Stage gating is used to manage an initiative through it’s lifecycle and is used to ensure that the initiative needs to pass through each gate before being allowed to progress to the next stage.
The number of stages and gates can vary depending on if the organization wants to use a simple workflow for Continuous Improvement (with potentially only two gates for commencing and completing implementation) or more advanced workflows where the organization might use multiple gates to ensure that each initiative stage is completed (e.g., estimating, planning, implementation, sustainable delivery). Similarly, this can also be extended to capex workflows where the organization might have even more gates.
The initiative owner is responsible for submitting the initiative for gate approval when they believe they have satisfied the conditions for the gate approval. If approval is given by all gate approvers, then the initiative progresses to the next stage but if approval is not given the initiative stays at the current stage until approval is given.
The gate approvers can vary by gate and usually include the Business Owner (to ensure that the initiative delivers expected benefits and the cost and risks of implementation are acceptable), Finance (to ensure that estimated value is correct and that final delivered benefits are accurate) and often the improvement team (to ensure that the initiative meets quality standards.
Each gate is typically approved based on a set of pre-defined criteria for that specific gate. For example, the implementation gate (prior to the implementation stage) might require:
- Initiative details
- Estimated value (and costs fi any)
- Leading/physical KPIs and output KPIs.
- Implementation plan
- Business risks
- And potentially a Management of Change if needed and ‘Zero Harm’ risks identified.
Stage gating has multiple benefits including:
- Provides defined ‘go, no-go’ decision points
- Ensures optimised resource allocation for improvement initiatives
- Maximises initiative success rate (by setting up for success)
- Enables accurate initiative status reporting and target setting
Read our detail improvement insights listed below for more details:
- Part 1 – Benefits (Why use?)
- Part 2 – Stage gate process (how it works)
- Part 3 – Stage gates workflow
- Part 4 – Simple stage gate workflow
- Part 5 – Advanced stage gate workflow
- Part 6 – Planning gate
- Part 7 – Implementation gate
- Part 8 – Delivery gate
- Part 9 – Locked-in gate
- Part 10 – Summary