What Is a Project Milestone?
A undertaking milestone is a undertaking planning device that’s used to mark a degree in a undertaking schedule. Project milestones can be aware the beginning and end of a undertaking, mark the completion of a serious section of labor or something that’s price highlighting in a undertaking, such because the manufacturing of undertaking deliverables. They assist undertaking groups coordinate their efforts by serving to everyone perceive what the aims of the undertaking are and the motion steps that have to be taken in order to attain them.
Project milestones assist undertaking groups give attention to main progress factors in a undertaking, which helps undertaking managers with undertaking planning and scheduling. Just as duties break a bigger undertaking into manageable elements, milestones break off undertaking phases to assist undertaking managers plan, schedule and execute them.
The Importance of Milestones in Project Management
Project milestones present a option to extra precisely estimate the time it would take to finish your undertaking by marking essential dates and occasions, making them important for exact undertaking planning and scheduling. Because of their versatility, they’re an essential aspect of undertaking paperwork such because the undertaking schedule, undertaking constitution and undertaking plan.
They are additionally used in scheduling methodologies, such because the important path methodology (CPM), or undertaking administration instruments like Gantt charts, which may decide main scheduling intervals. With undertaking milestones, you’ll be able to higher calculate the slack in your undertaking by segmenting the undertaking timeline into intervals, or smaller time frames to regulate and monitor progress.
Project administration software program, like ProjectManager, makes it simple to construct a schedule with undertaking milestones. Use our on-line Gantt charts to shortly construct a undertaking schedule with phases, subtasks, milestones and dependencies. Try it free at the moment.
Now that we’ve outlined what undertaking milestones are and why they’re essential in undertaking administration, let’s discover the milestone planning course of.
What Is Milestone Planning?
The time period milestone planning refers back to the strategy of marking milestones on a undertaking schedule. Milestone planning is primarily carried out by undertaking managers who will discover important factors in the undertaking life cycle and mark them as undertaking milestones in order that their crew understands what are the important thing deliverables, actions or phases that have to be accomplished.
By marking these important factors with undertaking milestones, each undertaking managers and crew members can simply monitor essential steps in the undertaking life cycle and higher perceive what must be carried out when. The milestone planning course of is often carried out with the assistance of milestone charts, additionally known as milestone schedules. Milestone charts permit undertaking managers to create a milestone plan or milestone schedule, a visible timeline that exhibits undertaking milestones over a timeframe.
What Is a Milestone Chart?
A milestone chart is a visible undertaking planning device that makes use of milestones to divide a undertaking plan into main phases. Due to its simplicity, it’s used when undertaking managers or sponsors must share an outline of the undertaking schedule with stakeholders or crew members with out going over each undertaking process.
You can create a milestone chart utilizing a timeline maker and even by hand, however in the event you’re a undertaking supervisor, it’s really helpful that you simply use undertaking administration software program like ProjectManager. That’s as a result of Gantt charts are the most effective device to create a milestone plan. Let’s check out a undertaking milestone chart instance made with ProjectManager’s on-line Gantt chart.
Project Milestone Plan Example
The picture under exhibits a Gantt chart that was made to plan and schedule a building undertaking. On the left facet you’ll be able to see a listing of duties, which may be marked as undertaking milestones. Then, on the proper facet, there are undertaking milestones, marked with diamond symbols which in this case are “bid date”, referring to the date when a building bid is submitted and “start design work” which is when architects and engineers will begin engaged on the development design, after the feasibility research and allow utility steps.
More importantly, ProjectManager’s Gantt chart goes past milestone planning because it not solely exhibits the milestones, but additionally all of the duties which can be in between them for higher undertaking monitoring.
How to Decide What’s a Project Milestone
As mentioned above, undertaking administration milestones measure progress by breaking a undertaking into phases. According to the undertaking administration institute (PMI), there are sometimes 5 phases in undertaking administration: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring & controlling and closure. But when precisely do you add the milestones?
The easy reply is once you’ve accomplished the whole lot associated to that undertaking section. For instance, finishing the undertaking constitution is often the final step in the initiation section of a undertaking. This could be once you place your undertaking milestone to point you’re transferring from initiation to planning.
However, the precise level at which you wish to set your milestones may range relying in your undertaking, your group and different components. It’s at all times greatest to hunt assist from undertaking administration specialists. Just a little steering upfront can save plenty of complications afterward.
Milestones are extra a interval in time than the precise completion of duties or undertaking deliverables, so the query arises, can you may have milestones that don’t relate to undertaking phases? The brief reply is sure. You can set any kind of milestones in undertaking administration. Traditionally, they break initiatives into phases, however you’ll be able to select to create a milestone to point a giant process, essential occasion, deliverable or extra.
