Update status, RAG and confidence

Keeping the case file current is the heart of the method. You set a manual Overall RAG (red/amber/green) call, plus a self-reported Confidence declaration. This guide covers setting them, and keeping them fresh.

Before you start

• You need edit rights on the project.
• The Overall RAG is your manual call — Tollgate never rolls it up. The derived pillars inform it.

Set the Overall RAG and confidence

1. Open the project’s Tollgate tab and land on Investment Health.
2. Set the Overall RAG — Red, Amber, Green, Blue (Done) or None.
3. Set Confidence — how confident you are the outcome will land: High, Modest, Low or Unknown.
4. Save.

The Overall RAG records your judgement of whether the investment is on track for the payoff. You edit the Overall and Confidence cards in place: select the pencil on the card, set the rating, and save.

Add a reason to the rating

Both cards you set by hand take an optional reason — one short line saying why this rating:

1. On Investment Health, select the pencil on the Overall or Confidence card.
2. Set the rating, then type the reason in the field beneath it.
3. Save. The reason renders on the card under the rating.

The reason field takes at most 120 characters, with a live counter — the reason must fit on the card. Tollgate records each change in the audit trail like any other status field. Leave the field blank to have no reason. Clear it to remove one you set earlier.

Tip

A rating tells the committee what. The reason tells them why before they have to ask. “Amber — vendor contract still unsigned” ends a line of questioning that “Amber” starts.

Set the key message

The key message is your framing for the committee — the sentence you want them to leave with. Select the pencil beside it on Investment Health, write it, and save. It appears on the dashboard and travels into the steering meeting view.

Note

Confidence is self-reported and sits alongside RAG rather than deriving from it. Declaring confidence is itself the governance act — see RAG, confidence & health.

Understand the derived pillars

Tollgate derives the Cost, Schedule, Scope and Risk pillars from the registers, each with an optional manual override:

• Cost — Σ forecasts vs Σ baselines across work packages.
• Schedule — the worst single slip (the weakest link).
• Scope — count of approved change requests this reporting period.
• Risk — open high-impact risks.

You don’t set these directly. Keep the underlying work packages, changes and risks current and the pillars update. Apply a manual override on a pillar only when you need to.

Keep the picture fresh

Keep the hero cards and the registers current as your read changes. The derived pillars follow the registers. When the committee sits, Run steering on Investment Health opens a full-screen view for the meeting — see Present the dashboard to a steering committee.

Tip

Cadence is a recommendation. The dashboard stamps each status with when it was last updated. Fall behind the reporting cadence and an ageing signal appears. Tollgate never emails or nags.

Related

• Present the dashboard to a steering committee.