How is a project milestone used ?

Project management is an essential skill for all professionals involved in development. Basic project management skills include planning and managing the work on a project. Ideally, plans are made and decisions are made based on full knowledge of the project and its associated risks. Most projects fail because of poor management; using project management tools, such as milestones, can help to prevent this. 

Know how to set project deadlines

Project management is a lot easier when each task is assigned a specific timeframe : click for more info. This way, everyone understands the amount of time required to complete each step of the process. All of your deadlines should be set at the same time, so everyone is aware of the deadline for each task. Setting good project management standards early on in a development project can go a long way toward improving the finished product. 

The early steps are easier to manage because there are fewer tasks and deadlines to coordinate. Plus, the team members have time to get used to working together towards a common goal. Once a project grows large enough to start throwing people together against deadlines, project managers can take advantage of that situation and manage their projects effectively.

What are project milestones for ?

Project milestones act as a way for team leaders to know where their projects stand with respect to their timelines. Every team member should know what steps have already been completed and what steps are still left before the project is finished. This way, team members can plan their work accordingly and avoid overrunning their deadlines. 

It's also a good idea to have regular meetings where team members report on the work they've done and discuss issues regarding timelines or other obstacles they've encountered in their work. Meeting these goals will help each member understand where his project stands with respect to the rest of the timeline and how he can best address any issues he encounters in this area.