each new tentative booking.

Outlook and Google Calendar bookings of a meeting room follow the booking policy of that meeting room for approval. If the booking policy has Request Approval turned on, these bookings also get the status Tentative. This applies to meeting rooms that you map in the Outlook Rooms integration or the Google Calendar integration. Only 2 booking policy rules apply to these bookings: Request Approval and Require Check-In. Outlook or Google Calendar controls the other rules, such as booking duration.

Approval starts in a booking policy. You can create a booking policy for approval, or turn on approval in a booking policy that you already use.

To create a booking policy that asks for approval:

The booking policy now asks for approval, but no resource uses the booking policy yet. Approval starts on a resource only after you apply the booking policy to that resource.

Each resource uses 1 booking policy. When you select a new booking policy, the new booking policy replaces the booking policy that the resource used before. To apply the booking policy to a resource:

Repeat these steps for each resource that needs approval.

Employees can now book the resource. Each new booking waits as a tentative booking until an admin finds the booking and acts on it.

The email about a new tentative booking has a link to the employee profile or the team profile on the Admin Portal. On that profile, open the booking under Bookings.

To see all tentative bookings in 1 list, filter the booking calendar:

The tentative booking is now open in the Edit Booking dialog. Approve the booking to give the employee the time slot. Decline the booking to free the time slot for other employees.

When you approve a tentative booking, the employee gets the time slot. To approve a tentative booking, click Approve in the Edit Booking dialog. The booking status changes to Confirmed.

To decline a tentative booking, cancel the booking. A canceled booking keeps a record with the status Canceled.

To decline a tentative booking:

Workplace notifies the employee about the cancellation. The canceled booking stays visible in the booking calendar and in List view.

A tentative booking waits until an admin approves the booking or cancels the booking. Workplace does not cancel a tentative booking automatically. If nobody approves a tentative booking before its start time, the booking gets the status Lapsed.

Workplace sends the OfficeRnD - Upcoming tentative bookings email to the location or organization notification email. Use this email as a reminder to approve or cancel tentative bookings before they start.

To find tentative bookings that have already lapsed, select Lapsed in the Status filter of the booking calendar.

Use these practices so that tentative bookings get an answer before they start.

Can I require approval only for some employees or teams?
A booking policy cannot require approval only for some employees or teams. Request Approval applies to the bookings that employees make on each resource with that booking policy. To stop some employees from booking in a location or on a floor, use a location access policy.

Do bookings from Outlook and Google Calendar need approval?
Bookings from Outlook and Google Calendar need approval when the meeting room’s booking policy has Request Approval turned on. These bookings get the status Tentative, the same as bookings in Workplace. Outlook or Google Calendar controls all booking rules other than Request Approval and Require Check-In.

Does an approved booking need approval again after the employee edits it?
An approved booking does not need approval again after the employee edits it in Outlook or Google Calendar. The booking keeps the status Confirmed.

Does Workplace cancel a tentative booking that nobody approves?
Workplace does not cancel a tentative booking that nobody approves. The booking waits until an admin approves the booking or cancels the booking. If the start time passes first, the booking gets the status Lapsed.

Which address gets the email about a new tentative booking?
The email about a new tentative booking goes to the notification email of the booking’s location. If the location has no notification email, the email goes to the notification email of your organization. Each admin that you add to the booking policy also gets an email