Milestones and schedules

A well-structured schedule helps you keep track of the timeline of a project, take dependencies between tasks into account, and identify important dates at an early stage.

In smenso, you can use the Gantt view for this purpose. Tasks and milestones are displayed on a timeline and can be linked to each other using dependencies.

For important planning stages, you can also save baselines. This allows you to compare the current schedule with an earlier version at any time.

Plan dates and dependencies effectively

Tasks can be scheduled using a start date and due date and linked to each other using dependencies. This allows you to map temporal relationships between individual work steps in the schedule.

Additional planning features such as duration, scheduling mode, date constraints, and automatic scheduling are also available.

This allows you to build a schedule step by step and adjust or recalculate it when changes occur.

You can find more information about scheduling in the articles on the Gantt view, dependencies, scheduling mode, and automatic scheduling:

What is the Gantt Chart?

Dependencies in the Gantt view

Scheduling Mode: Fixed Dates or Fixed Duration

Deadline Restrictions for Tasks in Automatic Scheduling

Automatic Scheduling

Use milestones for important dates

Milestones are useful for highlighting important events or dates in a project, such as approvals, decisions, handovers, or the completion of a project phase.

You can mark an existing task as a milestone. Alternatively, you can create a new milestone directly.

In Gantt, milestones are displayed as points in time, making them easy to identify within the overall schedule.

You can find more information about creating and using milestones here:

Milestones

Save planning stages with baselines

Dates may change during the course of a project. To compare an earlier planning stage with the current schedule later on, you can save baselines in the Gantt view.

A baseline saves a snapshot of the start and due dates that exist at the time it is created.

To do this, open Baselines in the Gantt view and click New Baseline.

You can then enter a name for the baseline. A name containing the current date is suggested automatically.

Click Save to save the current schedule.

Compare the current schedule with a baseline

You can access saved baselines again via Baselines in the Gantt view.

Activate the desired baseline using the checkbox. The saved schedule is then displayed in Gantt in addition to the current schedule.

Up to three baselines can be displayed at the same time.

If start or due dates have changed since the baseline was saved, you can compare the deviations directly with the saved version.

When you move the mouse pointer over a corresponding task, the current schedule, the baseline schedule, and the time deviation are displayed.

You can also rename or delete saved baselines via the three-dot menu.

Best Practice

For a clear and well-structured schedule, we recommend:

• planning tasks with realistic start and due dates,
• linking tasks that depend on each other over time using dependencies,
• highlighting important events and decision points as milestones, and
• saving a baseline at important points in time so that later schedule changes can be tracked.

For example, it can be useful to save a baseline after a schedule has been approved or at the beginning of a new project phase. This preserves the original planning stage while allowing you to continue working on the current schedule.