In some of the previous posts I’ve included pictures of Gantt charts like this one.
The Gantt chart is way of describing your chart visually, which will help you to schedule your project. Each task of your project is represented by a numbered horizontal row in the chart. And Time is represented along the top. The example above is showing weeks: you can see the start date of that week, each day represented by its initial letter, and each weekend represented by those vertical blue stripes.
On this framework you can then plot when your tasks will be completed and how long they will take. In the example you can see that the task “Prepare timber” will start on Tuesday August 3, and will take 3.5 days to complete, finishing on Friday August 6.
I’ve just used the column “Duration” to specify how long the task will take (more on this in later posts). In the example you can also see columns which show the start and end dates. I spoke about dependencies in the last post, and you can see these represented by the arrows between tasks: task 11 is dependent on the groups of tasks represented in rows 2 and 7.
This example was put together using a tool called MS Project which has way more functions and smarts than I’ve shown in this example, but you don’t need MSProject to plan with a Gantt chart. Some of the best and most useful charts I’ve seen have been thrown together on a whiteboard. I also use this format with pen and paper.
The Gantt chart helps you to visualise your project, and to question some of the assumptions round scheduling. Using this format is a also great way of communicating and sharing ideas about scheduling with others.
Wikipedia definition: Gantt chart
On this framework you can then plot when your tasks will be completed and how long they will take. In the example you can see that the task “Prepare timber” will start on Tuesday August 3, and will take 3.5 days to complete, finishing on Friday August 6.
I’ve just used the column “Duration” to specify how long the task will take (more on this in later posts). In the example you can also see columns which show the start and end dates. I spoke about dependencies in the last post, and you can see these represented by the arrows between tasks: task 11 is dependent on the groups of tasks represented in rows 2 and 7.
This example was put together using a tool called MS Project which has way more functions and smarts than I’ve shown in this example, but you don’t need MSProject to plan with a Gantt chart. Some of the best and most useful charts I’ve seen have been thrown together on a whiteboard. I also use this format with pen and paper.
The Gantt chart helps you to visualise your project, and to question some of the assumptions round scheduling. Using this format is a also great way of communicating and sharing ideas about scheduling with others.
Wikipedia definition: Gantt chart
