Preventing Dropped Balls
Use quality gates to ensure nothing falls through the cracks
Missed deadlines and dropped tasks cost time and money. This use case shows how WayCharts prevents failures through quality gates and clear criteria.
The Problem
Dropped Balls Have Real Consequences
A customer deliverable was overlooked. Late fees were charged (significant amount). The recovery effort took 6-8 months to fix the relationship and systems.
Gap Between Documentation and Execution
Policy documents exist in Confluence ("Always proofread before sending"). But execution happens separately in TODO lists and Jira. Documentation and action tracking are disconnected.
No Quality Gates
A task can be marked "done" even if critical steps were skipped. "Forgot to proofread" should be impossible, but it happens anyway.
The WayCharts Solution
Quality gates (criteria) enforce that nothing can be marked complete until all quality standards are met.
Create Task with Quality Criteria
Create a task for the deliverable. Define criteria that are non-negotiable quality gates.
Task: "Deliver Final Client Report" Activity: "Complete and deliver report" Criteria (quality gates): ✓ All sections reviewed by peer ✓ Client feedback incorporated ✓ Final proofread complete ✓ Delivery email drafted and approved by manager ✓ Client has confirmed receipt
How This Prevents Failures
With criteria-based workflow:
- Can't mark activity "complete" until all criteria are met
- "Final proofread complete" is a hard requirement - you can't skip it
- "Manager approved delivery email" means someone verified it before sending
- If a criterion is consistently skipped, you discover it in the process and fix the template
- The system enforces what the policy states - no human error possible
The Result
- Quality enforcement: Quality gates can't be bypassed by accident
- Prevents dropped balls: Critical steps are systematically enforced
- Scalable excellence: One person's high standards become the team's standard process
- Audit trail: Every criterion is tracked - you know what was done and when
Try This Now
Think about your most critical client deliverable. What quality standards are non-negotiable? Add those as criteria to a task. You'll see quality gates in action.