Project Milestones Examples
What may very well be higher to clarify how you can use milestones in undertaking administration than some examples? Let’s take a look at some widespread undertaking milestones examples for every section of the undertaking life cycle.
Project Initiation Milestones
- Assembling a undertaking crew: You’re going to want to have a undertaking crew who shall be chargeable for executing the duties that can in the end ship the undertaking. Find crew members who’ve the talents and expertise wanted for the undertaking.
- Project kick-off assembly: This is the primary assembly with the entire undertaking crew and the undertaking consumer or stakeholders. You’ll wish to set up targets and state the aim of the undertaking to get everybody on the identical web page.
- Getting your undertaking constitution authorized: The undertaking constitution is like an elevator pitch for the undertaking, stating the aims, scope and stakeholders concerned in the undertaking. The undertaking sponsor will approve the undertaking by signing the constitution.
- Securing financing, gear or sources: Naturally, a undertaking is simply an concept with out the funding to pay for the sources that can execute the undertaking duties. One undertaking milestone is securing these funds.
Project Planning Milestones
- Defining the undertaking scope: The undertaking scope is the whole lot that shall be carried out on the undertaking. It lists targets, deliverables, duties and extra.
- Estimating undertaking prices: In order to price range the undertaking you must estimate how a lot it’ll price. This is completed with a mixture of utilizing historic knowledge and estimating the precise prices of each useful resource and period of that useful resource in the undertaking.
- Creating a undertaking price range: Once you may have the prices estimated you’ll be able to go about creating an correct undertaking price range. This will define the prices of the whole lot in the undertaking, from begin to end.
- Creating a undertaking schedule: The undertaking has a begin date and an finish date. That is its period. Between these two factors it’s essential to chart every section and the duties inside it on a timeline that exhibits the entire undertaking’s schedule.
- Completing your undertaking plan: The undertaking plan is a doc that outlines the entire undertaking, together with its execution and the way it is going to be monitored and managed. Completing the undertaking plan is a milestone.
- Getting your undertaking plan authorized: Once the undertaking sponsor or consumer seems to be over the undertaking plan, schedule, and so forth., they may log out on it. Now the undertaking execution can start.
Project Execution Milestones
- Begin the execution section: This is when the work of delivering the undertaking targets begins. The groups are assigned and duties are accomplished.
- Producing key undertaking deliverables: There is a couple of deliverable. The remaining deliverable marks the tip of the undertaking, however there are different deliverables all through the undertaking.
- Completing important duties: The important duties are people who have to be accomplished in order to efficiently full the undertaking. You can determine these by discovering the important path.
- Reaching undertaking targets and aims: The undertaking is all about attaining its targets and aims. These may be marked off and celebrated as milestones.
Project Closing Milestones
- Creating a undertaking punch record: In building initiatives, a punch record is used to record the final work that continues to be in a undertaking. These gadgets have to be accomplished earlier than the undertaking may be thought of carried out.
- Getting approval from stakeholders to shut the undertaking: Finally, a undertaking isn’t carried out till the undertaking sponsor or consumer indicators off on it. Then all documentation may be signed and archived and the undertaking crew launched.
These milestone examples apply to any undertaking no matter its business. However, as a undertaking supervisor, you’re free to outline the undertaking milestones that it’s essential assist you to plan, execute and monitor your undertaking progress.
Project Milestone Chart Template
To get a greater understanding of how you can use milestones in an actual undertaking plan, attempt ProjectManager’s free IT undertaking plan template with milestones.
The IT undertaking plan template opens in the Gantt chart undertaking view of ProjectManager. This free milestone planning template units up the undertaking plan, with the duties to the left and the timeline to the proper. As you’ll be able to see, the diamond icons on the proper point out the place there’s a milestone. You can simply add them on any essential date, resembling once you assembled a crew, the completion of a process, and so forth.
The milestones in ProjectManager’s free milestone schedule template may be set to be start-to-start, start-to-finish, finish-to-finish and finish-to-start. That manner you’ll be able to simply decide which of the 4 forms of undertaking milestones it’s.
Why Should You Use Project Milestones?
Part of scheduling a undertaking is with the ability to monitor and monitor the progress of that undertaking schedule in real-time. Milestone charts are a option to monitor how far you’ve come in the undertaking. By noting the finished milestones, you’ll be able to measure the space you’re from the end line of a undertaking.
This comes in useful if you end up coping with stakeholders. Stakeholders are usually not in a granular, detailed report on the undertaking’s progress. They need broad strokes that point out whether or not or not the undertaking is transferring alongside as scheduled. A milestone chart is good for this sort of reporting as a result of milestones present the most important phases you’ve completed at this level in the undertaking, based on your plan.
