5 Tips for Creating and Managing Project Timelines

Imagine being handed one section of a puzzle to work on without seeing the final picture. You know the general idea of what you need to do, but you don’t understand how your section impacts the rest of the puzzle.

The same idea applies to project management.

When you’re assigned a piece of a project, it can be challenging to understand how your work contributes to the overall goal. But if there’s a project timeline, you can see at a glance where your work fits into the key milestones and how it impacts the deadlines.

As the project manager, part of your job is to establish this timeline to ensure everyone involved in the outcome stays on track to meet their deadlines. This job is crucial, yet it’s not always simple. It involves understanding every component of the project’s goal and each team member’s capacity and a constant finger on the pulse of the timeline.

However, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel whenever you create a new project workflow. These 5 tips will help guide you as you create and manage your next timeline.

1. Choose the Right Timeline for Your Project

Choosing the right timeline is akin to selecting the right tool for a job. It can make the difference between a smoothly executed project and one riddled with delays and confusion.

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What Kind of Project Visual Representation Do You Currently Use?

When implementing a major goal and dissecting it into smaller milestones, one size does not need to fit all. Unless your jobs are always the same (in which case a basic template can work), consider adjusting your project timeline type to a visualization that best displays the job.

What All Project Timeline Tools Have in Common

All project timeline tools share some core features:

• Mapping out deliverables: They map each deliverable chronologically, summarizing the work breakdown structure. This helps you visualize the flow of tasks and understand their dependencies.
• Visual display: Project tasks are usually displayed visually, making it easier for team members to grasp what needs to be done and when. Gantt charts (as you see in Accelo’s suite of PSA tools, for example) help drive projects forward using a visual representation of project schedules with a user-friendly design for quick reference. 
• Inclusion of milestones and end dates: They include milestones, responsible parties, and end dates. Milestones mark significant points in the project timeline and are essential for tracking progress.

Popular Types of Project Management Tools

Consider the following project management tools for your business:

Gantt Charts

• Pros: Excellent for visualizing project schedules, identifying task dependencies, and tracking progress. Gantt charts allow you to see the start and end dates of each task, how they overlap, and where potential bottlenecks might occur.
• Cons: Can become complex and unwieldy for large projects. They require regular updates to remain useful and can be time-consuming to maintain.

Kanban Boards for Project Management

• Pros: Ideal for visualizing workflow, managing tasks in real-time, and improving efficiency. Kanban boards use columns to represent different stages of the project, making it easy to track the status of tasks and manage workloads.
• Cons: May lack detailed scheduling and deadline tracking. They are more suited for ongoing process management rather than projects with fixed timelines.

Vertical Charts (Bar Charts)

• Pros: Simple to create and understand, effective for tracking progress. Vertical charts are great for high-level overviews and are easy to interpret.
• Cons: Limited in scope and detail for complex projects. They need to provide more information for detailed project planning and execution.

Historical Timelines

• Pros: Useful for reviewing past project timelines, identifying patterns, and improving future planning. Historical timelines can highlight what worked well and what didn’t in previous projects.
• Cons: Not as effective for real-time project management. They are better suited for post-project analysis and continuous improvement efforts.

Choosing the right tool involves understanding your project's unique requirements and your team’s preferences. Experimenting with different tools can help you find the one that best fits your workflow.

With Accelo, your dashboard is a hub for much of this invaluable information, in the format that makes the most sense to you and your team. 

Harness the power of hands-off management tools while still being able to hone in on more detailed information when you need it. Having all these tools in one place allows your team to work more efficiently on projects and gives managers like you the visibility you need to set or adjust timelines in every project stage. 

2. Determine the Project’s Scope

Understanding the full scope of a project is crucial for creating an effective project timeline. This involves thoroughly analyzing the project's goals, tasks, and deliverables.

Dive Deep With the Client and Their Team

Learning how to create a project management timeline starts with a deep dive with the client and their colleagues. Connect with the client in detail until you’re positive you know the big picture and the pieces necessary to get there. This part of the planning process will simplify and streamline the rest of the project.

Project Management in Marketing: Resources for Service Businesses

Break Down the Scope

Breaking down the scope of a project involves several key steps:

• Key project milestones: Identify key milestones representing significant points in the project timeline. These could be the completion of major tasks, approval points, or deliverables.
• Smaller tasks: Break down each milestone into smaller tasks and estimate the time each will take. This helps create a detailed timeline and ensures that all aspects of the project are covered.
• Time estimates: Provide time estimates for each task and phase. These should be realistic and consider potential risks and delays.

Write a Project Scope Statement

A project scope statement is a document that outlines its objectives, deliverables, milestones, and tasks. It serves as a guide for project planning and execution and helps ensure everyone is on the same page.

