There are several results that can add to your business drama which often aren't that difficult to achieve. 

Proof of Concept Started 

Every intranet software provider will be able to quickly provide you with a test platform that your intranet team can use to take their first steps. This will get you to what’s known as the “proof of concept” stage, and “voilà!” you’ve already reached your first milestone. 

Layout Defined 

Most current intranet software systems are standardized. Even SharePoint, which comes packaged with Microsoft Office 365, no longer allows you to customize as much in the cloud version as you once could in the server version. The server version has been outdated for some time now and is no longer serviced by Microsoft. In short, intranet projects of the past were as carefully tailored as website projects and even had custom layouts designed for them, which had to be specially programmed. 

Let’s return to our business drama for just a moment and imagine what the layout should look like. You don’t have to let management know that this is not a lot of work because, in most systems, you just have to customize the colors, upload a logo, and install a few secondary design elements, such as banners in the header section. You’ve now reached your next milestone. 

Layout Completed 

You’ve actually already completed this requirement. At the end of the day, definition and completion are the same step. So, just split them up on your roadmap, and you’ll reach each milestone in short succession. 

Beta Testers Found

As a rule, it’s usually fairly easy to find a few volunteers to beta test. Sure, putting together a representative test group in a large company can be a complex and demanding task. However, with all of the business drama that’s going on, who’s going to bother to check whether your test group is made up of the right people or not? 

Beta Testers Use the System/User Tests 

This requirement is fairly loose. Or plainly stated your volunteers basically just need to sign in and click around on the screen a bit. If you want to give the thing a professional sheen, use some software like Lookback.io and record a couple of user tests that you can evaluate later. This all lends itself to a pretty convincing presentation. You can only expect to achieve real insights for your project, however, if you work with a good and representative target tester group. 

(Theoretically) The System is Open to All Employees.

In reality, you still don’t need much more than a basic system. Of course, a little content would be good to fill out the launch page so you can establish your Potemkin village. For an intranet project, going live with the system is often the largest and most important aspect of the project roadmap. In technical terms, there isn’t much more to this than ensuring all your employees can actually log in. However, you should be careful here. Because when the system officially goes live, it usually signals the end of any generous budget allocation you’ve enjoyed up until then. 

We can certainly find other examples of senseless milestones that will look good on the project roadmap and require little effort to implement. However, I know you want to waste as little time and energy as possible on business drama; you’d prefer to concentrate on real, high-quality goals — effective ones that will actually drive your project forward.

Link to this page: https://seibert.biz/intranetbookfirstmilestone