---
id: KB-GL-012
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/glossary/what-is-a-phase
idioma: en
categoria: glosario
subcategoria: procesos
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-GL-011, KB-TL-006]
citadoPor: [KB-GL-018, KB-GL-011]
---

# What is a phase

_Splitting what you ask for into blocks, which is what most raises delivery._

**Responde a:** what is a phase in a process · why split into phases · why am i not asked for everything at once · order of phases in a case

**Phase** — A block of requests that open together inside a case. The next opens when the previous one is complete.

It is not organisational decoration: it is the reason people deliver. Twelve requests at once get left for later; four blocks of three get worked through.

## How to split them well

**En corto**

- Into blocks that make sense to whoever delivers, not to you.
- Three to six requests per phase.
- Whatever blocks you, in the first one.

"Company documentation", "people documentation", "machinery documentation" are meaningful phases. "Phase 1", "Phase 2" and "Phase 3" say nothing to whoever receives them.

> [!WARNING]
> Chaining too many phases lengthens the process: each waits for the previous. Three or four is usually the useful limit.

> [!NOTE]
> If everything you ask for can be delivered at once and there are no real dependencies, one phase is correct. Phases serve where there is an order, not always.

**Can a phase be opened early?**

Yes, if you need that part urgently.

**Does the participant know about later phases?**

They see their own. Phases not yet opened do not appear to them.

**Can a phase be added while the case runs?**

Yes.

## Ejemplos

**An onboarding asks for eleven documents in one phase and has been open three weeks.**

- Splits them into three named phases

→ The next subcontractor delivers all six mandatory items in four days.

**Fifteen documents are requested at once and none arrives.**

- Splits into phases and starts with the essentials

→ The first phase completes and the rest follows behind.

**One phase depends on another finishing and nobody knows.**

- Orders phases by what actually depends on what

→ The supplier does not receive requests they cannot yet meet.

**All phases open at once and the supplier gets lost.**

- Opens the next one as the previous closes

→ Each moment has a short, clear list.

**A phase stalls and nobody notices.**

- Lets it flag when a phase has been open too long

→ The blockage surfaces without being hunted.

**Phases are called «phase 1» and «phase 2».**

- Names them after what each one asks for

→ The supplier understands what is due without opening anything.