Innovation · Pipeline and gates · Component

Gate criteria

The must-meet and kill criteria for each gate, together with any scoring scale, written down before any project reaches it.

The deliverable

What it is

Gate criteria are what make a gate a decision. Set in advance and applied to every project alike, they turn the meeting from a presentation into a check.

Kill criteria are the part that is often missing. They state in advance what result, cost or delay would end a project, so that stopping does not depend on someone finding the courage in the room.

One level in

What it is made of

Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.

  1. Must-meet criteria

    The conditions a project has to satisfy to pass the gate, each with a threshold that can be checked against evidence.

    2 attributes: Criterion · Threshold

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  2. Kill criteria

    The results, costs or delays that would end the project at this gate, agreed before the project reaches it.

    3 attributes: Kill condition · Trigger level · Set on

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  3. Scoring

    The scale and weights used to compare projects that pass must-meet criteria but compete for the same resources.

    2 attributes: Scale · Weight

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Ask the sponsor to write the kill criteria. It is the quickest way to learn what they believe the project depends on.