Hi I am reading this online article and I have a problem understanding what does "milestones" mean here. Could be you explain to me or can you use other word instead of milestones so I can underhand it better. Thank you very much.

+++++++++
“I have worked on many important projects throughout my career. What’s really crucial for me when starting one is to get very clear on the goals right at the start and then create a plan with milestones"

The source of the above statement is from this site

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-answer-describe-important-project-youve-worked-interview-buj/

In alt.usage.english, on Sun, 17 Sep 2023 17:11:48 -0700 (PDT), Userme
<lezawang@gmail.com> wrote:

>Hi I am reading this online article and I have a problem understanding what does "milestones" mean here. Could be you explain to me or can you use other word instead of milestones so I can underhand it better. Thank you very much.

Milestones were originally actual stones with the mileage engraved on
them so travelers could see how far they were going. I think the Romans
started them and the number engraved was always the mileage from Rome.

Many highways in the USA have mile markers every tenth of a mile.

>+++++++++
>“I have worked on many important projects throughout my career. What’s really crucial for me when starting one is to get very clear on the goals right at the start and then create a plan with milestones"

And here they mean spots along a project that people or bosses or
project managers can identify and assure themselves that they are making
progress. If the goal were to learn French, one milestone might be
learning the letters from a to m. Or all of the letters. Another
milesstone might be learning what the accents mean. Another would be
the ability to pronounce words, to make a simple sentence, to hold a
conversation, to write down what one has said.

There might even be a schedule of how long it takes to reach each
milestone so one can judge if his progress is slow or fast compared to
others.
>
>The source of the above statement is from this site
>
>https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-answer-describe-important-project-youve-worked-interview-buj/

--
Please say where you live, or what
area's English you are asking about.
So your question or answer makes sense.
. .
I have lived all my life in the USA,
Western Pa. Indianapolis, Chicago,
Brooklyn, Baltimore.

On Sun, 17 Sep 2023 17:11:48 -0700 (PDT), Userme <lezawang@gmail.com>
wrote:

>Hi I am reading this online article and I have a problem understanding what does "milestones" mean here. Could be you explain to me or can you use other word instead of milestones so I can underhand it better. Thank you very much.
>
>+++++++++
>“I have worked on many important projects throughout my career. What’s really crucial for me when starting one is to get very clear on the goals right at the start and then create a plan with milestones"
>
>The source of the above statement is from this site
>
>https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-answer-describe-important-project-youve-worked-interview-buj/

You should first look up the word "milestone" in the dictionary. You
will find it has two basic meanings: a) a stone placed by the road at
every mile interval to indicate distance from a given point, and b)
an important event.

From that you can determine the author's meaning to be that he/she
wants to set goals to be accomplished at events in his/her life that
occur at given points.

Birthdays, for example. Do this by the time he/she is 30, do that by
the time he/she is 40, and so on. The author's timeline may be
different, but this should give you the picture.

--

Tony Cooper - Orlando,Florida

On 18/09/23 13:36, TonyCooper wrote:
> On Sun, 17 Sep 2023 17:11:48 -0700 (PDT), Userme
> <lezawang@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi I am reading this online article and I have a problem
>> understanding what does "milestones" mean here. Could be you
>> explain to me or can you use other word instead of milestones so I
>> can underhand it better. Thank you very much.
>>
>> +++++++++ “I have worked on many important projects throughout my
>> career. What’s really crucial for me when starting one is to get
>> very clear on the goals right at the start and then create a plan
>> with milestones"
>>
>> The source of the above statement is from this site
>>
>> https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-answer-describe-important-project-youve-worked-interview-buj/
>
>>
> You should first look up the word "milestone" in the dictionary.
> You will find it has two basic meanings: a) a stone placed by the
> road at every mile interval to indicate distance from a given point,
> and b) an important event.
>
> From that you can determine the author's meaning to be that he/she
> wants to set goals to be accomplished at events in his/her life that
> occur at given points.
>
> Birthdays, for example. Do this by the time he/she is 30, do that
> by the time he/she is 40, and so on. The author's timeline may be
> different, but this should give you the picture.

