Gate Review Scorecards
Gate review scorecards help assess accrued risk and make decisions at each gate review or major milestone. Two kinds of gate reviews exist: functional-level gate reviews and executive-level gate reviews.
Functional reviews are detailed and tactical in nature and help prepare for executive review. Executive reviews are strategic in nature and look at macro-level risk in terms of how this particular project contributes to the overall portfolio of projects being commercialized or managed in the post-launch environment. Functional gatekeepers worry about microdetails within their particular project; executive gatekeepers worry about accrued risk across all projects that represent the future growth potential for the business as a portfolio. One looks at alignment of project risk across the business strategy, whereas the other looks at alignment of risk within the specific project's tactics and requirements. Functional reviews can be done for technical teams as independent events from other teams on the project. Executive reviews are summary presentations that include both technical and marketing, as well as all other forms of macrogate deliverables.
Table 2.5 is an example of a generic template for a functional gate review.
Table 2.5. Functional Gate Review Scorecard
Gate Deliverables |
Grand Average Tool Score |
Summary of Tasks' Completion |
Summary of Tasks Results vs. Delinquent Requests |
Red |
Yellow |
Green |
Corrective Action and Due Date Comments on Risk |
The integrated system of tool, task, and gate deliverable scorecards provides a control plan for quantifying accrued risk in a traceable format that goes well beyond simple checklists. The task scorecard feeds summary data to this gate deliverable scorecard.
The next gate review format is used for executive reviews, where deliverables are summarized for rapid consumption by the executive gate-keeping team (see Figure 2.1).
Figure 2.1 Strategic gate review scorecard.
Numerous companies committed to strategic portfolio management use this common format. The executive gate-keeping team looks at a number of these scorecards to balance risk across its portfolio of projects as the team seeks to grow the top line according to its business strategy. No project is immune from scrutiny or elimination if the summary data warrants that decisive action. Scorecards aid in decisiveness.