Configuring Phase Names and Dates in Planning Elements

A phase within an element type can represent a stage of a project, such as Discovery, Design, Build, and Testing, or any time frame you define. For example, the Discovery portion of a project may consist of several phases that may or may not overlap, such as Marketing, Financial, and Resource phases.

Planners who are members of the project team can enter phase names and dates and select the phase metrics values to define the colors used to represent phases for individual elements when they display within a Gantt view.

To configure a phase name and date for a planning element:

1. From the Planning menu, select Planning Board.

2. Create a view or display an existing view.
3. Hover over the element and click to open the element for editing.

4. Open the Phases tab.

The Phases option reflects the planning element's name, and is only available if phase metrics are associated with the planning element's type.

5. In the table, complete to following information to define the phases for the element:

Field	Description
Phase End Date	Enter the last date of the phase. The phase runs from the phase end date before it to this date. If this is the first phase, the phase start date is determined by the element's start date.
Phase Name	Enter a name that identifies the phase's purpose and reflects the activity within the phase.
Phase Metric Values	(Optional) Each phase metric available to the planning element type is listed in the remaining columns in the table. Select the value for the phase you are defining. The metric value you select defines the color of the phase in the Gantt view. Phases that do not have a selected value display with no color for that phase.

If phase metrics have been deleted from the element, but the phase matrix has not been removed, you can set a Phase End Date and a Phase Name, but no additional metric values are available. In this case, phases display with no color options available in the Gantt view.

6. Click to add additional phase name and date combinations and complete the information for the phase as described in step 5.

7. Click Done to apply your changes.

See Displaying Phases in Gantt Planning Views for information about setting up a Gantt view to display the phases defined here for an element.

Notes:    Innovation Planning and Roadmapping are optional Accolade components that you may not have access to. To implement these solutions, contact Sopheon Customer Support.