Projects and phases support project management through time planning and progress control. Both types of objects are implemented in BSCW as special folders, which may contain further documents and discussion forums. A project is meant to stand for an undertaking with a limited time frame and a defined goal. The time frame of a project may be given by start date and completion date. Projects may be further split up in phases.
A phase is a self-contained part of a project and may be further divided into separate tasks. A phase is always part of a project and its time frame, i.e. start date and completion date, is restricted by the time frame of the superordinate project. The time frames of the phases of a project may overlap.