Make an Implementation Timeline

An implementation timeline shows how a decision gets put into practice: rolling out new software, changing a process, opening a new office or introducing a policy. It lays out the steps from the first planning meeting to the day the change is live, and the support that follows it. Everyone involved can see what has to happen first, who is waiting on whom, and whether the go-live date is still realistic.

The usual stages

The details depend on what is being rolled out, but most implementations move through the same stages:

Planning: agree on the goals, the scope, the budget and who owns each part of the work.
Preparation: set up or configure the new system, move existing data across and write the new procedures.
Testing or a pilot: try the change with a small group first, then fix what they find.
Training: prepare the people who will use it, often one team or location at a time.
Go-live: switch over, either all at once or in waves.
Follow-up: support people through the first weeks, then review how it went against the goals you set.

Keep each stage to its main steps. A timeline that lists every task stops being readable at a glance, and that level of detail belongs in a task list or a schedule. Timeline vs Schedule explains the difference.

Building one in Preceden

Create a timeline and pick the Gantt Chart layout under Choose an initial layout. It lists each step's name down the left, which suits a plan with many steps of different lengths. Creating Gantt Charts with Preceden has more on that layout.

Rename the starting layers by clicking their names in the list below the timeline, then use the Add Layer button above the timeline to add more. A layer for each stage works well, such as "Planning", "Preparation", "Training" and "Go-Live". If the change rolls out to several teams or sites, a layer for each of them shows the waves side by side instead. Either way, the timeline becomes a swimlane timeline.

Add each step as an event and choose its stage from the Layer menu. You can give a step an end date, or type a duration such as 3 weeks as the end date instead. To leave weekends out, type 10 weekdays and Preceden skips Saturdays and Sundays when it works out where the step ends. Supported Date Formats lists everything Preceden reads.

Link the steps that wait on each other

Training can't start until the system is configured, and go-live waits on the pilot. Open the later step, check Dependent, and choose the step it starts after from the menu. Its start date then follows that step's end date, so if testing runs two weeks over, training moves with it, and so does every dependent step after it that has a duration rather than a fixed end date. Dependent Events explains how it works.

That makes it easy to answer the question every implementation gets asked: if this slips, when do we go live?

Mark the dates that matter

Under More Options in the event dialog, check Make this event a milestone on the few dates the whole plan turns on, such as the sign-off, the start of the pilot and the go-live date. Preceden draws a milestone as a full-height vertical line, so every stage can be read against it. Make a Milestone Timeline has more on choosing them.

Track progress as you go

As work gets done, pick a Percent Complete value (also under More Options) on each step to shade how much of it is finished. To compare the plan with today, click the Appearance button above the timeline, open the Axis section and check Display a line on today's date. Preceden draws a red vertical line at today's date, so anything unfinished to the left of it is behind. Appearance Settings - Axis covers the other axis options.

Our Pro plan lets you invite collaborators, such as the team leads in charge of each stage, who can update their steps alongside you. To keep leadership or the people affected by the change informed without letting them edit, share a link, save it as a PDF or export it to PowerPoint for a status meeting.

The free plan allows up to 10 events on each timeline, which is enough for a stage-level overview. A plan with several waves or teams usually needs more, and our paid plans lift the event limit.