Phases and statuses: organising work without confusing progress

A phase describes where work belongs in the project structure. A status describes the current condition of a task. Design, installation and handover can be phases; waiting to start, in progress, under review and complete describe different conditions within any of those phases.

Keeping these meanings separate prevents ambiguous reporting. An installation task can be under review, while another task in the same phase has not started. Moving all tasks into an “Installation” status would hide those differences.

DNA's configuration

DNA has separate Task Phases and Task Statuses masters. Phases have a description, display order and active setting. Status definitions include a name, display properties, order, active setting and an underlying type: To Do, In Progress, Review or Done.

The type has meaning beyond its visible name. Task progress and status-change behaviour use that underlying classification. A status called “Awaiting client sign-off” should therefore be classified deliberately; its wording alone does not determine whether the system treats it as complete.

Review is a distinct condition

Suppose Daniel finishes the installation work, but Emily must inspect it before handover. A review condition makes the remaining decision visible. Calling the task Done too early can make the task list appear clear while important acceptance work remains.

DNA's task detail represents Review progress as 95% and Done as 100%. These are status-based representations. They are not measurements that prove exactly 95% of physical work is complete or that 100% of contract value is billable.

Meaningful completion criteria

Agree what each status means for the team. For a drawing task, Done might mean the approved drawing has been issued. For an installation task, it might mean the required inspection has been accepted. These are business definitions supplied by the organisation, not universal DNA defaults.

A consistent phase structure helps compare similar work, while consistent status meanings make progress interpretable. Changing either casually can make a dashboard look better without changing the underlying project outcome.