Gantt Chart

Heba Iqbal

What is a Gantt chart?

• Developed by Henry Gantt

• Were considered revolutionary when first introduced

• Type of bar chart

• Illustrates a project schedule

• Work breakdown structure

• Important tool in project management

Gantt Chart

Components

• Task dependencies

• Scheduling constraints

• Duration of each task

• Percent complete

• Resources

• Major activities

• Critical path

• Milestones

Usefulness• Help you plan out the tasks that need

to be completed• Give you a basis for scheduling when

these tasks will be carried out• Allow you to plan the allocation of

resources needed to complete the project

• Help you work out the critical path for a project

Usefulness• Gantt charts are useful tools for

planning and scheduling projects

• They allow you to assess how long a project should take, determine the resources needed, and lay out the order in which tasks need to be carried out

• They are useful in managing the dependencies between tasks

Usefulness• When a project is under way, Gantt

charts are useful for monitoring its progress

• You can immediately see what should have been achieved at a point in time, and can therefore take remedial action to bring the project back on course.

• This can be essential for the success and profitability of a project

Programs

• Microsoft Project

• Gantt Project

• smartsheet Gantt Chart Software– Collaboration– File sharing– Mobile App– $15.95/month (one user) - $49.95/month

(for a team)

Steps to Make a Gantt Chart

List all the resources that will be used

- Resources can include individual people or groups of people or materials

- The price of the resources (standard hourly wage and overtime wage) and contact information (e-mail addresses, phone numbers)

Steps to make a Gantt Chart

List all activities in the plan

- Each task should list the start date, estimated length of time to complete the task, whether the task is sequential or parallel

- A sequential task relies on other tasks to occur before the particular task can be done

Steps to make a Gantt ChartLet the program work its magic- Programs will automatically set up

Gantt charts for you- Once resources and tasks are laid out

the program can create a Gantt chart with all the information that is provided

- Changes that are made in resources and tasks will automatically be reflected in the chart

Resource Leveling

• If resources are not leveled, some resources may be over allocated while others may be under allocated– This means that some people may be

over worked or they could not be being used at their full potential

– It is important to make sure resources are all being used in the most efficient manner

Resource Leveling

• Microsoft Project has an automatic resource leveling button– Clicking this button usually leads to a

lengthier project– Many people avoid using the automatic

leveling button and try to level the resources manually

– There are many guides available online that tell you how to level your resources

Advantages

• Visual format– Easily readable by most people

• Great organizational tool

• Helps set realistic time frames

• Helps to understand task relationships

• Many programs allow changes to be adapted to easily

Disadvantages• Can become extremely complex• The size of the bar does not indicate the

amount of work a person is doing– If two projects are the same number of

days behind schedule, the larger project has a larger effect on resource utilization, yet the Gantt does not represent this difference

• Difficult to see on one sheet of paper (have to break it down into sections)

Questions?