In project management, a milestone is a specific point in a projects timeline that marks a major accomplishment, pivotal event, or the completion of a key deliverable. Milestones are used as signal posts for a projects start or end date, external reviews or input, budget checks, submission of a major deliverable, etc. . They are tools used to mark specific points along a project timeline and can add significant value to project scheduling). Milestones help project teams coordinate their efforts by helping everybody understand the objectives of the project and the action steps that must be taken to achieve them. They are like dashboard reviews of a project, where a number of activities that were planned at the beginning of the project with their individual timelines are reviewed for their status).
Milestones are frequently used to monitor progress, but limitations to their effectiveness exist. They usually show progress only on the critical path and ignore noncritical activities). Resources are commonly moved from noncritical activities to critical ones, which can cause delays in the project).
Examples of project milestones include the beginning and end dates for project phases, getting approval from a stakeholder that allows you to move to the next phase, key deliverables, meetings, or events. Milestones can be added to any type of project plan to help it run smoothly, and they can be particularly helpful when it comes to scheduling because milestones will need to be placed alongside the relevant tasks or phases.
