Vorgehens

Vorgehens is not a standard standalone noun in German; it is best understood as the stem form that appears in compounds built from the base word Vorgehen. The primary, everyday term is Vorgehen, which denotes a procedure, course of action, or method. In many contexts the plural is Vorgehensweisen, referring to multiple approaches; the form Vorgehen is rarely used as a plural on its own but may occur in older or specialized texts. The word Vor- + gehen reflects the idea of going forward or advancing in a planned way.

Vorgehen means the sequence of actions designed to achieve a goal. It encompasses planning, decision points, and the ordering of steps. In practice, speakers distinguish between the concrete steps themselves (das Vorgehen) and the overall strategy or method behind them (die Vorgehensweise). The latter is often used to describe how a problem is approached at a higher level, while the former can refer to the actual execution.

In professional and technical contexts, the term is common in management, project planning, science, and law. Examples include the chosen Vorgehen in a project, the methodological or systematic Vorgehensweise in research, and the legal or administrative Vorgehen in regulatory processes. Common variants include lineares Vorgehen (linear procedure), iteratives oder agiles Vorgehen (iterative or agile approach), and hybrides Vorgehen (hybrid approach).

Related terms include Vorgehen as a general action, Vorgehensweise as the method or approach, and Vorgehensmodell as a formal model describing a set of procedures. These terms together describe how problems are addressed, from planning to execution.