Meaning
Thresholds of risk that determine the transition between project phases constitute the primary filter for quality control. Known as gating, these pauses allow for an objective reviewer to verify that the requirements for the next stage have been met. It governs the transition between phases of development and stops applying once the criteria for the final release are satisfied.
Decision Node
Fixed points in a process allow for a deliberate assessment of whether the current trajectory still aligns with the strategic goals. When gating is applied correctly, it prevents the continuation of a project that has lost its viability or exceeded its budget. This prevents the sunk cost fallacy from driving further investment into a failing effort.
Throttling Effect
Imposing these checkpoints slows down the speed of execution to ensure that no critical steps are skipped. The load of gating is felt in the administrative hours required to prepare the evidence for each review and the attention capacity used by the decision makers. While this throttling reduces the risk of a high cost failure, it increases the time to market and requires a high degree of patience from the team.
A poorly designed gate can become a permanent bottleneck if the criteria for passing are not clearly defined or are impossible to achieve.
Release Condition
Success in a gated environment depends on the clarity of the requirements that must be met at each stage. Once a condition is fulfilled, the gate should open immediately to minimize the delay in restarting the work.
