Organising projects and liaising between different members of a team can be an extremely complex and time consuming affair. Even the simplest of projects can quickly become difficult if not managed correctly. It can also waste time as you go from person to person, trying to reach a commonly agreed decision. Arranging meetings to get everyone together is also difficult and time consuming.

That is why Zapproved has been created, and you can find out more at http://www.zapproved.com. According to their website, Zapproved “…makes decisions faster, easier and more accountable!”

Zapproved allows you to create a formatted proposal (with attachments), title it, and send it to required parties and set a date by which the activity needs to be completed. Low, Normal, and High priorities can be set and projects can be grouped together. You can also save the proposal as a draft ready to be modified and sent later.

Each person will receive an email from Zapproved allowing them to respond in a timely manner. All of the relevant information will be provided in the received email allowing them to Approve, Deny or Comment on the proposal. Contributors can also be assigned as Commenters only.

Three types of membership are available, the most basic of which is free; the free version is the one we will look at today but you can read about the Premium Plan, Group Plan, and Free Plan at http://www.zapproved.com/Pricing.

The free version allows one user to send a maximum of five proposals each month. There is also a thirty day time limit on storing proposals and responses on the Zapproved secure server. Some of the other more advanced features are also available with the free package, but only on a thirty day trial basis. These include the ability to add your company logo to your proposals, and the ability to use the Microsoft Outlook add-in.

A number of status icons indicate the progress of your proposal with your various recipients:

You can customise your Zapproved experience in the My Settings section allow you to change your name, upload a picture (premium services only), add multiple email addresses (premium services only), change your password, add you company details (name and logo on premium services only), and select from a raft of email notifications.

There are plenty of benefits to using the Zapproved service, including these:

• You can focus your efforts more readily and keep track of what is happening in the decision making process
• Participants receive an email with two buttons allowing them to Approve or Deny the proposal sent to them
• Zapproved acts as a hub for all the correspondence and information sent and received during the process
• Safe and secure website and process ensures your proposals are never jeopardised or unsafe
• Colour coded icons make it easy to see how your proposal is doing (shown above)

The free service means you can try it out several times before deciding whether you would need to upgrade to a paid service, alternatively if the free service offers the features you need you can stick with it.

Zapproved is well worth a try – it addresses a specific problem – and does it well. New services are being added regularly, upcoming features are to include a native iPhone application and E-signatures.

Zapproved is currently supported on Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 3+ (PC, Mac), Safari 3+ , Opera 9+ (PC, Mac) – you can check out more information on the FAQ site at http://www.zapproved.com/FAQ.

Find out more about Zapproved at http://www.zapproved.com.

You can also follow the Zapproved blog at http://blog.zapproved.com/.

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