Brief tutorial on Gantt charts

Modified from W. Durfee and T. Chase, 2003

History of Gantt Charts
Henry Laurence Gantt (1!1"1#1#$ %as a mechanica& en'ineer, mana'ement consu&tant and
industry ad(isor. Henry Laurence Gantt de(e&o)ed Gantt charts in the second decade of
the 20th century. Gantt charts %ere used as a (isua& too& to sho% schedu&ed and actua&
)ro'ress of )ro*ects. +cce)ted as a common)&ace )ro*ect mana'ement too& today, it %as
an inno(ation of %or&d"%ide im)ortance in the 1#20s. Gantt charts %ere used on &ar'e
construction )ro*ects &i,e the Hoo(er Dam started in 1#31 and the interstate hi'h%ay
net%or, started in 1#-!.
Project Planning Basics
+ ./ro*ect. is a set of acti(ities %hich ends %ith s)ecific accom)&ishment and %hich has (1$
0on"routine tas,s, (2$ Distinct start1finish dates, and (3$ 2esource constraints
(time1money1)eo)&e1e3ui)ment$.
.Tas,s. are acti(ities %hich must 4e com)&eted to achie(e )ro*ect 'oa&. 5rea, the )ro*ect into
tas,s and su4tas,s. Tas,s ha(e start and end )oints, are short re&ati(e to the )ro*ect and are
si'nificant (not .'oin' to &i4rary., 4ut rather, .search &iterature.$. 6se (er4"noun form for
namin' tas,s, e.'. .create dra%in's. or .4ui&d )rototy)e.. 6se action (er4s such as .create.,
.define. and .'ather. rather than .%i&& 4e made.. 7ach tas, has a duration. 8ery difficu&t to
estimate durations accurate&y. Dou4&in' your 4est 'uess usua&&y %or,s %e&&.
.Mi&estones. are im)ortant chec,)oints or interim 'oa&s for a )ro*ect. Can 4e used to catch
schedu&in' )ro4&ems ear&y. 0ame 4y noun"(er4 form, e.'. .re)ort due., .)arts ordered.,
.)rototy)e com)&ete..
9our )&an %i&& e(o&(e so 4e f&e:i4&e and u)date on a re'u&ar 4asis. ;t a&so he&)s to identify ris,
areas for )ro*ect, for e:am)&e, thin's you don<t ,no% ho% to do 4ut %i&& ha(e to &earn. These are
ris,y 4ecause you may not ha(e a 'ood sense for ho% &on' the tas, %i&& ta,e. =r, you may not
,no% ho% &on' it %i&& ta,e to recei(e com)onents you )urchased for a )ro*ect.
Work Breakdown Statement
+ %or, 4rea,do%n statement (W5>$ is a cate'ori?ed &ist of tas,s %ith an estimate of resources
re3uired to com)&ete the tas,. +n e:am)&e W5> a))ears 4e&o%.
WBS
#
Task
Descrition
!st
Person
"Hrs
Who #esources $%S
- /rofi&e motor )o%er

-.1 Desi'n test stand 20 >7, @M /ro17

-.2 5ui&d test stand 1- >7, @M Arame B 4ra,e )arts C3-
-.3 Test 3 motors 3 >7, @M >tro4osco)e CD-
-.E /&ot tor3ue (s. s)eed 2 @M 7:ce&

(MB> F Materia&s B >u))&ies$
Gantt Chart Basics
Gantt charts are a )ro*ect )&annin' too& that can 4e used to re)resent the timin' of tas,s re3uired
to com)&ete a )ro*ect. 5ecause Gantt charts are sim)&e to understand and easy to construct, they
are used 4y most )ro*ect mana'ers for a&& 4ut the most com)&e: )ro*ects.
;n a Gantt chart, each tas, ta,es u) one ro%. Dates run a&on' the to) in increments of days,
%ee,s or months, de)endin' on the tota& &en'th of the )ro*ect. The e:)ected time for each tas, is
re)resented 4y a hori?onta& 4ar %hose &eft end mar,s the e:)ected 4e'innin' of the tas, and
%hose ri'ht end mar,s the e:)ected com)&etion date. Tas,s may run se3uentia&&y, in )ara&&e& or
o(er&a))in'.
+s the )ro*ect )ro'resses, the chart is u)dated 4y fi&&in' in the 4ars to a &en'th )ro)ortiona& to the
fraction of %or, that has 4een accom)&ished on the tas,. This %ay, one can 'et a 3uic, readin'
of )ro*ect )ro'ress 4y dra%in' a (ertica& &ine throu'h the chart at the current date. Com)&eted
tas,s &ie to the &eft of the &ine and are com)&ete&y fi&&ed in. Current tas,s cross the &ine and are
4ehind schedu&e if their fi&&ed"in section is to the &eft of the &ine and ahead of schedu&e if the
fi&&ed"in section sto)s to the ri'ht of the &ine. Auture tas,s &ie com)&ete&y to the ri'ht of the &ine.
;n constructin' a Gantt chart, ,ee) the tas,s to a mana'ea4&e num4er (no more than 1- or 20$ so
that the chart fits on a sin'&e )a'e. More com)&e: )ro*ects may re3uire su4ordinate charts %hich
detai& the timin' of a&& the su4tas,s %hich ma,e u) one of the main tas,s. Aor team )ro*ects, it
often he&)s to ha(e an additiona& co&umn containin' num4ers or initia&s %hich identify %ho on
the team is res)onsi4&e for the tas,.
=ften the )ro*ect has im)ortant e(ents %hich you %ou&d &i,e to a))ear on the )ro*ect time&ine,
4ut %hich are not tas,s. Aor e:am)&e, you may %ish to hi'h&i'ht %hen a )rototy)e is com)&ete or
the date of a desi'n re(ie%. 9ou enter these on a Gantt chart as .mi&estone. e(ents and mar,
them %ith a s)ecia& sym4o&, often an u)side"do%n trian'&e.
Gantt Chart Through Google Docs
htt)G11%oor,.4&o's)ot.com120010!1'oo'&e"s)readsheets"ti)s"'antt"chart.htm&
Gantt Chart 7:am)&e from htt)G11%%%.critica&too&s.com1)ro*%4s.htm
Gantt Chart 7:am)&e from htt)G11%%%.i4m.com1