Milestones are tools used in project management to mark specific points along a project timeline.
Milestones in project management are used to mark:
• The start of significant phases of work
• The end of significant phases of work
• To mark the deadline for something
• To show when an important decision is being made.
Milestones should have a clear description of your project schedule, but not one that implies they are a task.
Milestones should describe the point in time they represent like this:
• Testing phase complete
• PID approved
• Contract signed
• Town Hall staff meeting
If a milestone focuses on major progress points in a project, you can see how it is useful in scheduling. Just as tasks break a larger project into manageable parts, milestones break off chunks of a project to make it less daunting۔
Milestones are most commonly found in project management software, and are represented as diamonds in the Gantt chart feature. Gantt charts are a visual representation of your schedule, laid out on a timeline, with tasks as points along the path to the successful completion of the project. Milestones divide this timeline into project phases
Milestones are also a flexible tool for scheduling, and with some imagination, can do more than just act as signposts for project phases. Use milestones to remind yourself about project board meetings and other important events, such as requirement workshops. It’s a great way to make sure everyone is aware of upcoming meetings.