A project timeline is a visual list of tasks or activities placed in chronological order, which lets project managers view the entirety of the project in one place. A project timeline typically takes the form of a horizontal bar chart, where each task is given a name and a corresponding start and end date. Project timelines can take many forms, but the standard format for decades has been the Gantt chart.

Improved Communication

A project management timeline improves communication so that everyone knows who is doing what. As a project manager, if you can see exactly what tasks your people are working on and when they will be finished, you can schedule project activities more efficiently. This will avoid both overloading your best people with too many tasks or people being underutilized. You will also be able to spot any team members that have the potential to get 'lost' in the 'white space’ that exists between project assignments. Moreover, it allows other team members to get involved quickly and efficiently when it comes to relaying the right information to the right team members. 

Better Time Management

Time has a starring role in the success of any project. When you properly plan your project with a timeline, you get to understand how damaging a delay can be. When you have an overall view of the progress in front of you, it's easier to avoid working mindlessly on tasks. Instead, your team can focus each week on what needs to get done. It goes without saying that flexibility is an important key point when managing a project. Task priorities may change often and it's essential that you know what needs to be prioritized before anything else. A timeline helps to set clear priorities and directions so that the most critical tasks are cleared out of the way first.

Improved Motivation

Motivation can be the driving force behind a project. Some team members find it easier to stay motivated when they can see a timeline in front of them as it helps to sharpen their focus and discipline. Their motivation also goes up when they can see they're completing their tasks on time (or even ahead of time). Team members can tick off accomplished tasks and deliverables from their list of things-to-do. 

Before we talk about how to create a timeline, we should first identify the few types of project timelines, they are: 

Now that you know how the timeline format works, it is time to create one. There are five key parts involved in a project timeline that we can identify, them being:

1. The tasks

2. Their due dates

3. The duration of each task

4. Dependencies

5. Team members or assigned employees

It is actually not that stressful to create a project timeline. The creation of a project timeline can be summarized into 5 simple steps that you can follow.

Step 1: Understand the scope of your project

Start by writing a project scope statement that includes all the deliverables you need to create, as well as a potential list of resources you’ll need to complete it.  For example, if you’re running a rebranding project for a new client, your scope statement might look something like this: “we will produce a logo and five-page website design for X by [date]”. 

Step 2: Split the project into milestones

Once you’ve written a scope statement, list out everything involved in the project. If we continue to use the logo design project example above, this might include mock-up designs, edits, and any other deliverables and steps involved in the process. You can then turn the list into milestones. For example, the first milestone might be to complete three mock-up logos for the client.

Step 3: Estimate the time of each task

It’s far easier to estimate how much time a task is going to take if you’ve broken it down into parts. Against every smaller task you’ve listed, put an estimated timeframe so you can start to see the overall project take shape. 

Step 4: Assign tasks to your team

Start by noting down all the resources you might need for a project and matching those up with your team’s talents and skills. For example, if you have a skillful logo designer who’s not so good with website design, have them focus on the logo part while another team member can work on the website design.

Step 5: Plot each task on your timeline

Bring your project to life by mapping out each task on your timeline. Make a note of any dependencies and plot them accordingly in the timeline. For example, in the logo design project, the color palette research needs to take place before any design work begins. By doing so, you will begin to get a feel for what activities will be happening at any given time and how each task correlates to each other. As such, team members can easily manage their schedules.