Normally, a summary task is not linked to other tasks. As each task is completed, the summary task’s overall completion is updated as well. This is because the summary task’s start and completion dates are derived from the earliest subtask’s start date and latest subtask’s finish date. Normally, the summary task is not assigned a resource. To add a deadline date to the milestone task there is an option to add that date in the task information.Ī summary task is just that – a task that summarizes another set of tasks. In Project Professional, a milestone is what the system automatically creates when a task is given a zero duration.
This is because the milestone is often a successor to a number of other tasks that all have to be completed prior to its completion. While a milestone can be assigned a resource that is responsible for its completion, it is more common to use the milestone without resources.
It is possible to have numerous milestones in a schedule. In the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), version four, the term “Summary Activity” is defined as: “A group of related schedule activities aggregated at some summary level, and displayed/reported as a single activity at that summary level.” And, a “Milestone” is defined as “A significant point or event in the project.”Ī milestone is usually used to indicate when a specific phase or group of tasks is to be completed. This is a quick primer on the difference between a summary task and a milestone task.