Tips on the Gantt Chart
We cannot talk about tips on actual project management software usage without bringing up the Gantt Chart. The Gantt Chart is arguably the most popular (or at least the most commonly used) software tool. It became much more common with the release of Microsoft Project.
There are different schools of thought on the Gantt Chart. Some people use it religiously and it is a core part of their planning. Other people stay away from it religiously and never use it. Other people tolerate and use it because they believe that they must. How should you fit it in? Should you use a Gantt Chart and how?
Here are some tips that will help you answer that question.
#1: Understand the purpose of the Gantt Chart.
Here is an excerpt from www.wikipedia.org: A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project. Some Gantt charts also show the dependency (i.e, precedence network) relationships between activities.
So the Gantt Chart is a tool to view the tasks (work breakdown structure), dependencies between those tasks, and the schedule of the tasks (and thus the project). The reason it is common-place is because these are items that most Project Managers want to see and it is an easy way to see them in one view.
#2: Understand the need for training.
A lot of people do not use Gantt Charts or do not like Gantt Charts. There are some valid reasons for this, but I have found that often the reason is a lack of training on how to use a Gantt Chart. We do not like nor do we use things that we do not understand. The Gantt Chart by its very definition includes more complex concepts such as task dependencies, parent vs. child tasks, constraints, etc. There is a minimum level of knowledge needed to effectively use these concepts to gain real value out of Gantt Charts. People that try to use Gantt Charts for more simplified purposes become frustrated.
What that means is get some training. Understand the concepts of dependencies, constraints, and parent / child tasks (or summary / detail) tasks. Then understand how to apply these concepts in a Gantt Chart.
#3: Understand your needs, objectives, and culture.
A lot will depend on your particular organization. If you need to create detailed schedules, then you really need to look at using Gantt Charts. If you do not need to manage schedules in any detail at all, or you have a culture that is very collaborative and not very detail oriented you could probably use a simple task list system instead.
If you are having problems with items being late, then using Gantt Charts could be a good tool to help plan better.
The bottom line is, match up with your organization's needs, objectives, and culture. How important is scheduling to you? If it is very important, then look at Gantt Charts.
Do you use Gantt Charts? How do you use them? What are some common problems that you experience with Gantt Charts? Send those to blog@teaminteractions.com.
There are different schools of thought on the Gantt Chart. Some people use it religiously and it is a core part of their planning. Other people stay away from it religiously and never use it. Other people tolerate and use it because they believe that they must. How should you fit it in? Should you use a Gantt Chart and how?
Here are some tips that will help you answer that question.
#1: Understand the purpose of the Gantt Chart.
Here is an excerpt from www.wikipedia.org: A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project. Some Gantt charts also show the dependency (i.e, precedence network) relationships between activities.
So the Gantt Chart is a tool to view the tasks (work breakdown structure), dependencies between those tasks, and the schedule of the tasks (and thus the project). The reason it is common-place is because these are items that most Project Managers want to see and it is an easy way to see them in one view.
#2: Understand the need for training.
A lot of people do not use Gantt Charts or do not like Gantt Charts. There are some valid reasons for this, but I have found that often the reason is a lack of training on how to use a Gantt Chart. We do not like nor do we use things that we do not understand. The Gantt Chart by its very definition includes more complex concepts such as task dependencies, parent vs. child tasks, constraints, etc. There is a minimum level of knowledge needed to effectively use these concepts to gain real value out of Gantt Charts. People that try to use Gantt Charts for more simplified purposes become frustrated.
What that means is get some training. Understand the concepts of dependencies, constraints, and parent / child tasks (or summary / detail) tasks. Then understand how to apply these concepts in a Gantt Chart.
#3: Understand your needs, objectives, and culture.
A lot will depend on your particular organization. If you need to create detailed schedules, then you really need to look at using Gantt Charts. If you do not need to manage schedules in any detail at all, or you have a culture that is very collaborative and not very detail oriented you could probably use a simple task list system instead.
If you are having problems with items being late, then using Gantt Charts could be a good tool to help plan better.
The bottom line is, match up with your organization's needs, objectives, and culture. How important is scheduling to you? If it is very important, then look at Gantt Charts.
Do you use Gantt Charts? How do you use them? What are some common problems that you experience with Gantt Charts? Send those to blog@teaminteractions.com.
All the three tips about the Gantt charts are very well said. I like the third tip which is mentioned about “How important the scheduling is?” I knew the importance of it very well; I use appointment and other scheduling softwares for it.
Posted by: appointment scheduling software | 03/02/2011 at 12:45 AM
Hi,
Thank you very much for your ideas to post comments. Here you provide some important tips on the Gantt chart. It is arguably the most popular software tool. It became much more common with the release of Microsoft project. Thanks...
Posted by: Project Management Gantt Chart | 03/15/2011 at 10:18 PM
People seem to struggle with Project Gantt Charts because there are so many factors that affect a tasks duration, start and finish date. Unless people have had comprehensive training tasks will appear to have a life of their own.
Posted by: Gantt Chart Template Trainer | 09/03/2011 at 10:39 AM
Agreed. At least when injecting more advanced features such as dependencies and constraints.
Posted by: Mark K | 09/06/2011 at 08:57 AM