| Glossary Term | Description |
| Actual to Date | The planned end date for this milestone matches the End Date outlined within the detailed WBS schedule for the item. |
| Baseline Finish Date | The Baseline Finish date is set when the project moves into the execution phase. Once the Baseline Finish Date has been set, it can only be changed via an Approved Change Request. To update baseline dates based on a new baseline finish date a new plan will need to be imported via a CSV file. The accuracy of the baseline finish date is important for effective forecasting and variance tracking. |
| Current Milestone Progress (%) | A comparison between the amount (%) the milestone is actually completed versus the amount (%) the milestone is expected to be completed. |
| Current Project Progress (%) | Displays actual progress % and calculated planned % as at 'today'. This information is used by Project Managers to track the progress of a project. |
| Current Project Progress (%): Actual to Date | Actual percentage (%) completed and is sourced from Project Schedule % Completed field which is manually entered by the user. |
| Current Project Progress (%): Planned to Date | Expected planned percentage (%) to be completed as at 'today' and is sourced from Project Schedule % Planned field which is calculated on the start and finish dates of the milestone. |
| End Date | The planned end date for this milestone matches the End Date outlined within the detailed WBS schedule for the item. |
| Forecast Finish Date | The Forecast Finish date is the revised finish date base on project progress reviews. The Forecast Finish Date can be changed based on the customers' methodology on who has access and approval to change this date. |
| Key Milestones | A milestone is an event or checkpoint in time where something is accomplished. Implying a notable point has been reached and provides an indication of a project's progress. A project needs at least one milestone but often large projects can have multiple milestones for effective monitoring. Additionally, milestones serve as core reference points for most weekly and monthly reporting. |
| Milestone Summary | A summary of all the project milestones. All milestones (Project and Portfolio) will be automatically displayed in the ‘Milestone Summary Table’ within the ‘Schedule’. The Table provides an overview of the progress of the milestones against dates and planned percentage. |
| Overall Completion Dates | The Start Date, End Date, current status and variance of a milestone is outlined here. This information is used by PMs to track the progress of a project by comparing what is actually completed against what is expected to be completed. |
| Overall Completion Dates: End Date | The end date is sourced from the schedule and is the current forecast finish date for any task marked as a milestone. Any date changes to the scheduled task will be reflected here once the schedule update has been saved. |
| Overall Completion Dates: Start Date | The start date is sourced from the schedule and is the current forecast start date for any task marked as a milestone. Any date changes to the scheduled task will be reflected here once the schedule update has been saved. |
| Overall Completion Dates: Status | The current status of the milestone is sourced from the schedule and is based on the current percentage completed and progress against current dates. This helps PMs plan and review the overall schedule effectively. The statuses include: * Not Started - no progress percentage completed equals 0% * Work In Progress- percentage completed 1% < 100% and end date in the future * Not Completed - percentage completed 1% < 100% and end date in the past * Completed- percentage completed equals 100% |
| Overall Completion Dates: Variance | The calculated variance provides the evidence on how the milestone is tracking, either ahead, on track or behind. Based on this information the PM can determine the impacts of the project progress and make changes to mitigate the impact if necessary. The calculation is based on: Not completed - estimated variance of days to complete milestone based on forecast dates and percentage (%) remaining Complete - calculated number of days between Baseline End Date and Forecast Finish Date |
| Planned to Date | The amount (%) the milestone is actually completed based on the data which has been inputted and maintained within the detailed WBS schedule. |
| Project | The name of the project in the program the milestone belongs to. |
| Project Dates | Project dates control the start and finish dates of the Project. All modules items are validated against these dates, all dates must be equal or within the Project date range. |
| Project Schedule | The Project Schedule is created or uploaded during the Project Kick-off Phase and is managed by the Project Manager during the life cycle of the project. The Schedule is the tool that details what activities, tasks, timeframe and resources are needed to achieve the successful delivery of a project. |
| Schedule | A schedule is broken down into several parts. This is completed by doing a work breakdown structure (WBS). High-level steps are created (often called milestones) and are high-level succession steps. From there additional activities are added to support in meeting the milestone. This is done several layers at a time until a detailed schedule is built. Each task should be measurable and have a completion date assigned to it. This then allows you to also determine the critical path which are activities that are dependent on each other. This ensures tasks are being completed in the correct order. |
| Start Date | The start date is baseline when the project moves into the execution phase and remains unchanged during the lifecycle of the project. All scheduled tasks start date has to be equal or greater than the Project Start Date. The accuracy of the start date is important for effective forecasting and variance tracking. |
| Status | Current status of the milestone. The status helps show if a milestone is in progress, complete, or not started which helps in reviewing the overall schedule and planning. Statuses could include: * Work In Progress- Milestone began but is not complete * Not Started- No progress has been made to the milestone * Completed- The milestone activity has been completed |
| Type | The type of milestone being assigned to a task. A task can be marked as either a Project Milestone or Portfolio Milestone. If a task has been marked as both a project and a portfolio milestone, it will be displayed as a portfolio milestone. |
| Variance | It quickly identifies if the milestone is ahead or behind schedule and by how much. In schedule management, this helps in identifying how off schedule a high-level milestone is, how it impacts the overall project and allows Project/ Program Managers to review and mitigate issues if possible. |
1.7 Schedule Glossary Print
Created by: Charisse Abillero
Modified on: Mon, 23 Nov, 2020 at 8:10 PM
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