Project milestones allow us to signal the completion of deliverables or phases, or to mark major decision points.

Unfortunately, project managers make two common mistakes when it comes to milestones: too frequent and too infrequent.

Although it is typical to have weekly or biweekly project milestones, these milestones are too frequent at the program and portfolio levels. Conversely, monthly or quarterly program and portfolio milestones might be viewed as too infrequent at the project level. My project with 46 milestones looked very odd at the portfolio level because 4 to 5 milestones would have been sufficient!

To address these common mistakes, establish different milestones depending on the audience. When you present your milestones to your team, the weekly or biweekly milestones might suffice. For PMO updates, filter out the weekly or biweekly milestones and only present monthly or quarterly milestones.

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