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12/8/13 Guidelines for Successful Project Milestone Planning
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Project Milestone Planning
writtenby: Ginny Edwards edited by: Michele McDonough updated:
3/11/2011
Milestones are more than jus t stepping s tones on the critical
path to the completion of a project. Read moreto discover why
setting miles tones is an important
managerial tool in project planning, evaluating outcomes, and
rewarding team mem bers.
Milestones in Project Planning and Scheduling
This article is the first part of a series that discuss es the
effective use of m ilestones in project planning and s cheduling.
This opening article provides an introduction
to project milestone planning, empha sizing its importance and
providing general guidelines on how to select mi lestones that will
be the most relevant for your
project.
hat is a Milestone?
We encounter milestones in all asp ects of our lives, as an
individual striving to achieve our life goals, as an employee
working to
advance an organization's mis sion, and as a mem ber of the
human race trying to expand our collective knowledge and
understanding
about the world and beyond. Astronaut Neil Armstrong sum med up
the concept of a miles tone perfectly as he s tepped onto the
lunar
surface and enthusias tically declared, "That's one sm all step
for man, one giant leap for mankind." Milestones are the sma ll
steps that
lead to the ultim ate goal whether it be developing of new
product or s ervice or advancing the exploration of space to the
far reaches of
the universe.
In its basic form, a mil estone is an important event marked on
a timeline and recognized when s uccessfully reached. Milestones
are the building blocks for the
project's s chedule and often create forward momentum to propel
the project along to completion. They can also be used effectively
as prim ary checkpoints to see
how well your project is doing and whether the project is on
schedule and on budget.
Guidelines for Setting Milestones
Whenembarking on project milestone pl anning, you will first
need to create a work breakdown structureto get an overview of all
the tasks in a m anageable outline or
diagram. With this overview in hand begin to look for
opportunities to setup m ilestones around the completion of key
tasks and activities. Try to visuali ze a timel ine of
the important events that will advance the project to the next
level. For example, in NASA's "Race to the Moon"that began with
President Kennedy's pledge in 1961 to
put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, there were
several significant miles tones achieved before the Apollo 11 mis
sion, including the s uccessful m iss ions
of the Ranger series of unm anned probes that photographed,
studied, and soft landed on the Moon. When selecting miles tones be
conscience of these param eters:
Frequency As a project manager, you may be tempted to overuse m
iles tones as a motivation tool to keep the team m oving along the
ladder to reach the
surface of succes s, but don't fall into the trap of label ing
every task com pletion as a m ilestone. In turn, don't adopt the
other extreme approach by ignoring or not
recognizing s ignificant and relevant events as miles tones
particularly atjunction s of the critical path. A good compromise
is to consistently designate important
deliverablesas milestones.
Timing Milestones that are spaced too far apart will not have
the benefit of the momentum derived from motivating team mem bers
by recogni zing their majo r
achievements. However, when m ilestones , appropriately
represented as diamonds in MS Project, are placed too closely
together they quickly lose their lus ter
and dis tinctiveness. As a rule of thumb try to space m
ilestones at intervals for no longer than every two weeks for
projects of s everal m onths in duration.Visibility Milestones need
to be placed prominently in the project's schedule and tracked
periodically. Make sure that your milestones have been
incorporated
into your project scheduling, calendar, or other project
tracking software program.
Accountability Milestones are commitments that mus t be met on
time. If a milestone is m iss ed, it needs to be addressed imm
ediately by reexamining the
resources to determine if they are properly matched to the
objectives.
Fallibility It may sound counter-intuitive, but you should
select challenging miles tones that carry a degreeof risk for
failure. Not every venture of NASA
undertaken to pave the way for the Apollo 11 mis sion wa s s
uccessful. Ranger 3, an unmanne d probe sent to study the Moon miss
ed its target by 22,000 miles .
Don't forget to treat miles tones as learning experiences and
opportunities to m ake adjustme nts early in the project's
execution.
By keeping these guidel ines in mind when project planning miles
tones, you will able to achieve an appropriate balance between the
easy and challenging
miles tones that will inspire your team mem bers to stay
motivated and feel a greater sense of accomplis hment.
Resources
Author's own experience in project m iles tone planning.
"American Experience | Race to the Moon | Timeline | PBS." PBS:
Public Broadcasting Service.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/moon/timeline/index.html (accessed
March 7, 2011).
" Moon Timeline." AbsoluteAstronomy.com. http://www.absoluteas
tronomy.com/timeline/Moon (access ed March 7, 2011).
Image Credit: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11 Miss ion)
courtesy of NASA's public domain license atWikimedia Commons
MILESTONES IN PROJECT PLANNING AND SCHEDULING
This series of articles provides information and guidance on
incorporating and managing miles tones in project planning and
scheduling.
Project Milestone Pla nning
Project Planning Typical Mile stones
Filling MS Proje ct Milestones
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