General Milestone Guidelines

Discover essential guidelines and tips for setting and achieving meaningful milestones.

1. Define Project Structure

Start by organizing your project into Modules or Tasks—CloseOut typically uses these containers for managing activities such as civil works, installation, integration, and testing.

  • Example modules: Site Survey, Fiber Splicing, Antenna Installation, OTDR Testing

2. Identify Key Deliverables

Milestones should align with major handoffs or completion checkpoints. Map them to deliverables such as:

  • “Fiber trenching completed at 100%”
  • “All macro antennas installed”
  • “Drive tests completed and verified”

3. Create Milestone Checkpoints

In CloseOut:

  • Use Progress Gates or Custom Tasks within each Module to mark milestones.
  • Assign statuses (e.g., Pending, In Progress, Completed) for clear visibility.
  • Add due dates and responsible parties to encourage accountability.

4. Attach Evidence

For each milestone:

  • Upload documents or visual proof (e.g., OTDR trace files, site photos, test reports).
  • Use metadata or tags for easy filtering (e.g., tag by Region or Subcontractor).

5. Enable Approval Workflows

Set conditions for milestone approval:

  • Use Reviewer Assignment to route deliverables to QA/QC leads or project managers.
  • Enable Conditional Milestone Progression—e.g., Testing cannot begin unless Deployment is approved.

6. Monitor via Dashboards

Leverage CloseOut’s reporting features to:

  • Track milestone progress across clusters or project lots
  • Surface bottlenecks (e.g., repeated rejections, delayed modules)
  • Generate completion certificates once all milestone gates are cleared

 

📶 Macro RAN Build – Sample CloseOut Milestones

  1. Site Acquisition Completed
    • Landlord agreement signed
    • Permits secured
  2. Civil Works Execution
    • Tower foundation cast
    • Power trenching completed
  3. Equipment Installation
    • Base station cabinet installed
    • Macro antennas mounted and aligned
  4. Integration & Power-Up
    • Equipment powered and configured
    • Transport backhaul tested
  5. Drive Test & Optimization
    • Initial drive test completed
    • KPI thresholds validated
  6. Final Handover
  • As-built package uploaded
  • Handover form approved by customer

Macro RAN Build – Milestone Set with Weights

Milestone Description Weight (%)
Site Acquisition Completed Agreements and permitting secured 5%
Civil Works Execution Tower foundation, trenching, grounding 15%
Equipment Installation Cabinets, antennas, feeders installed 20%
Integration & Power-Up Backhaul, power-on, node configuration 25%
Drive Test & Optimization Field testing, KPI validation 15%
Final Handover As-built docs, customer acceptance 20%

 

 

 

🧵 FTTH Rollout – Sample CloseOut Milestones

  1. Route Design Approval
    • Trenching plan uploaded
    • Municipality approval attached
  2. Civil Works Completion
    • Fiber route trenching 100% completed
    • Handhole installation verified
  3. Cable Installation & Splicing
    • Main distribution cables blown
    • Splitter connections and splices completed
  4. Testing & Validation
    • OTDR test results uploaded
    • Signal levels within thresholds
  5. Customer Premises Activation
    • ONT installed and tagged
    • Activation form signed
  6. Cluster Closure
  • All homes passed completed
  • Documentation verified and locked

🧵 FTTH Rollout – Milestone Set with Weights

Milestone Description Weight (%)
Route Design Approval Engineering plan, municipality greenlight 5%
Civil Works Completion Trenching, closures, handholes 20%
Cable Installation & Splicing Fiber blown, splitters and splices in place 25%
Testing & Validation OTDR tests, signal checks, loss budget compliance 15%
Customer Premises Activation ONT install, provisioning, end-user validation 25%
Cluster Closure Pass rate audit, documentation verification 10%

 

These weights are flexible and can be tailored to project complexity, but they provide a valuable framework for guiding resourcing, scheduling, and milestone gating logic inside CloseOut. These milestones can be implemented as required progress gates, each tied to specific upload requirements, visual validations, and approver assignments—ensuring traceability, accountability, and consistent project delivery.