The phase gate is a project management technique that reviews the end of the phase of the project. It is important to create such review to make important decisions to continue on to the succeeding phase, end the project or continue but implement some modifications.
The project is divided into different stages or phases and separated by gates. The process continues at each gate but the project manager or a steering committee should decide whether to continue the project or not.
So how does the project manager decide at every phase gate? The decision is usually based on the information that is available on hand and these include the risk analysis and the business case. Moreover, it is also important for the project manager to assess if there is still necessary resources such as money and people with the right skill set to continue the project.
In project management, there are several phases and these include the discovery which involves determining what the organization wants to embark on. This is followed by the development of the scope of the project, the building of the case and plan, development, testing and validation and product launch.
This term is defined in the 5th edition of the PMBOK.