A
project milestone is a powerful tool for marking and evaluating project
progress. Represented by a diamond shape in Gantt chart software, these treasures mark
key points in the project plan, such as the end of a project phase or a
deadline for a deliverable.
So
how can you best use milestones to ensure project success?
Planning
When
making a project plan (ideally on a Gantt chart), it's important to set project
milestones in order to define achievable targets, mark different project phases
and demarcate key events - like a product launch or a stakeholder meeting.
Evaluation
Whenever
you reach a milestone, it's important to compare your actual versus planned
progress. The earlier you can spot errors in your project execution, the
earlier they can be corrected. Used this way, milestones are critical for
evaluating team members and defining project success.
Motivation
It
can be tempting to overuse project milestones to create a sense of urgency with
your team, but if you rely on project milestones too much, they will lose their
importance, making them easy to ignore. Place them intelligently, usually at
key deadlines or at the end of project phases, and you'll find you can keep
your team motivated to stretch to reach those goals.
Celebration
As
your team approaches a milestone, you'll find that everyone pushes harder to
hit that target. Once you reach that milestone, it's time to party! However you
celebrate, make sure you show appreciation to your team so everyone stays
motivated and continues onto that next big milestone in your project.
If
your current project management software doesn't have a milestone
feature (or even a Gantt chart), strongly consider upgrading your project
management tools by signing up for one of the available free 30-day trial at Projectmanagementcompanion.com.
Your
team will thank you, your stakeholders will thank you, and most importantly,
your job will be that much easier.
I hope these tips
help you manage your next project.
