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Drive Business Value With a Right-Sized Project Gating Process

Use gating to get projects done right the first time.

  • Low sponsor commitment on projects.
  • Poor quality on completed projects.
  • Little to no visibility into the project portfolio.
  • Organization does not operationalize change .
  • Analyzing, fixing, and redeploying is a constant struggle. Even when projects are done well, they fail to deliver the intended outcomes and benefits.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Stop applying a one-size-fits-all-projects approach to governance.
  • Engage the sponsor by shifting the accountability to the business so they can get the most out of the project.
  • Do not limit the gating process to project management – expand to portfolio management.

Impact and Result

  • Increase Project Throughput: Do more projects by ensuring the right projects and right amount of projects are approved and executed.
  • Validate Project Quality: Ensure issues are uncovered and resolved with standard check points in the project.
  • Increase Reporting and Visibility: Easily compare progress of projects across the portfolio and report outcomes to leadership.
  • Reduce Resource Waste: Terminate low-value projects early and assign the right resources to approved projects.
  • Achieve Intended Project Outcomes: Keep the sponsor engaged throughout the gating process to achieve desired outcomes.

Drive Business Value With a Right-Sized Project Gating Process Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should design a right-sized project gating process, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you.

Drive Business Value With a Right-Sized Project Gating Process – Executive Brief
Drive Business Value With a Right-Sized Project Gating Process – Phases 1-4

1. Lay the groundwork for tailored project gating

This phase will walk you through the following activities:

  • Understand the role of gating and why we need it.
  • Determine what projects will follow the gating process and how to classify them.
  • Establish the role of the project sponsor throughout the entire project lifecycle.
Drive Business Value With a Right-Sized Project Gating Process – Phase 1: Lay the Groundwork for Tailored Project Gating
Project Intake Classification Matrix
Project Sponsor Role Description Template

2. Establish level 1 project gating

This phase will help you customize Level 1 Project Gates with appropriate roles and responsibilities.

Drive Business Value With a Right-Sized Project Gating Process – Phase 2: Establish Level 1 Project Gating
Project Gating Strategic Template

3. Establish level 2 project gating

This phase will help you customize Level 2 Project Gates with appropriate roles and responsibilities.

Drive Business Value With a Right-Sized Project Gating Process – Phase 3: Establish Level 2 Project Gating

4. Establish level 3 project gating

This phase will help you customize Level 3 Project Gates with appropriate roles and responsibilities. It will also help you determine next steps and milestones for the adoption of the new process.

Drive Business Value With a Right-Sized Project Gating Process – Phase 4: Establish Level 3 Project Gating
Project Gating Reference Document

Member Testimonials

After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.

10.0/10

Overall Impact

32

Average Days Saved

Client

Experience

Impact

$ Saved

Days Saved

Illinois Tool Works

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

32

Commonwealth of VA, State Corporation Commission

Workshop

8/10

$61,999

10

Being able to customize the workshop for the time and people available.

Workshop: Drive Business Value With a Right-Sized Project Gating Process

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

Module 1: Lay the Groundwork for Tailored Project Gating

The Purpose

  • Understand the role of gating and why we need it.
  • Determine what projects will follow the gating process and how to classify them.
  • Establish the role of the project sponsor throughout the entire project lifecycle.

Key Benefits Achieved

  • Get stakeholder buy-in for the process.
  • Ensure there is a standard leveling process to determine size, risk, and complexity of requests.
  • Engage the project sponsor throughout the portfolio and project processes.

Activities

Outputs

1.1

Project Gating Review

1.2

Establish appropriate project levels

  • Project Intake Classification Matrix
1.3

Define the role of the project sponsor

  • Project Sponsor Role Description Template

Module 2: Establish Level 1 Project Gating

The Purpose

This phase will help you customize Level 1 Project Gates with appropriate roles and responsibilities.

Key Benefits Achieved

Create a lightweight project gating process for small projects.

Activities

Outputs

2.1

Review level 1 project gating process

2.2

Determine what gates should be part of your custom level 1 gating process

2.3

Establish required artifacts for each gate

2.4

Define the stakeholder’s roles and responsibilities at each gate

  • Documented outputs in the Project Gating Strategic Template

Module 3: Establish Level 2 Project Gating

The Purpose

This phase will help you customize Level 2 Project Gates with appropriate roles and responsibilities.

Key Benefits Achieved

Create a heavier project gating process for medium projects.

Activities

Outputs

3.1

Review level 2 project gating process

3.2

Determine what gates should be part of your custom level 2 gating process

3.3

Establish required artifacts for each gate

3.4

Define the stakeholder’s roles and responsibilities at each gate

Module 4: Establish Level 3 Project Gating

The Purpose

  • This phase will help you customize Level 3 Project Gates with appropriate roles and responsibilities.
  • Come up with a roadmap for the adoption of the new project gating process.

Key Benefits Achieved

  • Create a comprehensive project gating process for large projects.

Activities

Outputs

4.1

Review level 3 project gating process

4.2

Determine what gates should be part of your custom level 3 gating process

4.3

Establish required artifacts for each gate

4.4

Define the stakeholder’s roles and responsibilities at each gate

  • Documented outputs in the Project Gating Strategic Template
4.5

Determine next steps and milestones for process adoption

  • Documented Project Gating Reference Document for all stakeholders
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About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

MEMBER RATING

10.0/10
Overall Impact

32
Average Days Saved

After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve.

Read what our members are saying

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst

Get the help you need in this 4-phase advisory process. You'll receive 9 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.

Guided Implementation 1: Lay the groundwork for tailored project gating
  • Call 1: Scope requirements, objectives, and your specific challenges.

Guided Implementation 2: Establish level 1 project gating
  • Call 1: Define project levels.
  • Call 2: Establish the role of the sponsor.

Guided Implementation 3: Establish level 2 project gating
  • Call 1: Introduce Level 1 project gating best practices.
  • Call 2: Customize Level 1 project gate process.
  • Call 3: Introduce Level 2 and Level 3 project gating best practices.
  • Call 4: Customize Level 2 and Level 3 gating process.

Guided Implementation 4: Establish level 3 project gating
  • Call 1: Discuss roadmap for adoption of new process.
  • Call 2: Review completed Strategic Template.

Author

Teodora Siman

Contributors

  • Lameck Osinde, Professor of IT, Innovation, and Project Management
  • Nancy Wilson, Project Manager
  • Five Anonymous Contributors

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