Approve before it sends: keep the final say on office admin

An assistant, human or software, can take a lot of admin off your plate. The worry is always the same: what goes out in your name, and what leaves your bank account. The answer is an approval step. The assistant prepares the work, and you approve anything that goes out before it's sent or paid.

Split the jobs into two groups

Go through the admin you want to hand over and put each job in one of two groups.

Jobs that stay inside your business can usually run on their own:

• sorting and labelling the inbox;
• saving attachments and quotes to the right folder;
• logging new enquiries in a sheet or CRM;
• a morning summary of what needs you today;
• adding follow-up reminders to your calendar.

Jobs that go out in your name, or move money, get an approval step:

• replies to customers and enquiries;
• invoice reminders and chasers for missing documents;
• anything to a supplier, bank or public body;
• payments of any size.

What a good approval request looks like

You should be able to approve in a few seconds. A good request shows:

• who it's going to;
• the full message, or the payment amount and who it's to;
• why it was prepared (for example, "invoice 1042 is 7 days late");
• a clear way to approve it, change it or reject it.

If you often have to ask what something is, the request needs more detail.

Start small and widen slowly

Begin with one job, such as invoice reminders. Approve every one for a few weeks and note how often you change them. When the assistant's work rarely needs edits, add the next job. Keep sending and paying behind an approval step either way: it's quick to approve and it keeps you in charge.

Test before it runs for real

Before switching a job on, run it as a dry run. The assistant prepares everything but sends nothing, and you check the results. Dry runs catch wrong addresses, odd wording and missed cases before a customer sees them.

Check the access you've given

An assistant needs access to your email, calendar and files to help. Give it only the access each job needs, and review it now and then. You should be able to see and remove that access in your own accounts. If you already run an OpenClaw AI agent, Is My Agent Safe, our own product, offers a free, look-only check for risky settings, missing security fixes and surprise-bill risks.

How our service does this

Our done-for-you service, Grok Bot setup by Your Evenings, follows this approach. We set it up to ask for your approval before it sends or pays: drafts wait for your OK. We test each job with dry runs before it goes live and check it each month. We use only the access you connect, and you can remove our access in your own account at any time. Your Evenings is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Grok Bot or its maker, SpaceX Super Intelligence LLC (SpaceXSI).

Questions

Which jobs should need my approval?

Anything that goes out in your name or moves money: replies, reminders, chasers, messages to suppliers or public bodies, and payments. Jobs that stay inside your business, like sorting the inbox or filing documents, can usually run on their own.

Will approving everything slow things down?

It adds a short check. A clear approval request is quick to review, and the assistant has already done the work of preparing it.

What is a dry run?

A test where the assistant prepares everything it would do but sends and pays nothing, so you can check the results first.

Sources

• Your Evenings Ltd, Grok Bot setup service page (read 31 October 2026), for what our service does.

Written with AI assistance by the Your Evenings team at Your Evenings Ltd. Last updated 31 October 2026.