# 3.2.1 Work Product Review Process

The review process comprises the following main activities: 

### Planning 

* Defining the scope, which includes the purpose of the review, what documents or parts of documents to review, and the quality characteristics to be evaluated 
* Estimating effort and timeframe 
* Identifying review characteristics such as the review type with roles, activities, and checklists 
* Selecting the people to participate in the review and allocating roles 
* Defining the entry and exit criteria for more formal review types (e.g., inspections) 
* Checking that entry criteria are met (for more formal review types)

### Initiate review 

* Distributing the work product (physically or by electronic means) and other material, such as issue log forms, checklists, and related work products 
* Explaining the scope, objectives, process, roles, and work products to the participants 
* Answering any questions that participants may have about the review 

### Individual review (i.e., individual preparation) 

* Reviewing all or part of the work product 
* Noting potential defects, recommendations, and questions 

### Issue communication and analysis

* Communicating identified potential defects (e.g., in a review meeting) 
* Analyzing potential defects, assigning ownership and status to them 
* Evaluating and documenting quality characteristics 
* Evaluating the review findings against the exit criteria to make a review decision (reject; major changes needed; accept, possibly with minor changes)

### Fixing and reporting 

* Creating defect reports for those findings that require changes to a work product 
* Fixing defects found (typically done by the author) in the work product reviewed 
* Communicating defects to the appropriate person or team (when found in a work product related to the work product reviewed) 
* Recording updated status of defects (in formal reviews), potentially including the agreement of the comment originator 
* Gathering metrics (for more formal review types) 
* Checking that exit criteria are met (for more formal review types) 
* Accepting the work product when the exit criteria are reached 

The results of a work product review vary, depending on the review type and formality, as described in section 3.2.3.