Tool Milestone plan Tool Milestone plan Forml og

Tool: Milestone plan

Tool: Milestone plan Formål og udbytte The milestone plan is prepared to get an overview, provide the opportunity to manage, so that deliverables and impact are provided on time and budget. In addition, the purpose is: • • To create common understanding and acceptance of the tasks among project participants and stakeholders. Who does what and when? Creating pace and intensity in the project so deliverables and effect are created with a minimum of effort and time consumption. To create coherence between project objectives and each individual's efforts and responsibilities. To structure the project and map the best path from challenge to solution. When is the plan used in the project? • The milestone plan is used by different target groups. It must therefore be build up in levels so that high-level managers do not drown in detail whereas project teams and work groups must be able to use it for detailed work planning. • The milestone plan is drawn up in the project group as soon as possible. Through the initial phases, the plan will become more and more detailed. • The plan is used for communication about the project, project follow-up and detailed planning throughout the project. Pitfalls and restrictions • Often, the overall plan, with few milestones, is prepared at management level. This plan needs to be detailed and qualified by people who know the professional issues in detail. • The plan should be prepared by the project team to ensure quality, acceptance and commitment from the project participants. • Since the plan must be able to be used by several target groups, it must be built up in different levels of detail. One single plan can´t satisfy the needs of the steering committee, the stakeholders, the project team and even down to the individual working groups. • A plan is a qualified forecast based on certain conditions. Therefore, it will be necessary to adjust the plan when the project gathers experience in the process. • The plan must be structured in such a way that it creates a natural structure for the project work. • There must not be too far between the milestones, because then follow-up will be inaccurate.

Approach Who participates in the planning? • The first rough draft is prepared by the project manager in collaboration with the project owner • The milestone plan (or the master plan) should be developed in the project team at a planning workshop • If the project is so large that there are several teams and workstreams, each team prepares their plan based on the master plan. • At all levels, a rough plan is prepared for the entire project period. This plan is then continuously detailed for each phase and later for the near future, e. g. for the next quarter or next month. • If the project group is less than 8 participants, the plan can be drawn up in one group. If the project is large, it may be advantageous to divide into smaller groups, each of which takes its own workstream. How to do The plan is prepared on the wall using cardboard or post-it notes. Milestone planning is done in the following stages: 1. Define workstreams: The project is divided into workstreams. The workstreams can be defined on the basis of the deliverables, critical issues or an appropriate division of responsibility in the project. 2. Milestones – sub-objectives in the process: The next step is to divide the process into milestones, ie. the sub-objectives. At the end of each workstream is a project deliverable, a final objective. If these final deliverables are broken down, a number of milestones occur that are well-suited for managing the process. 3. Dependencies and timewise order: When the milestones in the individual workstream are placed in the right order, there may be dependencies across the workstreams. The dependencies mean that the milestone in a workstream must be reached before the milestone in another workstream can be completed. 4. Phases and key decisions: Once the milestones are defined for the different workstreams, it is possible to draw some time limits where the project changes character. It is in these phase transitions and decision points that the steering committee as a minimum must be consulted and should approve. Once the milestone plan has been drawn up, it is possible to plan the activities to meet the individual milestones. There is logic in this order – first defining what the project team must achieve, then assessing how this can be implemented. Then the time spent in the individual activities can be estimated. When the first draft of the plan is ready, a risk analysis must be carried out so that preventive and mitigating activities can be incorporated into the plan. The next page illustrates how the milestone is included in the overall project design.

The milestone plan is part of the overall project design (the red box) The project designed must secure a direct correlation between the project impact, deliverables, workstreams, milestones and the delegation of responsibility in the team. Project design and the process must support the following value chain: The resources enable the activities that create the milestones. The milestones create the deliverables. The necessary skills make it possible to use the deliverables with the right behavior. The deliverables and the new behavior create the business impact. Project owner is responsible for the business objectives and profit realization. Middle management create the behavioral changes. . Project owner or steering committee Project team Project manager Reference group and stakeholders Responsible Workstream 1 Responsible Workstream 2 Responsible Workstream 3 Responsible Workstream 4 Responsible Workstream 5 Organization Profit realization Milestone plan Hierarchy of objectives or impact case

