Model it once as a workflow, then let the system assign each step, notify the right person and track what is still outstanding. A borehole drilling project with 47 steps and a patient care pathway spanning weeks are the same problem to the builder.
Video: Introducing Workflows on YouTube
Long processes fail in the gaps between people rather than in the individual tasks. A drilling contract stalls because nobody knew the siting report had been approved; a referral lapses because the next clinic was never told. Writing the process down makes each handover explicit, and gives a manager a list of what has actually stopped instead of a general feeling that things are slow.