# Stage-Gate Governance

A governance approach that advances work through defined phases separated by decision points (gates) where it must meet criteria to proceed.

Stage-gate governance breaks delivery into phases separated by gates — checkpoints where an initiative is reviewed against criteria and formally approved to continue, hold, or stop. It ensures investment keeps flowing only to work that still merits it.

When gates and approvals are built into the workflow rather than bolted on afterward, governance accelerates delivery instead of slowing it, while preserving auditability.

### Commonly confused

A formality. A stage-gate is a decision point where a program must justify continued funding before it proceeds; a gate that never kills anything is a rubber stamp, not a control.

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