Project management basics

Milestones, phases and sprints

Waterfall or agile? Both, on one board: phases with dates and milestones for the big picture, sprints with goals for the next few weeks.

Updated 11 Nov 2026 · 1 min read

Big projects need two levels of planning: the shape of the whole thing, and the next few weeks in detail.

Phases and milestones

Four phases; the design review is the milestone at the end of Design.

A phase is a stretch of the project with dates, like Research or Build. A milestone is the moment a phase should end with, like a design review or a hand-in. Set them in Settings ▸ Phases; they show on the Gantt, the Overview and as a tag on tasks.

Sprints

Sprint 3: two weeks, nine tasks, one goal.

A sprint is a short run of weeks (often two) with one goal. Each gets a burndown in Analytics, and whatever is left at the end carries into the next.

Which should we use?

If…	Use
the end date is fixed and the steps are known	Phases with milestones (waterfall)
you learn as you go and ship often	Sprints with goals (agile)
both	Both: phases for the year, sprints for the next few weeks