The milestone plan is based on the deliverables in the objective 1. Divide the project into workstreams based on the deliverables hierarchy 2. 3. 4. Define the milestones for each individual workstream - start with the end by asking how to get the deliverables Create dependencies and timing Divide the project into phases and key decision points (If the organization has a phase model or project management model, paragraph 4 lapses). D 1 D 4 Phase 1 D Phase 2 D D Shorter lead times New IT solution established Fewer errors in decisions Training and education Employees trained Choose cheaper solutions Improved production equipment Rebuilt production equipment Less waste New IT-solution 2 3 Workstreams Milestones and dependencies Milestone plan D Phase 3 New workflows established New workflows D Increasing customer satisfaction Increasing earnings Lower costs Deliverables Immediate Medium-term Long-term impact Hierarchy of objectives – Impact case In projects that work actively with profit realization, the project does not stop with deliverables. The project is continued with an active follow-up of the impacts and the green decision points are used

The planning process using cardboard or post-it notes In this example, the organization has a phase model, therefore phases and decision points are defined before the planning starts 1. Divide the project into workstreams based on the deliverables. In this case, the project manager has defined the workstreams in advance and asks the project participants to find the necessary milestones. 2. Define the milestones for the individual workstreams. The project participants find the milestones for the different workstreams where they have the most knowledge eg. IT solution, new workflows, training etc. The planning workshop could also start with the overall project team discussing how to divide the project into workstreams. The discussions in the team create quality in the plan as everyone's knowledge is used. 3. Create dependencies and timing. As the last activity, the dependencies are discussed across the workstreams. In practice, this is done by marking the dependencies with two post-it notes. Each dependency gets a number. The milestone that relies on another milestone is marked with a post-it note with the text IN (and number). The milestone where dependence starts from is marked with a post-it note with the text OUT (and number). Source: The pictures are from the book: Power in Projects, Programs and Portfolio, Djoef Publishing

Template 1: Milestone plan Phase x W 1 Workstream 1: W 2 W 3 W 4 W 5 W 6 W 7 W 8 W 9 Phase x W 10 W 11 W 12 W 13 W 14 W 15 Milestone No. Milestone No. Milestone No. Milestone No. Milestone No. Workstream 6: Milestone No. Workstream 7: Milestone No. Workstream 2: Workstream 3: Workstream 4: Workstream 5: The milestone plan from the wall can be documented in this template. This page covers the plan for the first 15 weeks. Enter the names for the workstreams. Record the milestones and delete the redundant boxes on the template. Move the arrows to the correct locations and adjust the week numbers and phases.

Template 1: Milestone plan Phase x W 16 Workstream 1: W 17 W 18 W 19 W 20 W 21 W 22 W 23 W 24 Phase x W 25 W 26 W 27 W 28 W 29 W 30 Milestone No. Milestone No. Milestone No. Milestone No. Milestone No. Workstream 6: Milestone No. Workstream 7: Milestone No. Workstream 2: Workstream 3: Workstream 4: Workstream 5: The milestone plan from the wall can be documented in this template. This page covers the plan for the next 15 weeks. Enter the names for the workstreams. Record the milestones and delete the redundant boxes on the template. Move the arrows to the correct locations and adjust the week numbers and phases.

Template 2: Milestone plan Workstream Milestone and week No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Milestone descriptions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

Template 2: Milestone plan Workstream Milestone and week No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Milestone descriptions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

Template 2: Milestone plan- EXAMPLE Workstream Milestone and week No. 1. New workflows 2. New IT-solution 3. Training and education 4. Improved production equipment 5. 6. 7. 8. 1 1. 2 3 2. 4 5 6 3. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 4. 7. 5. 6. Milestone descriptions 1. Workflow req. described 2. Workflows mapped 3. Draft new workflows 4. Req. for IT solution defined 5. Production equipment mapped 6. Equipment req. described 7. Training needs defined 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

References and links Connection to other tools The milestone plan in Word format: See also templates for describing the milestone plan in Word Hierarchy of objectives - impact case: This tool defines the project's deliverables and impacts, which is the starting point for the structuring of the plan in workstreams Milestone description: The individual milestones can be defined and described very specifically using this tool Risk analysis: The risk analysis is prepared on the basis of the first draft of the milestone plan. Based on the risk analysis, preventive and mitigating activities must be built into the plan in order to make it more robust. Project organization: The milestone plan and project organization must match. The delegation of responsibilities in the project team or the division into working groups must correspond to the workstreams. There must be one responsible for each workstream. Links References • The book: Power in Projects, Programs and Portfolio, Djoef Publishing

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