Why to Use Milestones in Your Next Project Plan

A milestone is a marker of critical decision points in a project that marks the stage in development. It is a powerful component of a project plan because it is the most visible indicator of progress of the project. As milestones approach you will come to know about your upcoming events and map forward movement. Your project management milestones needs much attention based on project plan and deliverables. Online Gantt chart software makes the understanding of each milestone important to stay focused on goals. They help to ensure that you are staying on track not necessarily following the right path in your project.

When to use project milestones

Milestones in project management are used to mark:

• The starting phases of work
• The end phases of work
• To mark the deadline
• To mark an important decision

And other fixed points where milestones are a great way to track your project. Milestones can do more than just show progress. Here are the various reasons why to use milestones for your next project.

Use milestones to monitor deadlines

No project can be a success without deadlines. Setting milestones on a Gantt chart software will help you monitor deadlines for all the tasks of your project. Use the project management milestones and deliverables technique to make the deliverables. Deadlines are important for completing components of the project and to have a top-level view of key dates and events. Milestones are great for this purpose in project plans. With every task leading to a milestone, specify a delivery or a presentation of the deliverable.

Use milestones for tracking

Milestones are a good way to let your clients and stakeholders know how your project is moving forward. It is easy to understand for everyone even who don't have an understanding of detailed tasks. By checking how many milestones you have hit on time you can track the progress. Online Gantt chart software shows the project status in graphical form to measure project status to avoid looking at all the detail on your plan. They can help you manage stakeholders’ expectations in the project.

Use milestones to spot important dates

Are there some days like training or meeting or client visit on the way of your project end date that could impact your project in any way? You can set a milestone on Gantt chart software to mark these dates that can hinder your project progress. It’s important to keep all of these important events in mind that could possibly impact your project schedule.

Use milestones to identify project bottlenecks

Many projects have some bottlenecks produced by external teams that slow down the forward progress. Make sure your track those external factors when you start working on your project or before the project. List these bottlenecks as milestones so you can easily work on your project.

Gantt chart in project management is becoming popular when it comes to handling projects. Milestones remind you of critical dates and act as a great communication tool. Make project planning an easy part of your life with proper milestones.