How is a Phase Structured?
Phases
Each phase is used to reach specific goals. These goals are reached by executing activities and the results which these yield.

Subphases
For the majority of phases in stdSEM, related activities are grouped together into appropriate subphases. These subphases should be executed if the associated activities make sense (e.g. subphase "Drawing up a tender" in the Definition phase, subphase "Preparation of operations" in the Implementation phase). The subphases can also overlap.

Preconditions, activities and results
Every phase has its required preconditions. The phase can only be started if these preconditions are met. There are also required activities which are performed during the phase. stdSEM makes a distinction between primarily technical, project control and quality assurance activities. Each phase is characterized by results which arise when activities are executed. The degree of obligation of these results is defined for each phase in stdSEM (in the "Phase Orientation").

Milestones
Milestones mark significant points during the course of the project which are generally associated with important results. Since they are particularly suitable for project controlling, prespecified milestones are defined in stdSEM (these can also be modified on a project-specific basis). For example, "Project plan drawn up and checked" is the project control milestone in the Definition phase.

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