Renaming or Deleting Methodology Phases — What Happens

This article explains what happens when an administrator renames or deletes a methodology phase from the Methodologies, Phases & Tasks administration screen.

When you rename an existing phase, the change is automatically propagated to projects using that methodology:

• Project phase plans are updated — The phase name is updated to the new name in every project's phase plan, wherever the old name appears. This applies regardless of the phase's dates.

• Current project phase is updated — If a project's current phase matches the old name, it is updated to the new name.

• All matching entries are renamed, including past phases — Phase entries whose end date has already passed are also updated to the new name. The rename is applied to every matching phase entry; historical entries are not left with the old name.

What you will see

When saving a phase with a changed name, you will be asked to confirm: "Renaming this phase will also update the phase name on all projects using this methodology."

When you delete a phase, the following happens:

1. Phase configuration is removed — The phase definition, its associated project tasks, and any phase–stage-gate mappings are deleted from the methodology configuration.

2. Project phase plans are cleaned up — The matching phase entry is removed from the phase plan of every active project using this methodology, provided the phase end date is not already in the past.

3. Current project phase is cleared — If a project's current phase matches the deleted phase name, the current phase is cleared (set to blank). The system's scheduled phase recalculation job will reassign the correct current phase on the next run.

4. Unclosed stage gates are removed — Any unclosed stage gates at the deleted phase's order position are removed from affected projects. Closed gates and gates with active approval workflows are preserved.

5. Inactive projects are not affected — Projects that have been deactivated (closed) are left unchanged.

What you will see

When clicking delete, you will be asked to confirm: "Deleting this phase will also remove it from all active projects using this methodology, clear the current phase on affected projects, and remove any unclosed stage gates at this phase. Inactive (closed) projects will not be affected."

Note: A project is considered "inactive" (closed) when it has been deactivated in the system — that is, when the project's is marked as inactive. This is distinct from the project's status field.

You can also rename phases in bulk using the Methodologies, Phases & Tasks Bulk Edit functionality. The loader uses an ID-first matching strategy: it checks the PhaseId column first to find the existing record, then falls back to matching by name if no ID is provided.

This means you can change the phase name in the spreadsheet and the system will still recognise the existing phase — as long as the PhaseId column retains the original value.

Step-by-step

1. Download with "Include Existing" — On the Bulk Edit screen, select the Methodologies, Phases & Tasks feed and tick Include Existing, then download the template. The exported file will contain three sheets: Methodology, Phases, and Tasks.

2. Locate the Phases sheet — Open the downloaded Excel file and go to the Phases sheet. The columns are:

   Column	Description
   Methodology	The parent methodology name
   PhaseId	The system-assigned phase identifier (do not change this)
   Phase	The display name of the phase
   Order	The sort order of the phase within the methodology
   DeleteRecord	Set to Yes to delete the phase

3. Edit the Phase name — Change the value in the Phase column to the new name. Keep the PhaseId value unchanged. The loader uses the PhaseId to locate the existing record, so any value in the Phase column is treated as the new name.

4. Upload the file — Upload the amended spreadsheet through the loader. The system will:

   • Match each row by PhaseId first (if > 0), falling back to a name match if no ID is supplied.

   • Detect that the phase name has changed and save the new name.

   • Propagate the rename to all active projects on that methodology (the same propagation that occurs when renaming via the admin screen).

Example

In this example, the phase with ID 42 (previously named "Design") will be renamed to "Detailed Design", and the new name will be propagated to all active projects using the Waterfall methodology.

Important notes

• Do not clear the PhaseId — If you remove the PhaseId value, the loader will fall back to matching by name. Since you have also changed the name, no existing record will be found, and the loader will create a new phase instead of renaming the existing one.

• The same pattern applies to Methodologies and Tasks — The MethodologyId column on the Methodology sheet and the TaskId column on the Tasks sheet work the same way: keep the ID to update, clear it to create new.

• Deleting via the loader — To delete a phase, keep the PhaseId populated and set the DeleteRecord column to Yes. The loader will clean up project phase plans and unclosed stage gates — exactly as described in the Deleting a Phase section above.

• Review before you act — Consider how many active projects use the methodology before renaming or deleting a phase.

• Phase order gaps are acceptable — After deleting a phase, the remaining phases keep their original order numbers. The system handles gaps in phase ordering automatically.

• Stage gate reapplication — If you need to fully re-synchronise stage gates after a phase change, use the Apply Stage Gates to All Projects button on the Stage Gates tab.