Create or Edit Stage Gate Workflows

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This article explains how to create stage gate workflows using the native OnePlan stage gate workflow feature.

These stage gate workflows are entierly customizable for your organization's needs. In this article, I will use an example scenario to demonstrate how you can configure a workflow. Of course, your workflows will likely be very different from the example in this article.

Click the Edit icon for the desired step and go to the Stages tab. Using this tab, you can create simple stage gate workflows for your process flow.

First, you need to select the Stage Type. Options include No Stage Gate, Power Automate Gate, and Standard Stage Gate.

  • No Stage Gate means that there is no stage gate workflow for the step, and it will function normally.

  • Power Automate Gate means you want to use Power Automate to create a stage gate workflow.

  • Standard Stage Gate means that you want to use OnePlan's native stage gate workflow feature to set up a stage gate workflow. We will focus on this Standard Stage Gate option in this article.

stage_type.png

Now you need to determine which steps in the process flow the user will be routed to after the current step. You can configure multiple next steps here based on rules or approvals.

In this example, I am using the out of the box OnePlan Project process flow steps, which are: Initiation > Execution > Planning > Monitoring > Closure.

I want to configure the following progression starting at the Initiation step:

  • Example Scenario: If the Budget is less than or equal to $500,000, I want the Executive Sponsor of the project to approve the plan before proceeding. Once approved, I want the process flow to move to the Execution step, the State of the project to update to Active, and the Estimated Start Date to update to Today (the date of the approval). If the Budget is greater than $500,000, I want the workflow to stop completely, update the State of the project to On Hold, and throw a warning to the end user to review the project further.

Let's dive in and configure each of this scenario.

Configure the Example Scenario

Configure Stage Rules

First I will configure the logic if Budget is less than or equal to $500,000, I want the Executive Sponsor of the project to approve the plan before proceeding. If the Budget is greater than $500,000, I want the workflow to stop completely and throw a warning to the end user to review the project further.

  1. Click the Edit icon for the Initiation step. Then go to the Stages tab of the Edit Step form.

  2. For the Stage Type, select Standard Stage Gate. The Next Steps settings will appear.

    Nest_steps_settings_availalbe.png

  3. Click into the Add Step field and select the process step you want the flow to route the user to. I will select Execution. This will add the step to the list below.

  4. Click the Edit icon for the added step (Execution in this example). This will take you to the Approval Process: [selected step] page.

    edit_the_next_step_to_execution.png
    rules_and_approvals_settings_available.png

  5. We will start by creating a rule that will stop the workflow if the Budget is greater than $500,000. Go to the Rules tab, and click Add Rule. The Add Rule screen will open.

    add_rule_for_stage.png

  6. Enter a Name for the new rule. I will call this rule "500k Budget"

  7. Enter Failure Text for the rule. This is the error that will appear to the end user when the workflow stops if the plan fails the set rule criteria (so, when the Budget is greater than $500,000 in this example). For this example, I will enter "The budget for this project is too high and cannot proceed through our standard process."

  8. Now we need to configure the logic that will drive this rule. Again, I want the workflow to proceed if the Budget is less than or equal to $500,000. I want the workflow to stop and the Failure Text to show if the user tries to move forward to the next stage when the Budget is greater than $500,000.

    • Click into first the empty field and select Budget from the drop-down. The form will get some more fields.

    • Next I will select the operator or inequity. The system uses equal by default. Click on equal and select less or equal from the drop-down.

    • In the final field, I will enter "500000."

    This means that the process can proceed if the plan passes our set rule criteria (Budget </= 500000), and will fail if it fails the set criteria (Budget > 500000).

    budget_is_greater_than_500k_rule.png

  9. Once the rule and logic are configured, click Save. The new rule will now be available in the list of rules.

    budget_greater_than_500k_rule_created.png

Configure Stage Approvals

Now I will configure the approval process where the Executive Sponsor of the project must approve the plan before proceeding. Once approved, I want the process flow to move to the Execution step, the State of the project to update to Active, and the Estimated Start Date to update to Today (the date of the approval).

  1. Click on the Approval tab. Then click Add Approval. The Add Approval screen will open.

    add_approval_for_stage.png

  2. First select who this approval needs to go to. Options here include Users and Teams or Field. In this example, I will select Field, then select Executive Sponsor.

    • Users and Teams allows you to select specific users or teams to receive the approval. You may select multiple users.

      Note

      When setting up team-wide approvals, each team member receives individual approval tasks and email notifications, ensuring comprehensive team communication.

    • Field allows you to select a user field from the plan. The user or team selected for that field will receive the approval.

  3. Select the Approval Method. Options here include First User or All Users. In this example, I will select First User.

    • First User means the plan will be approved once the first user approves (if there are multiple approvers set).

    • All Users means that the plan will be approved once all users set up as approvers approve the plan.

