Using MS Project to Manage Project Milestones

Posted by Steve Hart on Jan 22, 2022 in PMChat Bloggers | Comments Off

    The PMBOK® describes a milestone as a significant point or event during a project. Project milestones are also referred to as a Phase Gate, Stage Gate, Check Point, or Decision Point. In other words a milestone represents a significant point in time when a predefined segment of work has been completed, or the when a specific event has occurred.   Some examples of common project milestones include: Recognizing Work Completed: Project Baseline Complete Technical Design Complete Code Complete System Testing Complete Iteration 0 Complete Sprint 1 Complete Recognizing Events Occurred: Business Case Approved Software Solution Selected Proof of Concept Approved Software Installed User Acceptance Test Approved “Go Live” Project Closed A milestone may be mandatory, acknowledging compliance with external regulations or the organization’s SDLC, or optional in nature, recognizing completion of specific project work or events. In either case, managing milestones enables effectively measuring and communicating project performance throughout the project cycle — rather than waiting until the end of the project “hoping” the project is successfully delivered. I have been in more than one project briefing where a project stakeholder stated, “Shouldn’t we have known about this problem earlier in the project.” In every one of these situations, if milestones were established and managed properly, the problem would have been identified, and corrective actions implemented much earlier in the project life cycle. MS Project provides several features that enable establishing, and managing project milestones.

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Using MS Project to Manage Project Milestones