Free Excel Project Timeline Templates

An Excel project timeline template is a visually dynamic tool that project managers can use to plan and monitor project progress. Use the template for a visual representation of your project’s goals, scope, and tasks to ensure timely project delivery. 

As the primary vehicle for managing your project’s deliverables, a project timeline template provides a comprehensive method for tracking project tasks, assigning them to team members, setting delivery dates, and monitoring their progress. Timeline templates also serve as a roadmap for your project so that all stakeholders are aware of project goals. Use a project timeline template to add key project milestones so that it’s clear during project planning what primary actions or events need to be met, and when. 

With its horizontal bar chart, a project timeline provides team members with a clear visual map of individual task delivery dates, priorities, and current statuses, as well as whether or not they have task dependencies. 

While project timeline templates may vary, most of them include the following components to ensure that you account for everything on your project roadmap: 

• Project Name: Enter the name of the project that you and your teammates will be undertaking. 
• Task Name: Provide a name for each project task that needs to be completed in order to meet the criteria for project success. 
• Task Owner: Assign the team member who is responsible for completing each individual project task. 
• Start Date: Enter the date that each individual task needs to be started. 
• End Date: Set the date for when the individual task must be completed. 
• Duration: Review the task duration, which is calculated by each task’s defined start and end dates. 
• Status: Select a status for each individual project task (e.g., Not Started, In Progress, On Hold, or Complete).  
• Milestone: Define your project’s time-sensitive milestones that must be met in order for the project to be successfully completed. 

 Additionally, some project timeline templates include the following components: 

• At-Risk Tasks: Identify tasks that are in danger of not being completed, and notify relevant team members. 
• Department: Include the name of any department responsible for a project task or phase, or the department on which a task or project phase has a dependency. 
• Objectives or Goals: List the project’s key objectives, such as the problem it will address and what goals it must meet by project completion. 
• Project Scope: Provide a brief description of what is in scope for the project. This includes all aspects of the project, including tasks, activities, departments, timeline overview, key deliverables, and milestones. 
• Sprint: For Agile teams, clearly label each sprint on your project timeline so that team members can see which sprint-specific tasks must be completed within a specific timeboxed period. 
• Stage or Phase: Break your project timeline down into stages that include key tasks for each phase of the project. 
• Task ID: Provide a unique identifying number for each task on the project for easy reference.