Project Milestone Board Management

• The milestone board is a tool used by project teams to track progress and make sure they are meeting deadlines.
• It is important that everyone on the team is aware of the milestones so they know when they need to be prepared to deliver their part of the project.
• The milestone board is updated regularly with the Master Schedule and presented to the client and other stakeholders.
• Team members are responsible for meeting their milestones and should be re-negotiated if they cannot meet them.
• The milestone planning meeting is where each discipline places their milestones on the board for the duration of the project schedule.
• A suggested discipline order is one of the following: Site/Civil, Underground, Foundations/Structure, A, J, T, H, P, R, E, W, D, F.
• It may make sense to plan Schematic Design or Design Development milestones first and then add Construction Documents milestones. All cards, regardless of whether they are Schematic Design, Design Development or Construction Documents milestones are to be shown on the same milestone board.
• When all cards are on the board and there is agreement on placement, the team conducts a “Reality Check”.
• Weekly at team meetings, review the Milestone Board as follows: review past missed milestones and the current week’s milestones to determine completion status. Mark off completed milestones and leave on the board. Missed Milestones are renegotiated with new commitment dates noted on the card.
• The milestone board is a visual representation of the project's planned progress and is used to help track and manage the project's milestones.
• Milestone cards are used to track when each milestone is scheduled to be completed.
• When a milestone is missed, the team and the Project Manager need to discuss the project impact and come to a decision about how they are going to proceed.
• Any need for changes to previously planned milestone commitments should be resolved directly between team members / Department Heads / Project Manager as they occur and communicated to the entire team at team meetings vs. waiting for a team meeting to resolve.
• Changes that impact overall project schedule should be communicated by the Project Manager to Production Planning.
• The Project Manager continues to communicate to the client changes and updates to the milestone board throughout project duration, including schedule impact of changes and missed milestones.

Learn about the importance of milestone boards in project management, including how they are used to track progress, set deadlines, and resolve missed milestones. Understand the role of team members, how milestone planning meetings are conducted, and the significance of regular updates and communication with stakeholders.