Understanding Milestones
Milestones represent key achievements or deadlines in your plan. They are the backbone of effective project planning in MilestonePlanner.
What are Milestones?
Milestones represent key achievements or deadlines in your plan. The name describes the event, for example "Customer Invoiced" or "Beta testing completed". Unlike tasks, milestones represent specific points in time when something important is achieved or delivered.
Milestone Components
Owner
Every milestone has an owner - the person responsible for meeting the milestone.
Target Date
The target date represents when you expect to reach the milestone.
Lead Time
Milestones can show a lead time, indicating how long you expect the milestone to take, or when work on it needs to start.
Status
Visual status indicators using colors: green, yellow, orange, or red. Blue indicates completion.
Working with Milestones
Updating Status
Clicking on a milestone allows you to change its status – represented by green, yellow, orange or red. When a milestone is achieved, it can be marked complete, shown as blue. These color codes help you quickly assess the health of your project at a glance.
Moving Milestones
Clicking and dragging a milestone enables you to change its date and move it between workstreams. You can drag the start, middle or end of a milestone that has a duration. This makes it easy to adjust your plans as circumstances change.
Duration Milestones
Some milestones represent periods of work rather than single points in time. These duration milestones can be resized by dragging their start or end points, making it easy to adjust timeframes as needed.
Best Practices
Use clear, outcome-focused names: "Customer Contract Signed" rather than "Work on contract"
Assign clear ownership: Every milestone should have a single person responsible for its completion
Keep them meaningful: Focus on deliverables and key decisions rather than routine activities
Update regularly: Keep status current to maintain trust and visibility across your team