Project Initiation Milestones
Assembling a project team: You need a project team who will be responsible for executing the tasks that will ultimately deliver the project. Find team members with the skills and experience needed for the project.
Project kick-off meeting: This is the first meeting with the whole project team and the project client or stakeholders. You’ll want to establish goals and state the purpose of the project to get everyone on the same page.
Getting your project charter approved: The project charter is like an elevator pitch for the project, stating the objectives, scope and stakeholders involved. The project sponsor will approve the project by signing the charter.
Securing financing, equipment or resources: Naturally, a project is just an idea without the funding to pay for the resources that will execute the project tasks. One project milestone is securing those funds.
Project Planning Milestones
Defining the project scope: The project scope is everything that’ll be done on the project. It lists goals, deliverables, tasks and more.
Estimating project costs: To budget the project, you have to estimate how much it’ll cost. This is done by using historical data and estimating the specific costs of every resource and the duration of that resource in the project.
Creating a project budget: Once you have the costs estimated, you can create an accurate project budget. This will outline the costs of everything in the project, from start to finish.
Creating a project schedule: The project has a start date and an end date. That’s its duration. Between those two points, you must chart each phase and the tasks within it on a timeline that shows the project’s schedule.
Completing your project plan: The project plan is a document that outlines the project, including its execution and how it’ll be monitored and controlled. Completing the project plan is a milestone.
Getting your project plan approved: Once the project sponsor or client looks over the project plan, schedule, etc., they will sign off on it. Now the project execution can begin.
Project Execution Milestones
Begin the execution phase: This is when the work of delivering the project goals begins. The teams are assigned and tasks are completed.
Producing key project deliverables: There’s more than one deliverable. The final deliverable marks the end of the project, but there are other deliverables throughout the project.
Completing critical tasks: The critical tasks are those that must be completed to successfully complete the project. You can identify these by finding the critical path.
Reaching project goals and objectives: The project is all about achieving its goals and objectives. These can be marked off and celebrated as milestones.
Project Closing Milestones
Creating a project punch list: In construction projects, a punch list is used to list the last work that remains in a project. These items must be completed before the project can be considered done.
Getting approval from stakeholders to close the project: Finally, a project isn’t done until the project sponsor or client signs off on it. Then all documentation can be signed and archived and the project team released.
These milestone examples apply to any project regardless of its industry. However, as a project manager, you’re free to define the project milestones that you need to help you plan, execute and track your project progress.