When you’re presenting a milestone schedule to stakeholders, you’ll be able to present them the milestones you accomplished this month and those you’re on monitor to finish for the approaching month— and whether or not or not the milestones have been reached as deliberate or if there have been any delays.
How to Report When a Project Milestone Has Been Reached
How are you aware in the event you’ve in truth achieved the targets set out for a undertaking section? Without understanding if the aims and key efficiency indicators you deliberate have been reached on the shut of your undertaking milestone, then it’s an empty victory.
Project reporting can reply to this example. Generate a standing report and get a take a look at the general well being of your undertaking. Did you full your duties on time, inside the price range you set? For instance, you may need observed a change in your undertaking scope. Perhaps there was some slippage and also you’re not on time. That’s not a milestone to rejoice.
However, it’s additionally not a trigger for undue alarm. Changes are a part of any undertaking. The issues come up when these modifications aren’t responded to. By operating a standing report you already know what’s modified and its impression on the undertaking. Now you’ll be able to work in direction of getting again on schedule. When you attain your subsequent milestone, run extra experiences to trace your progress and be sure to’re staying on monitor.
Project Milestone Planning Can Be Fun!
While you’ll largely use milestones for the nuts and bolts of scheduling, they’re additionally helpful for celebrating undertaking achievements. Obviously, as soon as a undertaking milestone has been reached it’s as a result of the crew has carried out one thing proper, like finishing a undertaking section or producing an essential deliverable. Why not use this chance to congratulate them?
Celebrate success in no matter method is best for you and the undertaking crew. It may be so simple as a handshake or a be aware to the crew members. Maybe you wish to deal with them to lunch or supply a bonus. Whatever the case, acknowledging your crew’s achievement pays off in dividends in the types of worker retention, crew loyalty and undertaking buy-in. You’re additionally fostering a constructive relationship along with your crew and constructing belief, which is instrumental to a productive undertaking. Using undertaking administration software program with crew collaboration instruments will assist you to ensure that everyone is conscious of those initiatives.
How to Manage Project Milestones with ProjectManager’s Gantt Chart
With our award-winning on-line Gantt charts, ProjectManager allows you to take full benefit of milestones. This interactive planning device takes the complexity out of making and modifying a Gantt chart. When you’re planning the undertaking, simply add the duties and their period, together with the due date, and the Gantt chart will populate the timeline mechanically.
1. List Your Project Tasks
Use a piece breakdown construction (WBS) to determine all of your deliverables and the duties related to them. Then on the left facet of the Gantt chart you’ll be able to add all these duties, breaking them into undertaking phases. Once you add the beginning and finish dates to all these duties they may mechanically populate the timeline to the proper of the Gantt chart.
2. Identify Project Milestones
Now it’s essential determine milestones in your undertaking. They can be utilized to separate the undertaking phases, however as we defined earlier there are various totally different deliverables you could make milestones in your undertaking. Choose those that can assist you to monitor your progress, but additionally consider a milestone as a cause to congratulate the undertaking crew and have a celebration to assist with morale. Milestones may be added to the Gantt chart by including the milestone diamond icon.
3. Create a Milestone Schedule
With ProjectManager, you’ll be able to simply assign duties to your crew members and watch their progress as they transfer in direction of attaining undertaking milestones. Our Gantt chart software program additionally gives your crew with a platform for collaboration. They can share updates and information, enabling dialogues on the process degree. You may even arrange automated alerts to verify milestones are met.
4. Link Project Milestones
Milestones, like duties, may be linked. That is when the section of 1 milestone can’t start till the completion of the section earlier than it. That manner you’re not blocking crew members by having them wait or by not permitting them what they should transfer ahead with their duties.
5. Track Your Milestone Plan
When you’ve accomplished your undertaking schedule add a baseline. This captures the schedule and permits you to monitor its progress in actual time by evaluating the deliberate effort towards your precise effort. You can get a high-level overview of progress by toggling over to the real-time dashboard, which mechanically tracks prices, time, duties, workload and extra with easy-to-read graphs and charts. There’s no setup required as with light-weight options. It’s prepared if you end up.
Reporting on milestones for stakeholders can also be streamlined as a result of you’ll be able to view progress in real-time and, along with your dashboard, flip that knowledge into clear and colourful charts that may be shared nonetheless you see match. Milestones have by no means been simpler to make use of.
Milestones are simply one of many many undertaking administration instruments you get when utilizing ProjectManager. Our on-line undertaking administration software program gives on-line Gantt charts with milestones, real-time knowledge, and a collaborative platform to make you and your crew extra environment friendly and productive. See the way it might help you handle initiatives by taking a free 30-day trial at the moment!
