
Your first milestone, for example, could be at the point where all the stakeholders agree on what updates need to be made and what features added. Now, this is not the kind of project that takes a day - in fact, it can even take months, depending on how many adjustments you need to make.Ī milestone chart will give you a timeline to work with. It has been a while since it launched and now it is high time that you roll out a new version of it. Suppose you have built a tool or software for some client. And if you’re working in the professional services industry, here’s a typical situation where a milestone chart could make a world of difference not only for the project manager, but for all the stakeholders involved. There’s a multitude of situations where a milestone chart is useful but in project management, it is crucial for success - for one thing, it helps keep things neat and organized. Milestones can also help you and other stakeholders track progress, plan for potential changes in project scheduling and budget, and prepare for upcoming events.

They're the checkpoints along a project's timeline where the team takes a moment to assess the progress so far, re-evaluate the work left to be done, and determine whether to adjust the strategy or just keep going.Ī milestone is an important point of reference in your project, such as reaching the halfway point, or completing a deliverable. Incontestably, milestones are an integral part of project management.

Milestones, in turn, break that project into substantial pieces of work or progress. There’s always an axis of some sort in the picture, whether it is horizontal or vertical, because it stands for the timeline of the project. In project management, milestones bear a very similar meaning. And they are, in fact, milestones assembling a bigger picture together - the rise and fall of some dynasty, for example. Those events are usually visualized on a horizontal axis. There was probably a point in everyone’s life when they were looking into a history book, studying some chronological events.

What is a milestone in project management?

It is a way to get a realistic estimate of just how feasible the project is and what you can expect out of it.īut although milestone charts can sound easy, creating one can get tricky, especially when you get to see all the dependencies and limitations that come into play along the way.įor you to get an easy start with project milestone charts, we have created this easy 9-minute guide. Creating a milestone chart is like planning a vacation - you need to pull all the factors together - who you’re going with, what you want to do or achieve, and, most importantly, how much it is going to cost you.Ībove anything else, milestone gantt charts give you a way to put all the data on paper (read: screen), see what’s missing, and where you can actually get with your existing resources.
