How to Create an Effective Project Timeline for Your Organization

Companies find it very difficult to manage projects with multiple moving parts. It is quite a task even for experienced managers to keep every team member on the same page at all times. Thankfully, advancing technology lends a helping hand in the terms of a  task management tool and managing multiple projects at once. Be it creating a project timeline or tracking the project status, the project management software can always remain handy.

In this article, we will go through a step-by-step guide for making an effective project timeline and the role of a task management app in it. But, before moving ahead, let’s go through the importance of a project management timeline. 

Project Timeline- Importance in Timely Project Completion 

A project timeline is defined as a visual overview of the project’s deliverables in chronological order. It includes all the requirements to be completed before a new task can initiate and keeps team members on the same page. A project timeline enables managers, stakeholders, and team members to picture the roadmap of the given project along with key milestones, necessary tasks, dependencies, and other important aspects. 

Simply put, a project timeline can create a clear picture of any project and facilitate team members to understand their individual roles in timely completion. It is a trustworthy companion of every good project manager and helps them keep track on various tasks. These days, it is easy for managers to create a project timeline along with task allocation using task management software.

The project timeline consists of five essential components- tasks, deadlines, duration of each task, dependencies, and team members. Let’s understand the process of creating an effective project timeline in a step-by-step way. 

Top Steps to Make a Successful Project Timeline

• Make a Scope Statement

First things first. Project management starts with defining the project scope because it outlines all the deliverables you need to include in a project timeline. A scope statement is useful in making a roadmap and determining a timeline for the project. It is not an ordinary document that includes all the project-related information but a detailed report on how you can come up with project execution, various milestones, and challenges. 

• Create a WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)

After making a project scope statement, we can break deliverables into smaller pieces. It is known as a work breakdown structure or a scope baseline. Here, we break every deliverable into a sub-deliverable, which is known as a work package. Work breakdown structure is completely based on the project scope statement and you can take help of a feature-rich task management tool in making a list of 

• Break Work into Smaller Tasks

Dividing projects into smaller tasks contributes to making a seamless workflow. We can establish a deadline for a project and set due dates for smaller tasks accordingly. Estimate how much time each task will take to complete. It is also necessary to add additional time for obstacles in the way. You can use Online Task Management Software to set the possible time for each task for ensuring timely project completion. The team task management software can also show the record related to the time spent in completing the same tasks before. 

Also Read- How to Improve Work Synchronization using Effective Team Communication Tools

• Determine Dependencies and Define Required Time

Determining dependencies is essential as there comes the point in projects where some steps depend on completing other’s tasks. It enables teams to have adequate time to complete each task. For instance, TaskOPad’s Dependency tracking feature checks the status of approvals that prevents projects from getting stopped due to lack of permissions or approvals. Along with dependency mapping, estimating the time required for completing each task is crucial. Defining the time frame of tasks makes it easy to see how the project is shaping. 

• Define Availability of Resources

You need to identify the resource availability. Here the resource refers to team members or employees. This step is important as you will get a clear picture of who is ready to take up the task. Once you know which team member is available, you can plan and allocate the project task accordingly. Project managers can end up selecting members who may not have the skills to perform the given task due to a lack of insight into resource availability, 

• Build the Timeline

This is a final step and involves all the aspects. This step primarily involves mapping out each task, determining the length, required time for each task, defining the dependencies, and adding milestones. It makes your project timeline effective and ready for implementation. 

Concluding Lines

If prepared right, creating a project timeline can make a big difference for the projects. A proper timeline not only allows projects to complete on time but also prevents chaos and unhappy stakeholders. Hope all the tips mentioned here will remain helpful for creating an effective timeline. You can also use a reliable project management software to make a right timeline. 

TaskOPad is a renowned team task management app. We keep on adding innovative features in TaskOPad to meet different requirements of projects and simplify the complexities of tasks. Do you want to know more about this reliable and feature-rich task management software? Simply drop us a line at info@taskopad.com to get the details or schedule a demo.