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Gantt Chart-Basics

A Gantt chart is a bar chart that depicts a project schedule and is the most widely used chart in project management. It was designed by American mechanical engineer Henry Gantt in the early 20th century to help schedule and manage projects. A Gantt chart visually shows the tasks involved in a project along the vertical axis, while the horizontal axis represents the timeline with bars illustrating the start and end dates of each task. Gantt charts help project managers schedule, monitor, and communicate the progress of a project.

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41APayoshni Chaudhari
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61 views

Gantt Chart-Basics

A Gantt chart is a bar chart that depicts a project schedule and is the most widely used chart in project management. It was designed by American mechanical engineer Henry Gantt in the early 20th century to help schedule and manage projects. A Gantt chart visually shows the tasks involved in a project along the vertical axis, while the horizontal axis represents the timeline with bars illustrating the start and end dates of each task. Gantt charts help project managers schedule, monitor, and communicate the progress of a project.

Uploaded by

41APayoshni Chaudhari
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Gantt Charting: Definition, Benefits, and

How They're Used


What Is a Gantt Chart?
A Gantt chart is a commonly used graphical depiction of a project
schedule. It's a type of bar chart showing the start and finish dates of a
project's elements such as resources, planning, and dependencies.

Henry Gantt (1861-1919), an American mechanical engineer, designed the


Gantt chart.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 A Gantt chart is a visualization that helps in scheduling, managing,


and monitoring specific tasks and resources in a project.
 It consists of a list of tasks and bars depicting each task's progress.
 The horizontal bars of different lengths represent the project
timeline, which can include task sequences, duration, and the start
and end dates for each task
 It's the most widely used chart in project management.
 Gantt charts are used in heavy industries for projects like building
dams, bridges, and highways, as well as software development and
building out of other goods and services.

Understanding Gantt Charts


The Gantt chart is the most widely used chart in project management.
These charts are useful in planning a project and defining the sequence of
tasks that require completion. In most instances, the chart is displayed as
a horizontal bar chart.

Horizontal bars of different lengths represent the project timeline, which


can include task sequences, duration, and the start and end dates for each
task. The horizontal bar also shows how much of a task requires
completion.

 
The length of the bar is proportional to the time necessary for a task’s
completion. The project tasks are represented on the vertical axis.

A Gantt chart helps in scheduling, managing, and monitoring specific tasks


and resources in a project. The chart shows the project timeline, which
includes scheduled and completed work over a period of time. The Gantt
chart aids project managers in communicating project status and
completion rate of specific tasks within a project, and also helps ensure the
project remains on track. By convention, it is a standard tool that makes
communication unified among the engineering and project management
community.

Benefits of a Gantt Chart


The chart identifies tasks that may be executed in parallel and those that
can't be started or finished until others are complete. It can help
detect potential bottlenecks and identify tasks that may have been
excluded from the project timeline.

The chart depicts things like task slack time or additional time for
completion of a task that shouldn't delay the project; noncritical activities
that may be delayed; and critical activities that must be executed on time.

Gantt charts can be used in managing projects of all sizes and types.


These may include building infrastructures like dams, bridges, and
highways. They may also include software development and other
technologies. Project management tools, such as Microsoft Visio, Project,
SharePoint, and Excel, or specialized software, such as Gantto or
Matchware, can help in designing Gantt charts.

What Are Gantt Charts Used for?


Gantt charts help visualize various tasks and projects that occur
simultaneously within an organization, and how far along they have
progressed. They are used by management to plan and schedule such
projects so that resources can be allocated in an optimal way and that
projects that are prioritized can finish before less important ones begin.

Who Was Henry Gantt?


Henry Gantt was a social scientist and management consultant who also
held a degree in mechanical engineering. He worked in the field of
scientific management, developing methods to streamline and increase the
productivity of corporations and their workforce. He created the Gantt chart
in the 1910s to help supervisors understand the progress of their labor
force and to ensure tasks were on schedule.1
What Are the Components of a Gantt Chart?
A Gantt chart can vary in complexity and depth, but will always have three
key components: activities or tasks that are to be done, running along the
y-axis; milestones or progress stages indicated along the x-axis (either on
the top or bottom of the chart); and progress bars, denoted as horizontal
bars, denoting how far along each task is at any given point.

The Bottom Line


A Gantt chart is a visual description of a project's timeline. The chart
shows the start and end dates of a project's components, such as
resources and planning. If you are involved in a project, it is recommended
to use a Gantt chart to help organize the various tasks within the project.

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