In the Project Templates admin section you will find a host of options for creating or editing a project template. You can toggle Sequential Stages which will restrict projects to only be able to move forwards or backwards one stage at a time.

This option can be enabled on its own, but where it really becomes powerful is if you combine it with Stage Criteria!

At each stage you can add one or multiple criteria options such as requiring Outcomes, Value trackers, executive sponsors or supplier owners to be added, to name just a few:

Stage criteria is meant to enforce a clear project process but above all it’s a tool to explain it. At every step the team will have clear goals they must reach to bring the project to the next stage, engaging the project team while at the same time re-assuring managers the projects at the very least fulfils minimum requirements before progressing forwards.
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Until the criteria is met the stage will be locked and the project can not progress forwards until it’s fulfilled. This will be displayed clearly in the project's progress bars with a lock icon. Project team members using can also simply click on the stage to see more information on what needs to be completed:

Some criteria relate to the project invites feature that can also be configured in the template. If these are added to a stage but the invites feature remain disabled then the criteria will be assumed to be fulfilled as soon as the relevant team member is added to the team.
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One important thing to note is that the criteria is additive, meaning criteria set for earlier stages still has to be met at later stages. Even if the current stage meets all the criteria it will lock if an earlier stage no longer meets its criteria. This will be visualised with a red warning triangle:

This is a very handy feature you can utilise in your templates to make sure each project stays on track. It is also clearly communicated to each project team using the template automatically, without having to police and micro-manage every single project.

Hopefully you'll find this to be a useful feature to help get the projects in your organisation across the finish line 🏁