Managing projects, whether big or small, is no easy task. Tight schedules, strict deadlines, and multiple tasks and activities leave little margin for error, if any at all. When you can’t afford to make any mistakes during your project’s scheduling phase, then the Gantt chart is the best tool to use.
The Gantt chart is a bar chart which provides a visual representation of the project’s schedules. On most Gantt chart templates, you will see a horizontal timeline at the top part. The divisions or the resolution of the timeline is dependent on several factors, although most project managers find it convenient to use weeks or months. The very first column on most Gantt chart templates serves as the column where the tasks involved in a project are listed down. Each task occupies one row. Under the horizontal timeline, a bar or a line is placed on the same row as each task. This line or bar represents the planned schedule for the task, and its start and end points correspond to the actual start date and the estimated end date of the task.
| TASK | WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4 |
| Recording | ||||
| Mixing | ||||
| Mastering |
Above is an example of a simple Gantt chart. Three tasks, “Recording”, “Mixing”, and “Mastering” are listed down on the first column, and the black bars would be their respective schedules. This means that “Recording” would take up Week 1 and Week 2. “Mixing” and “Mastering” would then take Week 3 and Week 4, respectively.
The above example shows that each task only starts after the task above it has completed. There are cases when bars may overlap, indicating that multiple tasks can take place at the same time.
Other Gantt chart templates may show that certain, larger tasks are broken down into simpler tasks. Using the same example project as above, we can come up with this Gantt chart.
| TASK | WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4 | ||
| Recording | ||||||
| Drums | ||||||
| Bass | ||||||
| Guitar | ||||||
| Vocals | ||||||
| Mixing | ||||||
| Mastering | ||||||
In this example, the task “Recording” has been broken down into smaller subtasks, “Drums”, “Bass”, “Guitar”, and “Vocals”. It is shown that it takes half a week to record each part, for a total of two weeks for all four parts.
Yet other Gantt chart templates may display a marker which highlights the current date, or the time when the Gantt chart is presented.
| TASK | WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4 | ||
| Recording | ||||||
| Drums | ||||||
| Bass | ||||||
| Guitar | ||||||
| Vocals | ||||||
| Mixing | ||||||
| Mastering | ||||||
In the example above, the column for Week 3 is highlighted green, signifying that the project is now on its third week.
Some Gantt charts may display arrows to signify critical paths or connections between the tasks. Of course, Gantt chart templates will vary; there are many ways to present a project using a Gantt chart. Many examples may show various other features that may not be present in these examples, but what is important is that you know how the basic Gantt chart works.
You can always Google for Gantt chart templates to get one – most are provided for free. Many templates are made to be used for Microsoft Excel. Now that you know how a basic Gantt chart works, go grab one and make one for your project!