Five stages, two signatures per gate

The delivery process I ran for an enterprise telecom account and that leadership extended company-wide. Nothing enters a stage until client and team have both signed off on the one before it; a missing signature returns the work to the previous stage.

Stage 01DiscoveryClient and team alignon the problem tosolve.OutputApproved problemstatementSign offYesNoStage 02DefinitionSolutions proposed;one selected andagreed.OutputApproved solutionSign offYesNoStage 03DesignDetailed technicalspecification of thesolution.OutputApproved C4architecture diagramsSign offYesNoStage 04DevelopmentBuild against theapproved design.OutputQA sign-off from bothsidesSign offYesNoStage 05DeploymentRelease shipped;warranty periodbegins.OutputRelease live, warrantyrunningSign offNextNoSign-off from client and team: proceedNo sign-off: rejected, return to the previous stageStage 01DiscoveryClient and team align on theproblem to solve.OutputApproved problem statementSign offYesNoStage 02DefinitionSolutions proposed; one selectedand agreed.OutputApproved solutionSign offYesNoStage 03DesignDetailed technical specificationof the solution.OutputApproved C4 architecture diagramsSign offYesNoStage 04DevelopmentBuild against the approved design.OutputQA sign-off from both sidesSign offYesNoStage 05DeploymentRelease shipped; warranty periodbegins.OutputRelease live, warranty runningSign offNextNo
Why gates

Trust needed a record

Scope changed mid-sprint and every slip became a dispute. A documented, dual-signed decision at each stage replaced memory with evidence.

Why both sides

Predictability is shared

The client learned to prioritise because the system required it; engineers got protected sprints because nothing reached them half-defined.

What it changed

Built once, shipped once

Work reaching development was ready to build and deploy, never reworked mid-sprint because the requirements were wrong. The standing QA backlog cleared.