Timelines & Milestones are integral parts of project management. These are the events in a project that senior management look at & focus on and whilst they are high level in nature, optically they are high in importance. However it is the tasks and work completed behind them that are key to project delivery. Some key points to note are below.

• At the beginning of the project an indicative timeline can gauge the overall duration of the project and give key stakeholders an idea of what is to come.

• This can be done in a short Gantt chart or a slide POAP which is a project on a page.

• However no timeline should be baselined until full requirements are known and signed off. This is especially  true of predictive waterfall methodologies.

• Agile methodologies will normally  be driven by a development schedule including sprints and overall timelines to deliver can be based on this.

• All timelines must include the key milestones and these should be easy and clear to identify.

• Milestones could include requirements completion, build completion, different testing phases, training, go live & hypercare.

• Behind all milestones are detailed tasks that need to be completed and project managers need to make all stakeholders aware of this otherwise there can be a perception that a project will be delivered quickly without any issues which is not true.

• The reality is that most projects fail because of proper planning, timelines & milestones are guides and targets to aim for but they won’t help deliver a project.

• Agreement on the timelines and milestones between stakeholders is essential.

• All task owners need to understand exactly what they need to do and by when so they must all agree to this before any plan including timelines and milestones can go from draft to baselined.

• Timelines and milestones can change so project managers need to be actively monitoring this and notifying stakeholders when they believe timelines and milestones will change.

• If timelines and milestones are included in project updates whether local or headquarter based then preferably get agreement from attendees and the key stakeholders in your project team beforehand as you don’t want any surprises or disagreements arising during calls & meetings.

• It is always wise to document these agreements in a formal way even if a project is being run by agile as this will act as a backup in case stakeholders deny it happened. 

• Unfortunately this can happen as projects are fluid and dynamic so there can be a lag time between project files/PowerPoint decks being released for meetings and the meeting taking place and this may lead to a change of mind on the part of some stakeholders on where they see the timelines and milestones sitting.

• You will always have stakeholders that agree something verbally before meetings but have different opinions during meetings whether done deliberately or not. This is part of the life of a project manager, managing the unpredictability of stakeholders.

• Remember timelines & milestones are targets that the project team strive to achieve but if it becomes clear and obvious that these cannot be met for whatever reason do not hide away from this as a project manager, be honest and inform the stakeholders and replan accordingly.

• The aim of a project manager is to deliver quality and do not let timelines and milestones impede and hinder this.

• If a delay is necessary because of poor quality implementation or the possibility of this happening then as a project manager you need to use your communication and management skills to ease the stakeholders through this as some may only be thinking of a timeline or milestone missed but the more important part is delivering a product or service that works and matches all stakeholders needs not just one or two.

• Remember all stakeholders are equal and just as important as each other so be careful as a project manager when managing the deliverable as if a key stakeholder sees a milestones as more important than quality as mentioned above this can and will reflect badly on you.

• If a governance policy dictates that milestones need to be signed off this is fine but do not let this process delay the exit and entry  of key phases in the project.

• Critically when timelines and milestones are met with the requisite quality do celebrate the achievement, every win in a project is important.