That's OK when talking about one's career ambitions, but userme was
asking about milestones _in_a_project_. The milestones might be:
1. produce documentation on the goals of the project, and
how they can be achieved.
2. produce a working model with limited functionality.
3. and so on.

Normally you'd also expect to include time estimates. It might take two
weeks to reach milestone 1, then three months to reach milestone two,
and so on. The time estimates are important because they allow a project
manager to see whether the project is running to schedule.

For a bigger project you'd use something like a Gantt chart. That breaks
the overall project into subprojects, with the extra feature that you
can see which bits can be done in parallel, which ones can't start until
prerequisites have been met, and so on. Now the manager can estimate how
many people to allocate to work on which bits, when the needed materials
have to be ordered, and so on.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

Le 18/09/2023 à 01:11, Userme a écrit :
>
> Hi I am reading this online article and I have a problem understanding what does "milestones" mean here. Could be you explain to me or can you use other word instead of milestones so I can underhand it better. Thank you very much.
>
> +++++++++
> “I have worked on many important projects throughout my career. What’s really crucial for me when starting one is to get very clear on the goals right at the start and then create a plan with milestones"
>
> The source of the above statement is from this site
>
> https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-answer-describe-important-project-youve-worked-interview-buj/

In this context, milestones are significant events by which one can
measure one's progress. In manufacturing, simple milestones might be:
start the design, make a prototype, finish testing the prototype, have
tooling in place, start production, ship the first unit, etc..

(A problem I had with my manager when estimating timescales was our
differing interpretations of the phrase 'order of magnitude'. I had a
physicist's view, i.e. a factor of 10. He apparently meant plus or minus
10%.)

Remember Sunday, when Peter Moylan asked plaintively:
> On 18/09/23 13:36, TonyCooper wrote:
>> On Sun, 17 Sep 2023 17:11:48 -0700 (PDT), Userme
>> <lezawang@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi I am reading this online article and I have a problem
>>> understanding what does "milestones" mean here. Could be you
>>> explain to me or can you use other word instead of milestones so I
>>> can underhand it better. Thank you very much.
>>>
>>> +++++++++ “I have worked on many important projects throughout my
>>> career. What’s really crucial for me when starting one is to get
>>> very clear on the goals right at the start and then create a plan
>>> with milestones"
>>>
>>> The source of the above statement is from this site
>>>
>>> https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-answer-describe-important-project-youve-worked-interview-buj/
>>
>>>
>> You should first look up the word "milestone" in the dictionary.
>> You will find it has two basic meanings: a) a stone placed by the
>> road at every mile interval to indicate distance from a given point,
>> and b) an important event.
>>
>> From that you can determine the author's meaning to be that he/she
>> wants to set goals to be accomplished at events in his/her life that
>> occur at given points.
>>
>> Birthdays, for example. Do this by the time he/she is 30, do that
>> by the time he/she is 40, and so on. The author's timeline may be
>> different, but this should give you the picture.
>
> That's OK when talking about one's career ambitions, but userme was
> asking about milestones _in_a_project_. The milestones might be:
> 1. produce documentation on the goals of the project, and
> how they can be achieved.
> 2. produce a working model with limited functionality.
> 3. and so on.
>
> Normally you'd also expect to include time estimates. It might take two
> weeks to reach milestone 1, then three months to reach milestone two,
> and so on. The time estimates are important because they allow a project
> manager to see whether the project is running to schedule.
>
> For a bigger project you'd use something like a Gantt chart. That breaks
> the overall project into subprojects, with the extra feature that you
> can see which bits can be done in parallel, which ones can't start until
> prerequisites have been met, and so on. Now the manager can estimate how
> many people to allocate to work on which bits, when the needed materials
> have to be ordered, and so on.

In an educational environment, the milestones for a class or training
course are often published as part of the syllabus, generally tied to
the primary text or source material.

This may be familiar to userme and the courses in their experience.

/dps

--
But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason
to 'be happy.'"
Viktor Frankl