Nobody signs off their own work
Tollgates, benefit validation and an audit log, enforced by the system rather than by policy.
- 5
- tollgates
- one per DMAIC phase
- 6
- rules
- enforced in code
- 14
- templates
- the same on every project
Tollgates
A phase ends when someone else says it does
Every project runs the same 5 DMAIC gates. The team attaches its evidence and submits; an OE Manager or admin approves the gate or returns it with a reason. Until then, the project stays where it is.
The person who submitted a gate cannot be the person who decides it.
- Evidence is the deliverables saved to the phase
- Approve or return, with the decision written down
- The next phase opens only after an approval
- 1The gate stripThree phases approved, Improve in review.
- 2The evidenceFour of four expected artifacts attached.
- 3Awaiting reviewNothing moves until a reviewer decides.
- 4The dossierEvery phase and decision, exported as one PDF.
Tollgates and proof, on video · 1:33
Who approved that? Never its own lead.
The AI prepares the pre-read. A manager who did not submit the gate approves it, or sends it back with a reason. Savings are projected at the charter, claimed at completion and validated by an admin who did not lead the project, and every step leaves a trail.
The agents prepare. People decide.
Segregation of duties
Who does it, and who the system will not let do it
Submit a tollgate
- Who may
- The project team, with at least one deliverable attached as evidence.
- Who may not
- An empty gate. The submit is refused until there is something to review.
Approve or return a tollgate
- Who may
- An OE Manager or an organization admin.
- Who may not
- The person who submitted it. Two reviewers at once cannot both decide it either.
Charter an idea into a project
- Who may
- Staff who score the hopper, once the idea is approved.
- Who may not
- The person who raised the idea.
Accept a change to an approved document
- Who may
- A project lead, an OE Manager or an organization admin.
- Who may not
- The person who proposed the change.
Validate the savings
- Who may
- An organization owner or admin, after the project is complete.
- Who may not
- The project lead, or anyone before the last gate has passed.
Let SigmaForge support in
- Who may
- Your own owner or admin, for the hours they choose.
- Who may not
- SigmaForge staff. A grant cannot be approved from our side.
The rules
6 rules the system applies rather than asks for
Nobody approves their own gate
The person who submits a tollgate cannot be the person who approves it. The system refuses, rather than trusting the org chart.
Savings in three numbers
Estimated, actual and validated are separate fields. Only an owner or admin can validate, only after the project is complete, and never the person who ran it.
An approved document keeps serving until someone accepts the change
A revision to an approved deliverable waits for an approver instead of quietly replacing what people are working from.
The idea and the project have different owners
Converting an idea into a chartered project is separated from raising it, so the hopper cannot be used to self-authorize work.
Every decision is written down
Gate approvals, benefit validations and accepted revisions land in an audit log the customer can read.
You grant and revoke our access
Support access can be set to need a time-boxed grant the customer makes and can withdraw, and every access is logged like everything else.
Benefits validation
The saving on the board pack is one somebody else stood behind
Most improvement programs die because nobody can prove they paid for themselves. The platform keeps savings as three separate numbers rather than one hopeful figure: what was estimated at the charter, what was actually measured at the end, and what a finance or admin role validated afterwards. The person who ran the project cannot validate their own benefit, so the number that reaches the board pack is the one somebody else stood behind.
- 1All five gates approvedThe project is complete, so savings can be validated.
- 2Validated, not claimedSigned off at a lower figure than the team claimed.
- 3Finance on the teamRoles are named on the project.
Three numbers, not one
Estimated, actual, validated
- Figure 01
Estimated
What the charter expects the project to return, written down before the work starts.
At the charter
- Figure 02
Actual
What the team measured at the end, entered by the people who ran the project.
At completion
- Figure 03
Validated
What an owner or admin who did not lead the project signs off. Only this one reaches the portfolio headline.
After sign-off
Before the gate
Everyone can see what the gate is missing
Phase coaching reads the project and says how ready the phase is, the one thing blocking it, and which pieces of evidence are attached or missing. It is advisory and says so on the screen. The decision stays with a person.
- Readiness against the gate date
- Evidence attached and missing
- The numbers that will decide it
- 1ReadinessHow close the phase is to its gate.
- 2The one blockerNamed, with the reason it matters.
- 3Gate evidenceOne of four attached, three missing.
Audit trail
Every decision is written down, and you can read it
Gate approvals, benefit validations, accepted revisions and member changes land in an audit log for your organization. Owners and admins read it in the product, filter it by action and date, and export it as CSV. The project’s own activity feed shows the team who did what, as it happens.
- Who decided, what they decided, and when
- Edits and deletions of deliverables and comments
- Every reach into your organization by SigmaForge support
- 1Named rolesLead, sponsor, process owner, coach.
- 2The activity feedWho commented on what, and when.
Can an administrator approve their own tollgate if nobody else is around?
No. The review route checks who submitted the gate and refuses that person, whatever their role. Another OE Manager or admin has to decide it, which is why we suggest at least two reviewers in every organization.
Who can validate savings, and when?
An organization owner or admin, and only once the project is complete. If that person led the project, the system refuses and another admin has to validate it. The team’s own figure stays on the record beside the validated one.
What happens when someone edits an approved document?
The edit becomes a proposed revision. The approved version keeps serving everywhere it is used, including the tollgate evidence and the dossier, until a project lead, OE Manager or admin who did not propose it accepts the change.
What goes into the audit log?
Gate approvals and returns, benefit validations, accepted revisions, member changes, edits and deletions of deliverables and comments, and every time SigmaForge support reaches into your organization. Owners and admins read it inside the product, filter it by action and date, and export it as CSV.
Is the coaching on a project a decision?
No. Phase coaching says how ready a phase looks and what is missing, and it is labelled advisory on the screen. The team decides what to act on, and a person decides the gate.
See it decided
Watch a gate get refused to the person who submitted it
Thirty minutes on a demo company, or on one of your own projects. We will try to approve our own gate in front of you.