This is where Accelo's client portal feature comes into play. Use the all-in-one suite to manage and accept requests, send quotes, and provide status updates via a centralized hub.

List Milestones with Explanations and Due Dates

Create a list of project milestones with explanations and due dates. If the stakeholders disagree, explain the reasons behind this timeframe and work to ensure everyone is on the same page. This helps manage expectations and ensures that the project stays on track.

3. Communicate With Your Project Team

Effective communication is the cornerstone of successful project management. It ensures that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities as well as the project’s progress.

Importance of Communication

Communication is a key aspect of any successful project management goal. You’ve already established what needs to be done to achieve the deliverable and who you’ve eyeballed as the people who will complete those tasks. 

But if anyone on that list doesn’t have the bandwidth to take on more work or has other conflicts with the project schedule, you’ll need to go back to the proverbial timeline drawing board. This is where communication is integral to your resource management application.

Tips for Better Communication

Use these strategies to make sure everyone is on the same page:

• Use technology: Utilize tools that facilitate easy communication among team members. Project management software like Accelo offers features for real-time communication, task assignment, and progress tracking.
• Be mindful of cultural and language barriers: This is especially important for teams that are geographically dispersed or diverse.
• Communicate clearly and concisely: Minimize words and maximize impact. Not everyone needs to know everything about the project, but they do need to know everything about their section of it. Use bullet points, summaries, and visual aids to convey information effectively.
• Use reference lists: Create a general list of tasks for everyone to reference as needed. This can be a shared document or a project management tool that everyone can access.

4. Use Project Software Appropriate to Your Industry

Choosing the right project management software can significantly impact the success of your project. It helps streamline processes, improve communication, and ensure that all tasks are completed on time.

Tailored Software Solutions

A doctor isn’t going to use software designed for a restaurant, and vice versa. Your business is unique, and your software should reflect your daily and long-term goals. When you use the right software, each piece of the project becomes easier to complete and intuitive to manage.

What to Look For in Project Software

Your project software should have these characteristics:

• Support for preferred timelines: Ensure the software supports the types of timelines your projects require. Whether you prefer Gantt charts, Kanban boards, or another type of timeline, the software should accommodate your needs.
• Scalability: Start with basic features and expand to more specific tasks and subtasks as needed. Good project management software should grow with your business.
• Progress tracking: Visual and written options for tracking progress are crucial. Look for software that offers dashboards, progress bars, and other visual aids to help you monitor your project's status.
• Automatic updates: These should be included in the pricing to keep the software current. Automatic updates ensure you always have access to the latest features and improvements.
• Customization: Look for software that allows customization of project timeline templates, workflow, and other processes. This helps tailor the software to your specific needs.
• Integration: High functionality with other software like Microsoft Excel and Jira is a plus. Integration with other tools you use can improve efficiency and streamline processes.
• Time tracking: Essential for monitoring how long tasks take. Time tracking helps ensure that assignments are completed on time and within budget.
• Real-time communication: Options for real-time communication with team members and stakeholders. This helps ensure everyone is always on the same page and can collaborate effectively.

5. Set the Tasks and Step Away

Once you have a project plan timeline and task management list (including who is completing each step and how long it will take), it’s time to assign them to the project or tasks and let your team handle their personal time management. 

However, as the manager, you must recognize who on your team needs a little extra hand-holding and who can run with their jobs without interference.

Assign and Monitor Tasks

Assign tasks to team members and monitor their progress. Use project management software to track the status of tasks, deadlines, and milestones. This helps ensure that tasks are completed on time and that the project stays on track.

Tips to Stay Involved Without Micromanaging

Stay in the know with these strategies:

• Maintain communication: Regular check-ins and team meetings help keep everyone aligned and address any issues that arise.
• Monitor progress: Check on an overview of project progress daily or weekly to predict and identify hidden bottlenecks. Use dashboards and progress reports to get a quick snapshot of the project's status.
• Perform quality checks: Monitor work quality at various levels, consistently at first and occasionally as you gain confidence in your team. This helps ensure that the project meets the required standards.
• Keep open lines of communication: Ensure your team feels comfortable coming to you with any issues. Create a culture of open communication where team members feel supported and heard.
• Keep meetings focused: Address concerns with specific individuals rather than involving the entire team in every issue. This helps prevent unnecessary disruptions and keeps the team focused on their tasks.

Learn more: Project Management Process Improvement Tips

Conclusion

Creating and managing project timelines is crucial for the success of any professional service business.

You can significantly enhance your project outcomes by choosing the right timeline tool, determining the project’s scope, maintaining clear communication, using appropriate project management software, and setting tasks while allowing your team to manage their time.