A project manager often runs work they could not do themselves. The PM of a container project is not a mechanical engineer, but the container needs a mechanical design. Instead of planning that work task by task, give the milestone to the department that delivers it. That department names a leader, who plans the work inside it.
You decide what and by when. The department decides who leads it and how.
Give the milestone to a department
- Open the milestone's page.
- Next to Delivered by, press Change.
- Pick the department and press Save.
Two things happen:
- The department gets contribute access to the project, so its people can open it and work on the milestone.
- The milestone shows unled until one of that department's managers names a leader. They see Name a leader on the milestone page.
Only the project manager, or an administrator, can give a milestone to a department, because it lets a whole department in.
What stays yours, and what becomes theirs
Yours, as project manager
- What the milestone delivers, its target date and its type.
- When it starts, and whether it is closed by hand or cancelled.
- Who can see and change the project (the Access tab).
- Following it: the milestone's chat is where the leader reports.
Theirs, through the leader
- How the work is cut into tasks, and who does each one.
- The order of the tasks (Set order).
- Reviewing the results.
You can still add a task to the milestone yourself. Tell the leader, so it fits their plan.
Who can do what
- Give the milestone to a department, or change it: the project manager, or an administrator.
- Name or change the leader: a manager of that department, or an administrator. Not the project manager as such: the department knows who has the skills and the room.
- Give the milestone's tasks to people: the leader, to people in that department or already named on the project, without any extra permission.
The leader must already be able to work on the project. Somebody from that department can, through the department's access. Somebody from elsewhere needs you to add them on the Access tab first.
Changing your mind
- Another department: press Change again. The leader is cleared, and the new department names its own.
- No department: choose Nobody yet.
Changing the department does not take away the old department's access to the project. If they should no longer see it, remove them on the Access tab.
An example
A container project has a milestone Mechanical design, due on the 14th. The PM gives it to Mechanical Engineering. Their manager names one of the engineers as leader. The leader creates six tasks: frame layout, door and vent cut-outs, cable tray routing, lifting points, the drawing set and a check by a second engineer. They set the drawing set to start after the four design tasks, and the check after the drawing set. The engineers see each task when its step comes up. The leader reviews each result and posts a short update in the milestone's chat. When the last required task is done, the milestone closes and the project moves on.
Next: Leading a milestone · Related: Milestones or tasks? Planning a project · Who can see a project, and who can change it