Planning · Planning steps
Review step
Send the PRD to reviewers, decide on the changes they ask for, and get every section approved.
The Review step is where the PRD is checked by the people responsible for each part of it. Reviewers approve sections or ask for changes. When a reviewer asks for a change, Next drafts the edit for you. The owner then accepts, rewrites or declines each change, and applies the decisions. Updated sections go back to the reviewers who asked for them, until every section is approved.
When everything is approved, the item is ready to be promoted to delivery.
Before you start
- Open the item from Planning → Portfolio, and select Review in the step rail. See Portfolio item.
- Assigning reviewers, sending the PRD, deciding on changes and nudging reviewers are owner actions. Everyone else can follow progress.
- If you are a reviewer, you sign off your sections from My Tasks. See Signing off PRD sections.
Understanding the step
What the step shows depends on how far the review has got.
| Stage | What you see |
|---|---|
| Not reached | Not in review yet. The PRD has not been approved and sent out. Reviewer feedback and changes will appear here once it has. |
| Ready to send | Assign reviewers: a list of every PRD section and its reviewers, with Send for review underneath. |
| Out for review | Changes to address when reviewers have asked for changes, or Awaiting feedback while you wait. |
| All approved | All feedback resolved. Every section is approved, and the item can be promoted. |
Review status
Beside the main area, the Review status panel shows how the review stands:
- How many sections are approved, out of the total, with a bar.
- How many sections need you, how many are waiting on a reviewer, and how many are approved.
- For the owner, Waiting on: everyone who still has to respond.
Assign reviewers
Every written section needs at least one reviewer before the PRD can go out.
- Under Assign reviewers, find a section marked Unassigned. The department under its title is the department that reviews it.
- Select the add-person button on the section’s row.
- Tick one or more reviewers. The list starts with the reviewers for the section’s department, and you can search the whole team.
The count at the top shows how many sections are assigned. If the workflow splits the PRD across several steps, sections are grouped by step.
Send the PRD for review
- Check that every section has a reviewer. If any do not, a note says how many still need one.
- Select Send for review.
The PRD goes to the reviewers and editing is locked while it is out. The action bar shows Out for review and how many reviewers you are waiting on.
Wait for feedback
While nothing needs your attention, the step shows Awaiting feedback. New feedback appears here as reviewers respond. Each department runs its own round of review, so feedback can arrive at different times.
When you have applied changes and the updated sections have gone back to their reviewers, the step shows Awaiting re-review, with the round number and who it is out to.
Nudge a reviewer
If a reviewer has not responded, the owner can send a reminder.
- In the Review status panel, find the person under Waiting on.
- Select Nudge.
The reviewer gets an in-app reminder, and an email too if your organisation has turned that on. After a nudge, the next one has to wait for the period set in Governance → Planning → Review. Until then, the person shows nudge in N d. Hover over it to see when they were last nudged.
Decide on the changes reviewers ask for
When a reviewer asks for a change, Next drafts the edit and it lands under Changes to address, with how many changes there are and from how many reviewers.
Each change shows:
| Item | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Symbol | + for an addition, − for a removal, ± for a change. |
| Target | The PRD section or requirement the change affects, with a chip saying PRD, Requirement or New requirement. |
| reviewers converge | Shown when several reviewers asked for the same change. |
| Paradym Next rationale | Why the change is being made. |
| Reviewers | Who asked for it. Select to see each reviewer’s comment, when they sent it, any attached files and, from the second round, which round it is. |
| Changes | The drafted edit. Select View changes to see what is added and removed. |
For each change, choose one of these:
- Accept (or Accept removal) to take the change as Next drafted it.
- Select the pencil (Edit) to rewrite it first, then select Accept your version.
- Decline to turn it down. Enter why the change does not belong, then select Decline change. The reviewers who asked for it will see your reason.
Once you decide, the change collapses and shows Accepted or Declined. Select Change decision to undo it before you apply.
For a drafted PRD proposal, you can also choose Discard, Try again for another draft, or Accept directly on the change.
Apply your decisions
Decisions are not applied one by one. When you have decided, a note says how many are decided · ready to apply.
- Select Apply N changes in the action bar.
The accepted changes are made to the PRD and requirements. Sections that changed go back to the reviewers who asked for them for re-review. If a reviewer still has undecided changes, their re-review waits until you have decided all of them. Changes are applied in batches, one per review area, and a batch applies once all its changes are decided.
When every section is approved
The step shows All feedback resolved: every section is approved, and every requested change has been applied and re-approved.
Select Promote to Intake Queue in the action bar to hand the item to delivery. See Promote an item to the Intake Queue.
What happens next
- Changes you apply are recorded in the item’s activity, and changed sections and requirements are marked Updated in review or Added in review.
- Changes to the requirements can start a new round of planning. See Rounds of planning.
- Once promoted, the item leaves planning and appears in the delivery Intake Queue.
Good to know
- To take the PRD back for editing while it is out, use Withdraw from review. See Withdraw an item from review.
- The Portfolio list’s Reviews column shows how many sign-offs have come back.