There are six stages of the project management process, we will now take a look at the second phase also known as the “definition phase”. After the project plan (stage one) has been approved, the project enters the second phase: the definition phase. In this phase, the requirements that are associated with a project result are specified as clearly as possible. This involves identifying the expectations that all of the involved parties have with regard to the project result. During this phase, a project plan and project scope may be put in writing, outlining the work to be performed.  According to the book project management fifth edition project scope should include the following stages.

•     Project deliverables
•   Project Milestone
• Technical Requirements
• Limits and exclusion
• Customer review

The project management team should prioritize the project, calculate a budget and schedule, and determine what resources are needed. The project definitions should be in sync with that of the client and end user requirements.

It is at this stage that the Project manager and its participants can use the scope of the project as a tool in order to measure the success of the project. It is very important that all parties that are involved in the project are able to collaborate during the definition phase, particularly the end users who will be using the project result. The client, who pays for the project, is indeed invited to collaborate on the requirements during the definition phase. Nonetheless, the project result benefits when its future users are also invited. As a point of departure, it is helpful to make a habit of organising meetings with all concerned parties during the definition phase of a project

This involves identifying the expectations of all parties involved with regard to the project result. It is important to identify the requirements as early in the process as possible. The Preconditions for the project, Functional & Operational requirements and Design limitations should be clearly defined in this phase.

Risk is associated with things that are unknown. More things are unknown at the beginning of a project, but risk must be considered in the initiation phase and weighed against the potential benefit of the project’s success in order to decide if the project should be chosen.

Poory defined project scope has been cause of 50% of all project failures according to the book written by Larson and Grey Project management 5th Edition. Scope creep can lead to risk when the project scope is not defined accurately. Project scope refers to alterations that have been made or introduced as the project progress. These can include things like newly defined costs or other add-ons. An example of project scope is what is currently happening with the new children’s Hospital and the increased costs.