How to create and manage project milestones

Learn about the functionality of the milestone manager tool.

Summary

• The milestone manager is the card at the top center of the viewer
• It allows the user to create and manage milestones which form the steps in the sequence
• Click the three dots on the card to open the manger functionality
• A table view of the milestones (project schedule) is available from Milestone manager from the three dots on the card

Creation of Milestones

There are three ways to create milestones:

1. Click the plus button (+) on the milestone manager - Enter a name and date and press enter (or click off) to confirm
2. From the table view, click the three dots on an existing milestone. Then, Add milestone and add before or after the existing milestone
3. Import a schedule file for automatic creation of milestones - from Project Setup or Imported Schedule (three dots) shown above

Manage Milestones

• To navigate through the milestones - click either arrow (< >) next to the card or use the key board shortcut of Ctrl + left/right arrow keys
• To edit an existing milestone - double-click the card, and then click the name or date to adjust them respectively
• Or, Select Edit name and date from the three dots drop-down
• To change the view displayed milestone increment from the default of weeks - Click the three dots and hover over View
• Select from Weekly, Monthly, or Index
• Index appears as 'ms #'
• Select Current Milestone to select the milestone right before "today" date
• Select Multiple View to display multiple milestones on the milestone manager

Manager Table View

• To access the milestone manager table/list view, click the three dots, followed by Milestone Manager
• The current milestone is indicated by the blue dot
• To edit the milestone name and date -
• double-click on the name or date,
• Right-click anywhere on the milestone,
• Or, click the three dots on the right
• Select Go to milestone to navigate the viewer the particular milestone, either by hovering over the milestone to the left of the name, or from the three dots on the milestone
• To create new milestones, go to the adjacent milestone where it is to be placed, click the three dots and hover the cursor over + Add milestone
• Add before, to create a new milestone preceding the selected milestone
• Add after, to create a new milestone after following the selected milestone

Tips & FAQ

How many milestones should I aim for?

It can depend a lot on the context of who you are communicating to and how. If you are handing over images, more than 8-12 usually causes people to glance over too quickly. A video for a bid presentation can be anywhere from 6-40 with good results. For coordination discussions you can go higher than this, where you have the ability to jump around or skip sections completely. It is possible to go up to 200 if you are experienced in cmBuilder and have a complex project, but it is not recommended.

But based on the schedule I have, I need more. What do I cut out?

It is often best to start with the major phases, and then break them down as you find the need for more detail.

• For sequencing around a building, you would generally want these milestones (results in 6-40):
  • Existing Conditions: 1 milestone
  • Mobilization Phase: 0-2 milestones, depending on complexity or duration
  • Demolition Phase: 0-3 depending on complexity (though demo/reno projects could be 20+ here)
  • Excavation Phase: between 1-10 to cover grade, piles, bulk excavation, detailed excavation, and foundation, depending on what your project entails
  • Erection Phase: about 1 per floor-cycle
    • Usually follow concrete/steel/wood-frame at first, and shift to follow exterior if it is out-of-sync
    • For tall towers, once the pattern is established, you can start to group multiple floors per milestone
  • Interior Phase: Depending on the project, may follow each floor, or can be completely ignored
  • Finish: Usually 1-5 milestones to show surrounding clean-up and the completed building
  • 0-3 slides through for other conditions, such as relocating a crane or office
  • Possibly up to 6 slides if you need to slow down and show a specific sequence or operation at one point in the project
• If you are creating an image deliverable, you don't need to display all of this, though you may still want to for planning purposes
• If you are creating a coordination file to communicate to the site team or trades, you may want to go into more detail than this, as people may glance over the overview, and drill into a specific area. This is similar to how some experts use PowerPoint presentations - they have 8 slides, and an appendix of 80 slides to answer questions as they arise.

note that for scenarios that are not single-tower buildings, the above does not directly apply. However, it can still be used for general guidelines on how to prioritize your milestones.

How to leverage schedule import?

When going through the schedule, it is best to start with bringing in just a few milestones from your file, and then add more as you see them needed. If you bring in too many tasks in your first-pass, it might be hard to get it to align to your visualization plan.

It is mainly advised to use the end dates of key activities for your milestones, because that is when the work is done that you will want to display. However, there are some key activities that you may want to grab the start date of, such as excavation and concrete pouring, where you have to bring heavy machinery onto site.