How to create a project schedule with milestones?

It is safe to assume that if we ask project management practitioners about the most essential project management tool, most will answer that it is the project schedule.

What is the project schedule?

A well-developed project schedule shows a complete plan of action to achieve the project’s intended purpose. It shows, first of all:

when the project should begin and end,
what tasks are to be completed and when,
what are the checkpoints or milestones,
who is responsible for these tasks,
what products are to be produced as a result of these tasks
what are the links between the tasks.

Once the project is launched, referring to the baseline project schedule lets you understand whether the project is going according to plan and where deviations occur.

Creating a project schedule

It is best to start creating a schedule of project activities by taking a detailed look at the Project Charter. A well-developed Project Charter describes the project’s purpose, scope, expected deliverables, or milestones.

Understanding the project’s purpose is crucial before embarking on creating a schedule. Without this clarity, the risk of an imperfect schedule is high. The examples we will use in this article are from the FlexiProject project management tool. Here’s a Project Card example, which, as mentioned earlier, is a valuable tool in constructing a well-aligned schedule.

There are at least a few practical approaches to creating a good project schedule. The method I prefer is Product-Based Planning. This method starts by defining the milestones and deliverables to be made in the project.

If we precisely define all the products expected from the project (including sub-products), the next step is to arrange the sequence of activities leading to their achievement. Below is an example of a list of products to be created in the project.

The illustration above shows that each product has a corresponding place on the project schedule. Of course, not every task defined on the project schedule has to be linked to a specific product; a sequence of several or more tasks often leads to a particular product.

Another approach is to divide the project first into significant phases, then into smaller stages, and only then to define specific tasks. A well-created schedule should include links between functions that depend on each other in some way. If we have two example tasks in the schedule, such as reinforcing the foundation and pouring concrete, we know that the concrete pouring cannot start before the completion of the reinforcement. Therefore, an end-to-start relationship should be created between these tasks.

Creating such a relationship has many advantages. On the one hand, it shows the internal logic of the project. On the other hand (if such logic is maintained automatically in the system), if we prolong task A, we will automatically delay the start of task B. The system monitors such logic, improving the project team’s work quality. The project schedule can be created in MS Excel or dedicated to this purpose.

How do we identify and evaluate project risks?

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The role of milestones in a project

Milestones in a project are checkpoints or key places where something important should happen. Examples of milestones in a project:

The signing of the work acceptance protocol,
the decision of the Steering Committee,
approval of the concept document.

Reporting, for example, the project status to the company’s Board of Directors often shows how many milestones have already been achieved and how many are ahead. From the board’s point of view, which usually looks at the project implementation in a high-level way, this indicates how fast the project is moving forward.

Example of project schedule

An example of a project schedule with relationships is shown in the figure below:

As demonstrated in the above example, the project schedule is a crucial tool that provides a snapshot of the project’s status during its implementation.

Each task has an assigned owner, a specific start and end date, and links between functions. Blue rhombuses show milestones.

From the point of view of monitoring the progress of the project, it is worth noting the thin black highlights under each task. These mark the baseline, approved project schedule. Particularly in the case of longer projects, a few weeks after launch, the reality often differs from the approved plan.

In the picture shown, this is perfectly evident. It’s easy to see which tasks are lagging behind the approved plan, and if there are links between tasks, it’s clear to see what the following tasks look like and how much they deviate from the plan.

I think the above illustration is worth noting, as well as the exciting system of warning icons located to the left of the defined tasks. A dollar sign here means that a budget item has been associated with a specific task and has an overrun. A triangle indicates an associated risk and a clock that the task is not rolling according to the approved plan. This system of icons is very convenient and practical from the point of view of quickly seeing where a project is not going according to plan. With FlexiProject, the schedule is the “heart” of project management.

Create a project schedule and complete projects more efficiently

The project schedule is the most essential tool for planning the project and monitoring the degree of its implementation. The better the project schedule, the more effectively we will implement the project.