  4. Set the Number of Days the approvers have to approve the plan. I will enter 30, meaning the approvers have 30 days to complete their approvals.

    Note

    This settings does not enforce any approvals or timelines. It functions simply to set expectations for the approvers to get their reviews complete in a timely manner.

  5. Enter a subject for the approval notification that will be sent to all approvers. For this example, I will enter "Project Submitted for Approval." The notification will be sent as an email, as well as a OnePlan notification that appears in the Notification Center.

  6. Select fields to be included in the notification to provide the approvers additional context to the project that they are approving. These fields will be included as a list at the bottom of the email or notification. For this example, I will select Budget, Business Case, and Estimated Start.

    create_stage_approval_screen_1.png

  7. Compose the notification body. This is the main body text of the notification sent out to approvers. For this example, I will enter "Please review this proposed project. Once approved, the project will become active and will move onto the Execution phase."

    create_stage_approval_screen_2.png

  8. Next I will configure the the State field to update to Active upon approval.

    • In the Fields To Update On Approval section, click Add Field. The Add Field To Update form will open.

    • In the Field field, select State.

    • In the Value field, select Active.

    • Click Save. The Field will be added to the list of Fields To Update.

    add_field_to_update.png

    Note

    You can also set up automatic plan conversions upon approval or rejection. For example, you can have an Idea converted into a Project once approved. You need to have the conversion configured in the Plan Type settings first, and then you can add that conversion into the approval workflow.

  9. I also want the Estimated Start field to populate with Today's date upon approval.

    • In the Fields To Update On Approval section, click Add Field, The Add Field to Update form will open.

    • In the Field field, select Estimated Start.

    • For the Value field, check the Today checkbox. Again, this will update the Estimated Start field with the date the approval process is complete.

    • Click Save. The Field will be added to the list of Fields To Update on Approval.

    Update_date_field_with_stage_gate_workflow.png
    Add_date_field_update_to_stage_gate_workflow.png

  10. I also want to configure the State field to update to On Hold upon rejection.

    • In the Fields to Update On Rejection section, click Add Field. The Add Field to Update form will open.

    • In the Field field, select State.

    • In the Value field, select On Hold.

    • Click Save. The Field will be added to the list of Fields to Update on Rejection.

    rejection_add_field_to_update.png
    Add_approval_rejection_fields_added.png

  11. Click Save. The new approval workflow will be added to the list of approvals.

    approval_created.png

  12. Click Save again to return to the Stages tab. You can set up additional stage gate workflows if desired. Once you are done, click Save for the Edit Step form, then click Save for the entire Plan Details form.

    save_edit_step_form.png
    save_entire_plan_details_form.png

Configure an Auto-Approval

OnePlan Stage Gate Workflows also supports auto-approval steps. This means that no approval is required from another user, and the plan will automatically be approved when moving to the next phase. Additionally, fields set to update on approval and any conversions will now automatically run with auto-approvals.

Again, I will use an example scenario to demonstrate how to configure auto-approval stage gate workflows. In this scenario, when a plan is moved from the Monitoring phase into the Closure phase, I want the approval to be automated, and I want the State of the plan to update to Closed.

To set up this auto-approval stage gate workflow:

  1. Click the Edit icon for the Monitoring step. Then go to the Stages tab of the Edit Step form.

  2. For the Stage Type, select Standard Stage Gate. The Next Steps settings will appear.

  3. Click into the Add Step field and select the process step you want the flow to route the user to. I will select Closure. This will add the step to the list below.

    Configure_auto-approval_set_up_closure_step.png

  4. Click the Edit icon for the added step (Monitoring in this example). This will take you to the Approval Process: [selected step] page.

  5. Click into the Approval tab. Then click Add Approval. The Add Approval form will open.

    Approval_process_closure.png

  6. Since I want this to be an auto-approved step, I will check the Auto Approve checkbox. The Add Approval form will dynamically update to remove all of the approval configuration, except for the Fields to Update On Approval and Conversion sections.

    Add_Approval_fomr_check_Auto_Approve.png

  7. In this example, I want the State field to update to Closed upon (auto) approval.

    • In the Fields To Update On Approval section, click Add Field. The Add Field To Update form will open.

    • In the Field field, select State.

    • In the Value field, select Closed.

    • Click Save. The Field will be added to the list of Fields To Update.

    add_fields_to_update_closed.png
    auto_approve_step_configured_with_field_to_update.png

  8. Click Save. The new approval workflow will be added to the list of approvals.

    auto_approval_added_to_list_of_approvals_for_monitoring_phase.png

  9. Click Save again to return to the Stages tab. You can set up additional stage gate workflows if desired. Once you are done, click Save for the Edit Step form, then click Save for the entire Plan Details form.

    Save_monitoring_edit_step_form.png
    save_entire_plan_details_form.png

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