How to configure and enable Stage-gate processes

Stage Gates can be used to create a defined lifecycle process that all initiatives must follow.

Each stage ends with a decision point (Stage-Gate) with assessment criteria that must be met and approval to proceed to the next stage. Approvals are tracked via workflow and recorded in the initiative’s history log. You can enable the stage-gate process for any specific initiative classification as needed.

For an approval workflow to be available when creating a stage-gate process, the workflow needs to be created and enabled. Learn more about how to create a stage-gate approval workflow.

To configure the Stage-Gate Process:

1. From the upper-right corner, click on your user name or avatar and then select Administration from the list of options.
2. Select the Stage Gate Process Editor tab.
   The Stage Gate Configuration page displays. 
   
3. Click on the New Process button.
4. In the Process Name field, type in a name for the stage-gate process.
   
   Please note, it is possible to edit this field at a later point in time without disturbing the existing process flow.
5. Click in the Number of Stages drop-down list and select the number of stages that will be available in the process.
   
   You can use this field to append new stages to the existing process after the stage-gate is set up and active if you want to, but removing stages is not supported.
6. Click on the Save Process button.
   This will create the stage-gate process.
7. Click on the Enable Process button to display additional fields. The fields that display allow you to configure the stages within the process. For each stage, you can attach an approval workflow, and specify the next possible stage.
8. In the Stage Name field, enter the stage name that users will see on the stage-gate process diagram. The Stage field will get automatically filled by the stage name.
9. Click in the Approval Workflow drop-down list, and select the approval workflow that will be triggered when the process is in this stage. The approval states configured for the workflow will display below this field.
10. Click in the Stages Available drop-down field, and select what stage the process will move into if the current stage is approved.
11. In the Gate Identifier field, enter the gate name as it will display on the process diagram.
12. In the Assessment Criteria field, you can enter the assessment criteria applicable to the stage.
13. If you are happy with the values entered for the first stage, scroll up and select the second stage from the Stage drop-down field and add relevant values in all the subsequent fields.
14. You should repeat this for all stages.
15. Click the Save Process button to save all configurations.
    The Stage-gate process is now available to be linked with an initiative.