# Keep milestones separate from activity duration

Illustrative planning brief; no automatic product import.

Synthetic planning case: A draft gives the “proof accepted” milestone two days, while its actual reviewer activity already has a separate two-day duration.

## Decision

Keep the reviewer activity at two days and the acceptance milestone as a zero-duration checkpoint in this model. Do not charge the same review twice.

## Owned work

- Identify work versus event
  - Owner role: Schedule owner
  - Acceptance evidence: The milestone records completion of the already-modelled proof review.
- Retain the actual review activity
  - Owner role: Reviewer
  - Acceptance evidence: Two days of review and its evidence remain visible.
- Link the next activity
  - Owner role: Production owner
  - Acceptance evidence: Print preparation starts only after the acceptance checkpoint.

## Workflow

1. Identify work versus event. Check: The milestone records completion of the already-modelled proof review.
2. Retain the actual review activity. Check: Two days of review and its evidence remain visible.
3. Link the next activity. Check: Print preparation starts only after the acceptance checkpoint.

## Judgment

Zero is a milestone convention in this example, not an assertion that people make instantaneous decisions.


## Filled manual planning note

Keep the reviewer activity at two days and the acceptance milestone as a zero-duration checkpoint in this model. Do not charge the same review twice. With the checkpoint correctly represented, the sequence is 2+0+1=3 model days. Giving both review and its acceptance event two days would produce an unsupported five-day sequence. Zero is a milestone convention in this example, not an assertion that people make instantaneous decisions.


## Workflow questions

### Does zero duration mean no acceptance work is needed?

No. The two-day review activity supplies that work and evidence.

### Can every approval be a zero-duration milestone?

An approval activity may take time; its completion event is the checkpoint. Model both meanings deliberately.

## Product connection

Use the owned checks and downloaded brief to discuss this planning decision alongside your TeamBoostAI tasks. Confirm available fields, roles and account features separately. The example is manual; it does not calculate live analytics, create work or run an experiment in the product.

Confirm account availability before adopting this manual outline.

## Original worked case

Synthetic records, manual planning only. No account import or live analytics.

### Inspect the invented case records

Schedule element | Model duration | Meaning
--- | --- | ---
Proof review | 2 days | Work performed
Proof accepted | 0 days | Checkpoint after review
Print preparation | 1 day | Starts after accepted checkpoint

### Reasoning

With the checkpoint correctly represented, the sequence is 2+0+1=3 model days. Giving both review and its acceptance event two days would produce an unsupported five-day sequence.

### Bounded result

Keep the reviewer activity at two days and the acceptance milestone as a zero-duration checkpoint in this model. Do not charge the same review twice.

### Distinct decision

The artifact prevents duplicate duration when an activity and its completion event are both scheduled.

### Limits

Zero is a milestone convention in this example, not an assertion that people make instantaneous decisions.

### Definitions and method context

- GAO Schedule Assessment Guide — https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-16-89g — General schedule-model context. All records, local policies and arithmetic are original toy examples, not a certified or optimized schedule.