Stage-Gate Process

Definition: the Stage-Gate Process is an innovation approach to make the product development process more effective from the initial idea to launching the product.
Stage-Gate® describes the steps or stages of an optimal new product process.
Each stage consists of a set of certain cross-functional and parallel activities which must be successfully completed prior to obtaining management approval to proceed to the next stage of product development. The entrance to each stage is called: a gate. These gates, which are normally meetings, control the process and serve as:
- Quality control
- Go / Kill check-points. Readiness-checks, Must-Meet and Should-Meet criteria
- Marker for action plan for next phase

More on the stage-gate process. More on product management: Perceptual Mapping, Positioning, Product Development, Product Lifecycle, Product Line Pricing, more...