Milestones in Project Planning
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| − | A good and balanced project plan is a crucial success factor for a project, as insufficient resource planning and unrealistic schedules are the | + | A good and balanced project plan is a crucial success factor for a project, as insufficient resource planning and unrealistic schedules are the reasons why close to 30 % of projects fail <ref>Project Management Institute (PMI)</ref>. There is a wide range of different approaches and tools used for project planning. This article clarifies milestone planning and how to use it in project management. |
According to Managing Successful projects with PRINCE2 is a milestone defined as "an event on a schedule which marks the completion of key activities" <ref>The Standard for Portfolio Management, Project Management Institute, 4th Edition - 2017 | Chapter 9 </ref>. Milestones are a tool used in project management to mark the completion of a major phase in a project. Milestone planning is results-oriented and a milestone should present what is supposed to be achieved at a given time in the project. Milestones may influence the way activities in a project are sequenced. Milestones are targets in the project phase, it does not have a duration, but they need to be completed at before a given date. A milestone list for a project is used to estimate activities duration as well as develop the project schedule <ref>A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), Project Management Institute, 6th Edition - 2017 | Chapter 6</ref>. | According to Managing Successful projects with PRINCE2 is a milestone defined as "an event on a schedule which marks the completion of key activities" <ref>The Standard for Portfolio Management, Project Management Institute, 4th Edition - 2017 | Chapter 9 </ref>. Milestones are a tool used in project management to mark the completion of a major phase in a project. Milestone planning is results-oriented and a milestone should present what is supposed to be achieved at a given time in the project. Milestones may influence the way activities in a project are sequenced. Milestones are targets in the project phase, it does not have a duration, but they need to be completed at before a given date. A milestone list for a project is used to estimate activities duration as well as develop the project schedule <ref>A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), Project Management Institute, 6th Edition - 2017 | Chapter 6</ref>. | ||
Revision as of 18:19, 20 February 2019
Contents |
Abstract
A good and balanced project plan is a crucial success factor for a project, as insufficient resource planning and unrealistic schedules are the reasons why close to 30 % of projects fail [1]. There is a wide range of different approaches and tools used for project planning. This article clarifies milestone planning and how to use it in project management.
According to Managing Successful projects with PRINCE2 is a milestone defined as "an event on a schedule which marks the completion of key activities" [2]. Milestones are a tool used in project management to mark the completion of a major phase in a project. Milestone planning is results-oriented and a milestone should present what is supposed to be achieved at a given time in the project. Milestones may influence the way activities in a project are sequenced. Milestones are targets in the project phase, it does not have a duration, but they need to be completed at before a given date. A milestone list for a project is used to estimate activities duration as well as develop the project schedule [3].
This article will contain two main parts, one with a focus on how to set milestones and a second with a focus on how to implement milestones in the project schedule. The first part of this article will also contain an introduction to project planning and milestones in general. While the second part will contain an example of a milestone chart and how to incorporate it in the project schedule displayed in a Gantt chart.
