A Gantt chart is a bar chart that shows a project's schedule and indicates the relationship between activities and the current schedule status. Gantt chart visualizes the time duration for each task, the chart itself brings an important message to the project manager, which includes who the task owners are, the duration to complete the task, and the relationship between tasks. Gantt chart is a good tool for planning, scheduling, and managing a project.
This is the essential feature of Gantt charts, it shows the project manager the start and end time of the project or a task, and also shows the project manager what needs to be done in the current project phase.
A milestone is a specific point or event in the project’s timeline that is used to measure the project’s progress toward the ultimate goal. They note down the start and finish of a project and indicate the major phase of work. Milestones provide a sense of accomplishment and progress.
Each phase of the project has its tasks and sub-tasks. A Gantt chart helps to track each task and sub-tasks in the project to ensure there is no missing task for the project.
As there might be more than a hundred tasks in the project, the task ID is included in the Gantt chart to assist the user to identify the task. Every single task will have its own unique task ID in the Gantt chart. The Task ID assists project team members in accurately identifying each task.
In a project, there are some tasks that depend on the success of other tasks. For example, a task must be completed before another task can be started or completed. In the Gantt chart, task dependencies represent the relationship between tasks. The small arrows between taskbars are generated to show the relationship between those tasks. Dependencies can be set up as start-to-finish, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, or finish-to-start.
The Gantt Chart's Y axis represents the tasks in a project, while the X axis represents the project duration. Every single task has its own bar. The length of the bar is defined by the duration of the task.
A Gantt chart provides project managers with a fast overview of project data including:
List of task
Start and end dates for each task
The dependencies between tasks
The progress of the project
Task owner (Assignee)
A Gantt chart is important for keeping a project on schedule, especially when there are several dependencies and many tasks that occur concurrently.
Gantt charts assist project teams in collaborating on their tasks and bringing everyone on the same page. The project manager can ensure that their team members have the same understanding of the project and that they are not constantly briefed on its progress.
Gantt charts will make it simple to manage tasks, checklist items, and task dependencies. Each team member can understand the responsibilities given to them and how their contributions will contribute to the project's overall success.
The Gantt chart's principal objective is to support the project team’s planning and tracking efforts. The project's tasks, dependencies, timetables, and milestones are displayed using Gantt charts. The Gantt chart also visually displays the project critical path, a critical path in a Gantt chart refers to the phenomenon in which any individual task causes a delay in the related sequence of tasks, thus pushing back a project’s overall end date.
The Gantt chart provides all stakeholders with real-time information on the status of the project. The project team will be able to monitor the project’s progress using the Gantt chart view and be aware of what has to be done next. This helps in getting aligned on time and improves the project team’s level of productivity.
A Gantt chart is a visualization tool that provides an overview of the work planned and completed. The information is important for each team member as different members have different roles and tasks in the project so they need to know the progress for the preparation for their own tasks. The Gantt charts show us how many tasks are done and what is left on the pending tasks for the project to complete.
All activity in a project is dependent on other tasks; for example, if Task A is not finished, Task C cannot begin. The online Gantt chart software (e.g.:JIRA) makes handling these scenarios simple. These kinds of dependencies are challenging to handle when the project has a long list of activities. Understanding the dependencies between tasks is crucial for a project manager to plan the project schedule accurately. The longest string of dependent tasks to figure out the project length is known as the critical path and tasks that fall on the critical path will affect the project length. The Gantt chart can help alert project managers if there is any delay on the task and how it will directly impact the project’s finish date.
By using Gantt charts, all project members may keep track of the overall project’s progress and see exactly where the project was delayed. It creates a culture of responsibility and openness at work. In this manner, the project managers and team members might acquire favor with clients and investors.