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Glossary
Roadmap & strategy

What is Milestone?

A Milestone is a specific point in time that marks a significant stage or achievement within a project or product roadmap. Unlike tasks, milestones typically have zero duration and represent the completion of a major phase, such as a product launch or a critical stakeholder approval.

When to use it

Use milestones to break down a long-term project into manageable phases and provide clear checkpoints for stakeholders. They help teams visualize progress toward high-level goals without getting lost in daily task details and serve as indicators for the project's critical path.

Example

A SaaS team aiming to launch a new mobile app in Q3 might set milestones for 'Design Prototype Finalized' on July 15, 'Beta Testing Commenced' on August 20, and 'App Store Submission' on September 10. These markers allow the Product Manager to report progress to executives by showing which key gates have been passed rather than listing every bug fix. This clarifies whether the team is on track for the ultimate Q3 launch date.

How Planet Roadmap helps with Milestone

Planet Roadmap allows you to visualize milestones directly on the Gantt and Timeline views, ensuring that key project deadlines are always visible alongside task dependencies.

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FAQ

How is a milestone different from a task?
A task represents work to be done and has a specific duration (e.g., 'Write documentation'), whereas a milestone is a moment in time marking an achievement or transition (e.g., 'Documentation Approved'). Tasks are the activities required to reach a milestone.
Should every major feature be a milestone?
Milestones should be reserved for high-level 'gates' or phase completions that are meaningful to stakeholders. If every feature is marked as a milestone, the roadmap becomes cluttered and loses its ability to highlight the most critical project turning points.

Related terms

RoadmapGantt ChartCritical PathEpicInitiativeWork Breakdown StructureRelease NotesChangelog

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