Our stage gates are automatic approvals. What should change?
Ceremonial stage gatesMake each gate a real decision about readiness, viability, and acceptable exposure. Define evidence and possible outcomes before the review rather than assuming continuation is inevitable.
What to do now
- Define the gate's decision purpose
- Specify required readiness evidence
- Review exceptions and options
- Record proceed, conditional proceed, pause, or stop
When to escalate
Escalate when
Required evidence is missing or the project is no longer justified.
Who decides
The sponsor or formally delegated governance body
Example
A rollout gate pauses expansion until support ownership and recovery evidence are complete.
Mistake to avoid
Approving the next stage because the meeting was scheduled.
Prevent a repeat
Review overdue decisions and confirm that decision makers have the authority and evidence they need.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Approvals
- Documents
- Projects
Attach the decision brief and evidence to a configured approval route only after confirming the actual authority and delegation rules. See the platform
Related cases
- How do we preserve an audit trail when decisions change?Destructive decision updates
- The project is marked successful despite missing its purpose. Who should challenge that?Output-only governance
- How do stage gates work with iterative development?Evidence-based hybrid governance
- How do we verify that an approved change solved the original problem?Change effectiveness verification